Every Face Tells a Story (song)

"Every Face Tells a Story", written by Peter Sills, Don Black and Michael Allison, is a song recorded by Australian pop and country singer Olivia Newton-John on her 1976 album Don't Stop Believin'.

"Every Face Tells a Story"
Single by Olivia Newton-John
from the album Don't Stop Believin'
B-side"Love You Hold the Key"
ReleasedNovember 1976
GenreCountry, pop
Length3:38
LabelEMI
Songwriter(s)Peter Sills
Don Black
Michael Allison
Producer(s)John Farrar
Olivia Newton-John singles chronology
"Don't Stop Believin'"
(1976)		 "Every Face Tells a Story"
(1976)		 "Compassionate Man"
(1977)

Chart performance

The song was released as a single in 1976 and peaked at #55 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; #21 on the Hot Country Songs chart; and #6 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. She produced an MTV style promotional clip for the song, which aired on ABC in November 1976.

Although the song made it to the top 10 in A/C this song broke Olivia's consecutive record of having every one of her singles go to the top of the A/C charts. It also broke Newton-John's streak of nine U.S. Top 40 hits in a row.

Chart (1976–77) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles [1] 21
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[2] 6
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 55
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 1
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks 5
Canadian RPM Top Singles 58
South Africa (Springbok)[3] 5

Original Gospel version

The song was originally written by Michael Allison and Peter Sills for British singer Cliff Richard, who Olivia Newton-John was a backing singer for in the early 1970s. Richard originally attempted a recording of the song in December 1975 studio sessions for his 1976 studio album I'm Nearly Famous, but it remained unreleased. He recorded the song again for his 1977 studio album Every Face Tells a Story, for which it became the title track.[4]

Richard's version uses the same music, but the lyrics are about Jesus and are Gospel-themed. Although a pop star, Richard is a Christian and sometimes includes Gospel tracks on his albums. Don Black rewrote the lyrics but kept the title, removing the Gospel theme.

Cover versions

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 249.
  2. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 181.
  3. "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  4. Lewry, Peter; Goodall, Nigel (1991). Cliff Richard The Complete Recording Sessions 1958-1990. London: Blandford. pp. 108, 110, 111. ISBN 0-7137-2242-8.
  5. Information at Svensk mediedatabas


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