Post by erik on Jul 17, 2021 12:11:48 GMT -5
The English pop-rock band Christie goes in a somewhat Byrds-like direction with the song in this week's Pop Music Hits Spotlight--about a city in Southern California that none of them had ever set foot in.
SAN BERNARDINO (Christie; Epic; 1970)—The effects of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the rest of the British Invasion, which commenced at the beginning of 1964, were a fairly dominant strain for most of the rest of the decade. By the time 1965 rolled around, however, a new strain began to challenge that invasion of America that was homegrown; and it was one that emerged via people like Bob Dylan and the Byrds, the integrating of folk-influenced acoustic and 12-string electric guitars to a rock beat. And at some point, the folk-rock sound even began affecting the British invaders. One such group was Christie, led by lead singer and electric guitarist Jeff Christie. Their success in England was long-lasting, but it was less so in America. Their biggest hit was the “Yellow River”, from the group’s self-titled 1970 album; it was a #1 hit in England, and #23 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1970. Their follow-up single was very much influenced by the Byrds and Roger McGuinn’s twelve-string Rickenbacher guitar sound, and something of a country-influenced beat. The song was “San Bernardino”, which refers to a major city in Southern California located an hour east of Los Angeles. Ironically, even though Jeff Christie wrote it himself, he later admitted that neither he nor anyone else in the group had ever even visited San Bernardino, which, in 1970, was a fairly blue-collar town and, like any town with a military presence (it was the location of Norton Air Force Base), was also fairly politically conservative, and had a host of C&W music clubs. “San Bernardino” got into the Top Ten in Germany, Italy, Austria, Norway, and the band’s native England, as well as #1 in Switzerland; however, it stalled at #100 in America for the week ending January 30, 1971. All the same, however, and despite no one in the band ever having appeared in said city or anywhere else in Southern California, the song got a fair amount of airplay there on several Top 40 AM radio stations.
SAN BERNARDINO (Christie; Epic; 1970)—The effects of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the rest of the British Invasion, which commenced at the beginning of 1964, were a fairly dominant strain for most of the rest of the decade. By the time 1965 rolled around, however, a new strain began to challenge that invasion of America that was homegrown; and it was one that emerged via people like Bob Dylan and the Byrds, the integrating of folk-influenced acoustic and 12-string electric guitars to a rock beat. And at some point, the folk-rock sound even began affecting the British invaders. One such group was Christie, led by lead singer and electric guitarist Jeff Christie. Their success in England was long-lasting, but it was less so in America. Their biggest hit was the “Yellow River”, from the group’s self-titled 1970 album; it was a #1 hit in England, and #23 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1970. Their follow-up single was very much influenced by the Byrds and Roger McGuinn’s twelve-string Rickenbacher guitar sound, and something of a country-influenced beat. The song was “San Bernardino”, which refers to a major city in Southern California located an hour east of Los Angeles. Ironically, even though Jeff Christie wrote it himself, he later admitted that neither he nor anyone else in the group had ever even visited San Bernardino, which, in 1970, was a fairly blue-collar town and, like any town with a military presence (it was the location of Norton Air Force Base), was also fairly politically conservative, and had a host of C&W music clubs. “San Bernardino” got into the Top Ten in Germany, Italy, Austria, Norway, and the band’s native England, as well as #1 in Switzerland; however, it stalled at #100 in America for the week ending January 30, 1971. All the same, however, and despite no one in the band ever having appeared in said city or anywhere else in Southern California, the song got a fair amount of airplay there on several Top 40 AM radio stations.