Japan and Korea produced their own versions of the Christie records. Sometimes other extras were included, such as lyrics sheets and loose-leaf picture sheets of the artists.
   Pictured here are a Korean version of Christie's first album and the label on the record, and the back cover of the Japanese version (which had the same "yellow" cover as the general release LPs).
   The Korean album track listing is the same as the US album: it omits two tracks from the "common" version, Here I Am and Until The Dawn.
   Interestingly, the back of the Japanese album sleeve is filled with copious notes on the band and also for each individual song, unlike the respective albums from various other countries. The text also mentions Paul Fenton, which sleeves printed in other languages did not.
   Here's what the Japanese words loosely translate into, and remember the Japanese have a wonderful way of describing things:

>    The band Christie began with three players: Jeff Christie, Vic Elmes and Mike Blakley.
   Jeff had been in a band called the Outer Limits when it split up in 1969. He then started songwriting and sent a demo tape of 130 songs to Brian Longley, who persuaded Jeff that he should sing his own songs.
   Jeff had wanted to concentrate on writing, but found the lure of being in a band once again too attractive to turn down.
   Brian asked Vic Elmes and Mike Blakley to join, both of whom had been together with Acid Gallery and the Epics.
   The Tremeloes were asked to do the song originally, but in the end they only provided the backing on Yellow River, which became Jeff's debut hit. All the other songs on this album were recorded by the band members themselves.
   Soon after this album was recorded, Mike left the group, and was replaced by Paul Fenton.    <

Yellow River: The up-tempo song that was a huge hit in Japan and No 1 in the UK charts.

I Gotta Be Free: There is a pleasant soft touch to this tune and there are some parts which sound awkward but nice.

I've Got A Feeling: This is not the same song as on the Beatles' Let It Be. It is a different piece, more bluesey and very different to Yellow River, with good piano accompaniment.

New York City: The only piece on the album not written by Jeff Christie, this has an uptempo, bubblegum sound to it. Written by Vic Elmes and Mike Blakley.

Inside Looking Out: There are country and western elements here, with pleasant guitar work.

Put Your Money Down: Sounds good, sounds wild, reminiscent of Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Down the Mississippi Line: This was on the B-side to Yellow River. It has a southern USA flavour.

San Bernadino: This is the follow-up to Yellow River, a new big hit sound at the moment. Everyone will like the straight and simple style with good chorus line.

Country Boy: This has the sounds of the golden days with simple, bluesy feeling and nice piano and guitar work.

Johnny One Time: Medium tempo and wild taste! There are some soft aspects of the chorus which balance the rockier parts of the song.

Coming Home Tonight: A different atmosphere to this song. The piano is impressive.

Here I Am: The B-side to San Bernadino, and harks back to the 1950s and the sounds of Little Richard and Chuck Berry. You will understand when you listen to Jeff's shouting vocals and the rolling piano.

Until The Dawn: Completely different to all the other songs, this is a ballad with a beautiful melody, making use of simple beats and lovely chorus.

 

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CHRISTIE (YELLOW RIVER)
(CD, Japan)

IN 2010, a Japanese bootleg of the Repertoire CD release of the first Christie album was produced.
    However, instead of slipshod work which usually characterises a bootleg, this item is immaculately presented, sold in a plastic wrap with a cute Japanese strip label on the side. Even more impressive, the makers took the time to produce extensive liner notes about Christie's history (in Japanese text of course), as well as include lyrics to the songs in both English and Japanese.
    Great lengths were taken to give the impression that this is an original product, with the inclusion of the CBS label on the cover and on the CD label itself . But it is clear this is merely a copy of the Repertoire release, as it includes the eight extra tracks that were never on the first album.
    The liner notes are very interesting, for they are clearly written by a music historian who has done his research about Christie. They also include a bit of editorialising, with the author in no doubt about the high quality of Jeff Christie's songs. For that alone, this product deserves some kudos.
    Here is the text loosely translated:

 

…. Christie started in this turbulent time (of around 1970), but Jeff Christie, one of the main members, actually started his professional career in 1967 as a member of a group called Outer Limits. However, it did not make a success and the band disintegrated. So Jeff tried to make a living by writing songs, but no one was interested in his songs. That was when broken-hearted Jeff met Alan Blakley, Tremeloes’ guitarist.     It is said that Yellow River was at one stage liked by Tremeloes and was going to be recorded as a single. Unfortunately, however, another song was used instead of Yellow River. Then Jeff Christie formed a new band, with the support of people who loved Yellow River, just in order to give it to the world. Jeff Christie played the bass/vocal, Vic Elmes played the guitar and Mike Blakley (Alan Blakley’s brother) played the drums. However, being a quickly made-up band, it only went well at the beginning.     Yellow River is a song which has an aspect of social satire, with a cute melody and lyrics on the theme of the Vietnam War. The line about putting the guns down and going back to the favourite place of Yellow River must have caught the heart of young people who were against the Vietnam War.     But the huge success of the song panicked Christie themselves. Not expecting the single would become such a big hit, the band had not had time for proper rehearsals. Christie made a tour with one hit single. Then they released their second single San Bernadino/Here I Am in October of the same year, followed by their debut album Christie Featuring San Bernadino and Yellow River.     For All Mankind was released in 1971 and is Christie’s second album. In contrast to the two singles released in the previous year, which was warmly welcomed, people thought little of For All Mankind. But this does not necessarily mean For All Mankind is low level music.     As stated before, around 1970 was a turbulent time in the British rock scene. It was an innovative time when many new rock groups were trying to create a new history. Many of the bands from 1960s tried to survive by introducing new musical essence. And many of the bands started around this time tried to differentiate themselves from existing rock bands by having innovative and original sound structure in their music, which appealed to the young fans.     How did the band with Beatles-like pop sense survive in this time? The truth is that the music fans who liked hard rock or progressive (new rock) ridiculed them – they regarded such bands as one level lower. Every music fan over 40 knows how former Beatles’ members' pop albums (after the Beatles had disbanded) were evaluated in 1970s in real time.     As such Christie tried to survive by adding harder arrangement to For All Mankind. From a commercial point of view, people say it was a failure. However, this change of direction was a success from a musical point of view. All the songs recorded in the album were quite good.     One feels a vague sense of British beat from the core of Christie’s sound. This is rather natural considering Jeff Christie’s background. One feels a strong influence from the Mod scene, especially The Who. It is a shame that Christie stopped producing original songs after this one, as the level of the music is high. The performance is also at a high level. The performance of Mike, the drummer of the band when it was formed, was at a questionable level, but Paul Fenton, Mike’s successor, performed professionally.     This album is a collection of Beatles-like good quality melody, beat pop which was rearranged for 1970s style, power pop tunes which were arranged harder and tighter, with strong melancholic ballads. It is no exaggeration to say that this album is a hidden gem in the 1970s British pop scene.     I would like any music fan who looks for good quality British pop to purchase and listen to this album at least once. Eight singles released after For All Mankind but had not been included in the album before are included in this album as bonuses All of them are filled with a high level catchy sound from the British pop (or power pop) point of view.