"Time Drags By"
Cover of the single released in the Netherlands
Single by Cliff Richard and the Shadows
from the album Finders Keepers
B-side"La La La Song"
Released7 October 1966 (1966-10-07)
Recorded26 April 1966[1]
StudioEMI Studios, London
GenrePop rock
Length2:33
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Norrie Paramor
Cliff Richard and the Shadows singles chronology
"Visions"
(1966) 		"Time Drags By"
(1966) 		"In the Country"
(1966)

"Time Drags By" is a song by Cliff Richard and the Shadows, released as a single in October 1966. It peaked at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart.[2]

Recording and release

"Time Drags By" was written by all four members of the Shadows for the soundtrack to the firm Finders Keepers. It was recorded on 26 April 1966 at Abbey Road Studios, then known as EMI, and was one of the first times the group had used multitracking to double track their vocals. The recording also features Jimmy Page playing harmonica.[1] The B-side, "La La La Song", was also written by the Shadows and included on the soundtrack and features backing vocals by the Corona Boys and Girls.[3]

It was released as a single in October 1966 and was nominated for the 1967 Ivor Novello Award for Best Film Song of the Year, but lost to "Born Free", written by John Barry and Don Black.[4]

Reception

Reviewed in Disc, "Time Drags By" was described as "Cliff doing a Ray Davies and sitting around on the grass contemplating the world at large in barber shop quartet fashion! Starts with a harmonica and actually Cliff sounds as though he's been Lee Hazlewood-ded, as a male Nancy Sinatra.[5] In Record Mirror, it was described as a "well-beated Shadow composition and Cliff gets a relaxed, dreamy atmosphere going".[6]

Track listing

  1. "Time Drags By" – 2:33
  2. "La La La Song" – 2:26

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1966–67) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[7] 98
Malaysia (Radio Malaysia)[8] 1
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[9] 37
New Zealand (Listener)[10] 13
Rhodesia (Lyons Maid)[11] 8
UK Singles (OCC)[2] 10

References

  1. ^ a b "Cliff Richard Song Database - Song Details". www.cliffrichardsongs.com. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Cliff Richard: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  3. ^ "Cliff Richard Song Database - Song Details". www.cliffrichardsongs.com. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Archive | The Ivors | The Ivors Academy | Champions of Music Creators". The Ivors Academy. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Penny spins the discs" (PDF). Disc. 8 October 1966. p. 15. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Singles" (PDF). Record Mirror. 8 October 1966. p. 9. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  7. ^ Kent, David (2005). Australian Chart Book 1940–1969. Australian Chart Book Pty Ltd, Turramurra, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-44439-5.
  8. ^ "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. 14 January 1967. p. 58. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  9. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Cliff Richard" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  10. ^ "flavour of new zealand - search listener". www.flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  11. ^ Kimberley, C. Zimbabwe: Singles Chart Book. Harare: C. Kimberley, 2000
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