If Not for You (album)

Bruce Welch (right), with Cliff Richard (center) and Hank Marvin (left) in 2009. Welch produced Newton-John's first two albums.

In 1966, Newton-John released her debut single, a cover of Jackie DeShannon's "Till You Say You'll Be Mine" (with "For Ever" as B-side), by Decca Records.[2] Later, she integrated the band Toomorrow, which released a film and its soundtrack in 1970. After these failed attempts to launch her career, she signed with Festival Records to release an album. If Not for You was titled after its successful lead single of the same name and was recorded in London, where Newton-John resided at the time. She later stated that she didn't like the song, but praised its production.[3] The majority of musicians who played on If Not for You were linked with the music group Marvin, Welch & Farrar. The group members John Farrar and Bruce Welch produced the album.[4] Welch was her boyfriend at the time and Farrar is the husband of Australian singer Pat Carroll, a personal friend of Newton-John's, and toured with her in England at clubs and bars as "Pat and Olivia" in 1966. Farrar would establish a partnership with Newton-John, producing all her studio albums from If Not for You until Soul Kiss, released in 1985. He also composed, played and did background vocals on several Newton-John songs.[5] Three additional songs were recorded by Newton-John, but were discarded during the album creation process: "The Biggest Clown", "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye" and "Would You Follow Me". The first was released on "If Not for You" single, the second was released on the "Love Song" promo single and later on the 48 Original Tracks compilation album and the third was released on some pressings of "Banks of the Ohio" single and also on 48 Original Tracks.[6][7][8]

The album features covers of Kris Kristofferson ("Me and Bobby McGee" and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"), Bread ("If"), The Band ("In a Station"), Lesley Duncan ("Love Song" and "Lullaby"), Bob Dylan ("If Not for You"), Brotherhood of Man ("Where Are You Going to My Love"), Gordon Lightfoot ("If You Could Read My Mind") and Tom Rush ("No Regrets"). "Banks of the Ohio" is a traditional song that had an arrangement made by Farrar and Welch.[4]

Newton-John made several appearances on television programs across Europe and her homeland Australia between 1971–72. She also made an appearance on The Dean Martin Show, singing "If" and a medley featuring "Just a Little Lovin'" / "True Love" with Dean Martin, which became her first performance in the United States.[3][9] In 1972, she embarked on a tour across Europe and Japan with Cliff Richard to promote If Not for You and Olivia, known as The Cliff Richard Show / If Not for You Tour. Olivia performed some songs and also sang backing vocals on Cliff's songs with Pat Carroll.[10] Richard performances were released on the Cliff Richard Live! album.[11] She also made performances on Richard's program It's Cliff Richard and starred with him in the special Getaway with Cliff and the film The Case, all broadcast on BBC.[12]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[16]

Joe Viglione from AllMusic gave a positive review from the album, giving it four out five stars. He commented that "it would be a mistake to think these [songs] are all mere 'covers.' The production and arrangements by Bruce Welch and John Farrar are innovative and worthwhile." Viglione also praised Newton-John's performance, stating: "After all her own hit records, hearing this superstar sing so many familiar tunes, and performing them so well, is utterly charming."[16]

In Australia, the album debuted at number sixteen in the week of 22 January 1972.[21] If Not for You peaked at number fourteen the next week, staying four weeks on the chart and earning a platinum certification.[22][23] Despite the lack of promotion in the country the album made a minor impact in the United States, peaking at number one hundred and fifty-eight on the Billboard 200.[16] In the United Kingdom, where the album hit two singles in the top ten, If Not for You failed to chart.

The album was originally released on cassette and LP.[24] The American edition, released by Uni Records prior to its merger with the Decca and Kapp labels to form MCA Records, went out of print following the release of Newton-John's 1973 album, Let Me Be There, and became a rare collector's item. However, the original American edition of Let Me Be There features six tracks from If Not for You.[25] The album was first released on CD in Japan in 1990 as part of the EMI PASTMASTERS series (Cat.# CP21-6074). The album was simply called Olivia Newton-John, which was the full title of the original vinyl / cassette release in England in 1971. (It was initially released as Olivia Newton-John in England, and If Not for You in foreign territories, including the US and Australia.) This EMI 1990 CD release did not feature any of the original album artwork. Instead, the front cover photo is a "live" picture of Olivia from a 1977 appearance in Japan. The packaging included a Japanese-language obi, and a folded white paper insert, containing all the song lyrics in English on one side, and in Japanese on the other. In Australia, Festival Records re-released the album on CD in 1993 and also in a digitally remastered edition along with other albums of Newton-John's discography in 1998. In this latter case, at least the first run of the remastered CD release (Festival Cat.# D34320 / D19809) was seriously botched. The first track on the album, "Me and Bobby McGee", was missing entirely from the CD; thus the CD started with the Bread cover, "If", and contained only 11 of the 12 songs. Further, three of the latter songs on this release were mis-sequenced. However, the CD labeling lists all 12 original songs in their original sequence. However, the overall sonic quality of the 1998 remastered edition was praised.[24]

All songs produced by John Farrar and Bruce Welch.

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[4]

• Newton-John's official site > Discography > If Not for You