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"My Rainbow Valley" is a song first recorded and released by American singer Robert Knight on his 1967 album ''Everlasting Love''. It was later released as a single in May 1968. However, the song is better known for being covered by British band the Love Affair, whose version was released as "Rainbow Valley", and which became a top-ten hit in several countries.


The Love Affair version

"Rainbow Valley" was written by
Buzz Cason James Elmore "Buzz" Cason (November 27, 1939 – June 16, 2024) was an American rock singer, songwriter, record producer and author. Life and career James Elmore Cason was born in Nashville, Tennessee on November 27, 1939. He was a founding mem ...
and
Mac Gayden McGavock Dickinson Gayden (June 5, 1941 – April 16, 2025) was an American rock and country singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer working in Nashville during the latter half of the 20th century. As a session guitarist, Gayden was f ...
, who had written the band's previous number-one single "
Everlasting Love "Everlasting Love" is a song written by Buzz Cason and Mac Gayden, originally a 1967 hit for Robert Knight and since covered numerous times. The most successful version in the UK was performed by Love Affair and the highest-charting version ...
", which had also been first released by Robert Knight. After finding out about the Love Affair's version of "Rainbow Valley", Knight said "They sure follow me around, don't they?... I suppose I should be flattered that they like my voice and style enough to copy my songs". After the release of "Everlasting Love", it was revealed that the band had controversially not played on the song. When promoting "Rainbow Valley", they insisted they had played on the song. However, according to the band's official website, "Rainbow Valley" consisted of session musicians
Big Jim Sullivan James George Tomkins (14 February 1941 – 2 October 2012), known professionally as Big Jim Sullivan, was an English guitarist. Best known as a session guitarist, he was one of the most in-demand studio musicians in the UK in the 1960s ...
on guitar, Russ Stableford on bass, and
Clem Cattini Clemente Anselmo Agustino Cattini (born 20 August 1937) is an English rock and roll drummer of the late 1950s and 60s, who was a member of The Tornados before becoming well known for his work as a session musician. He is one of the most prolifi ...
on drums. It also features
Sue Glover Sue and Sunny were a British human voice, vocal duet (music), duo of session singers operating in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Although sisters, their stage names were Sue Glover and Sunny Leslie. For three years (1969–1972), they were members o ...
and
Sunny Leslie Sunny may refer to: People * Sunny (name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Sunny (singer), member of Girls' Generation * Sunny (wrestler), WWE Hall of fame wrestler * Sun Diego, German rapper * Sunny, of Sue and S ...
on backing vocals along with an accompaniment by the Keith Mansfield Orchestra. Despite being released at the beginning of April 1968, "Rainbow Valley" did not initially chart very highly. Guitarist Rex Brayley put it down to " the lack of radio and TV plugs", with keyboardist Morgan Fisher adding that "I think there was an anti feeling in the business. Our record came out at the same time as new ones by
The Small Faces Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966. The ba ...
Lazy Sunday"">Lazy Sunday (Small Faces song)">Lazy Sunday"and The Herd I Don't Want Our Loving to Die"">I_Don't_Want_Our_Loving_to_Die.html" ;"title="I Don't Want Our Loving to Die"> and they've been on TV five or six times while we've only done one".


Reception

Reviewing for ''NME">New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a " rock inkie", the ''NME'' would become a maga ...
'', Derek Johnson described "Rainbow Valley" as "a predictable follow-up from Love Affair — the song is similar in concept to "Everlasting Love" and the arrangement almost identical. There's the same cantering rhythm and explosive orchestral accompaniment. Steve Ellis' earthy voice handles the lyric — and, due to one or two intricacies and tempo breaks — he's given more chance to display his dexterity and flexibility than on the group's No.1 hit". Peter Jones for ''Record Mirror">Peter Jones (journalist)">Peter Jones for ''Record Mirror'' described the song as "Good, obviously, following on a number one – and the young Mr. Ellis sings even better on this slightly confused beater. Not directly so commercial, but it proves a few points about the boys' ability". For ''Disc (magazine)">Disc and Music Echo ''Disc'' was a weekly British popular music magazine, published between 1958 and 1975, when it was incorporated into ''Record Mirror''. It was also known for periods as ''Disc Weekly '' (1964–1966) and ''Disc and Music Echo '' (1966–1972). ...
'', Penny Valentine wrote "of course there's a lot of their first hit's influence – especially during the opening with the Bongo drum, bongos. But from then on its all very, very good pop music".


Charts


References

{{authority control 1967 songs 1968 singles CBS Records singles Robert Knight (musician) songs Love Affair (band) songs Songs written by Buzz Cason Songs written by Mac Gayden Song recordings produced by Mike Smith (British record producer)