"On My Word" is a song written and first released by American singer-songwriter

Chip Taylor Chip Taylor (born James Wesley Voight; March 21, 1940) is an American songwriter and singer noted for writing " Angel of the Morning" and " Wild Thing". He is the paternal uncle of actress Angelina Jolie and former actor James Haven. He is the ...

as a single in April 1964. It was covered by British singer

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

and released as a single which peaked at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.

Cliff Richard version

Cliff Richard recorded his version of "On My Word" whilst in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

in August 1964 and features backing vocals by

the Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vo ...

and an orchestra conducted by Stan Applebaum. It was released as a single in June 1965 with the B-side "Just a Little Bit Too Late" written by Hank Marvin and recorded with

the Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters between 1958 and 1959) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the pre-Beatles era from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. They served as the bac ...

. Reviewing for ''

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 wrote: "Considerably snappier than "The Minute You're Gone", it's set to a shuffle rhythm with a subtle Latin flavour, plus brass and chirping girls. Cliff sings in huskily appealing low register, which contrasts effectively with the bouncing beat. The melody's not quite so whistleable as his last one, but it has an insistent quality".

Track listing

7": Columbia / DB 7596 # "On My Word" – 2:30 # "Just a Little Bit Too Late" – 2:35

Charts

References

{{authority control Cliff Richard songs 1964 singles 1965 singles Columbia Graphophone Company singles Song recordings produced by Billy Sherrill Songs written by Chip Taylor 1964 songs