"Silvery Rain" is a song composed by

Hank Marvin Hank Brian Marvin (born Brian Robson Rankin, 28 October 1941) is an English multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter. He is widely known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows, a group which primarily performed instrumentals and was the ba ...

and first released by

Marvin, Welch & Farrar Marvin, Welch & Farrar ( MWF) were a 1970s British and Australian popular music group formed by Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch, both members of The Shadows – as a change of direction manoeuvre during 1970 to 1973 – and John Farrar (ex- The Stra ...

on their eponymous debut album in February 1971. It was also recorded by Cliff Richard, who released it as a single in March 1971. His version peaked at number 27 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Cliff Richard version

Release

"Silvery Rain" was released with two B-sides. The first, "Annabella Umbrella", was written by Valerie Avon and Harold Spiro and features an accompaniment by the Nick Ingam Orchestra. The second, "Time Flies", was written by

Brian Bennett Brian Laurence Bennett, (born 9 February 1940) is an English drummer, pianist, composer and producer of popular music. He is best known as the drummer of the UK rock and roll group the Shadows. He is the father of musician and Shadows band me ...

and

Mike Hawker Mike Hawker (born June 25, 1956) was a Republican member of the Alaska House of Representatives, representing the 28th District from 2003 to 2017. He served as Chair of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Budget & Audit Committee. H ...

. "Silvery Rain" has been described as a being a "social comment on the problems of pesticides and poisons". Derek Johnson for ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music journalism, music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine tha ...

'' described it as "one of the least commercial and uncharacteristic he has ever recorded".

Track listing

7": Columbia / DB 8774 # "Silvery Rain" – 3:46 # "Annabella Umbrella" – 2:49 # "Time Flies" – 2:54

Personnel

* Cliff Richard – vocals *

Big Jim Sullivan James George Tomkins (14 February 1941 – 2 October 2012), known professionally as Big Jim Sullivan, was an English musician whose career started in 1958. He was best known as a session guitarist. In the 1960s and 1970s, he was one of ...

– guitar * Brian Bennett Orchestra – all other instrumentation

Charts

Other versions

* In 1981, Australian singer

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...

covered "Silvery Rain" on her 1981 album ''

Physical Physical may refer to: *Physical examination In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally cons ...

'', and also released an accompanying music video for the song.

References

{{authority control Cliff Richard songs 1971 singles 1971 songs Songs written by Hank Marvin Columbia Graphophone Company singles Song recordings produced by Norrie Paramor