"Yesterday Man" is a song written by Chris Andrews and was his first single as a solo singer, released in September 1965. It climbed to No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart, and No. 1 in Ireland, New Zealand, Germany and Austria. In England it sold 20,000 copies in its first day. After a visit to England in September 1965,

Jerry Wexler Jerry may refer to: Animals * Jerry (Grand National winner), racehorse, winner of the 1840 Grand National * Jerry (St Leger winner), racehorse, winner of 1824 St Leger Stakes Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Jerry'' (film), a 2006 Indian fil ...

made a deal for Atco Records to release the single in the United States. In the US, it reached No. 94 in 1966. The ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' trade paper reported in its 5 February 1966 issue that it had passed 300,000 sales in Germany alone, and later over 800,000 as a final tally in that country (28 May 1966). In a contemporary review of the song, the '' Evening Sentinel'' wrote how: "Why write hits for

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

and Sandie all the time? says Andrews and sounds quite good on his own", further deeming it to be " Blue-beatish and good." In 2014, ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' included the song in their list of "25 Major Moments in

White Reggae People from the Caribbean have made significant contributions to British Black music for many generations. Trinidadian Calypso Large-scale Caribbean migration to England recommenced following the Second World War in 1948. The ''Empire Windrus ...

History"; in the accompanying write-up, writer Chris Martins deemed it "the birth of White Reggae" and highlighted how the song "made ndrews'heart pitter and patter to an island riddim". Mario Villanueva of '' The Greenville News'' included the song in a list of twelve exemplary "cod-reggae" songs. Reggae Mint of UDiscover Music wrote that the " ska-styled solo hit" was a musical predecessor to the Beatles' song " Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" (1968). Andrews' brass-heavy hit was also a partial inspiration for the oom-pah arrangement written by

Johnny Marr Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerous ...

for the Smiths' song "

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" (1986). A German-language version was also recorded. Named "Alles tu Ich Fuer Dich", it was released on the label Deutsche Vogue.

Robert Wyatt version

In 1974, the song was

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...

(with production by

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) as the follow-up to his hit with

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

's " I'm a Believer" (released on Virgin Records). However, it was never officially released, due to Virgin head

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed ...

deeming the version "a bit too gloomy". In 1992, Wyatt recalled: "I did 'Yesterday Man', a major-key, upbeat, jolly pseudo-reggae thing. I bent all the chords out of shape and did the whole thing kind of sideways. And I was so happy with that. They said, 'We're not putting this out. It's too lugubrious.' I thought, 'That must be good,' but I got a dictionary, and it's not." According to Wyatt in an interview with ''

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'', "We never pretended to be reggae but it was obviously influenced by that feel, which was very much the heartbeat of London around that time." Richard Cook of '' Mojo'' deemed the Wyatt version to be "heartbreakingly desolate and a complete antithesis to Chris Andrew's original". Charles Shaar Murray of '' NME'' wrote: "Where Andrews' original was aggressively petulant, Wyatt's is wistfully surreal", noting that the musician performs the song "on assorted bits of percussion (including a bass-drum whomped by hand) and what sounds like a harmonium, but plays around the beat while the main rhythmic push comes from Windo and Feza."

Chart history

References

{{Authority control 1965 songs 1965 debut singles Chris Andrews (singer) songs Number-one singles in Austria Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in South Africa Robert Wyatt songs Songs written by Chris Andrews (singer) RPM Top Singles number-one singles Decca Records singles Ska songs British reggae songs