Record Review
By Mary Campbell, AP News features Writer
Can a British girl with a hyphenated name cut a record as far away from Nashville as London and get a country hit in the United States.
Sure. Olivia Newton-John did it with” If You Love Me Let Me Know” and then she did it with “Let Me Be There”. Both became pop hits, too, and sold a million copies. Now she’s recorded “I Honestly Love You” and advance orders are so strong that it’s on the best-selling charts before it’s in most of the stores.
And Olivia Newton-John hasn’t yet set foot in Nashville.
She won a Grammy Award m the “best country female vocal performance” category this year with “Let Me Be There“ and says, “It’s probably the first time an English person won an award over Nashville people.”
But she wants to go to Nashville and says “I did hear about one lady singer who wasn’t too happy about me, but I don’t think they’ll eat me there. I want to go there, I’m not afraid. The problem is just finding time to go.”
Miss Newton-John - that’s her real name — moved from Wales to Australia with her family at age 5. Her father was master of the college at Ormond College in Australia. She liked to sing and entertain people as a child and at 13 entered an contest for an Haley Mills look-alike. She remembers that she won it but can’t remember how many girls entered - “Probably two.”
She and three other girls started a singing group called the Sol Four, stopped that when it interfered with high school. She entered another contest thus time singing, won, and the prize was a trip to London, There she became half a duo with another Australian girl, Pat Carroll, but Miss Carroll’s visa expired and she returned to Australia. Since 1971, Miss Newton-John has been singing solo.
“I’ve been singing since I was 15, that’s 10 years. I enjoyed the group and the double act but I think I’ve enjoyed being on my own most. You only have yourself to blame. I’ve always listened to folk music I don’t it was too much planned that I’d become a country singer. But my record producer was quite keen on that music and thought it suited me and nobody else around London was doing it, so I did it.
“My first solo record in 1971 was “If Not for You” I had other songs almost making it, but not quite. I recorded ‘Country Roads” and ‘Banks of the Ohio.‘ The country stations knew of me.”
“Then the two songs that did make it were written by John Rostill. Unfortunately he died recently. He was a friend. My new record was written by Jeff Barry and Peter Allen. I write some. One, “Changes”, is on my new album. One is on an English album that isn’t out here. Maybe it’ll be on the next one.”
In this country Miss Newton-John has three albums out, “Olivia Newton-John” on UNI. “Let Me Be There” and “If You Love Me Let Me Know” on MCA.
They don’t have exactly the same songs as her albums in England because the second album for the United States was a collection of all her country cuts. But things will get lined up so that future releases will be alike.
Miss Newton-John is in the United Slates, having performed at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles and in Las Vegas tor two weeks with Charlie Rich. Next, she says, “I’ll go on the state fair tour all over the place. In Vegas I wore long dresses. I think I’ll wear trousers for the state fairs because I might be walking across muddy fields to get on stage. Trousers are more comfortable.”
The band who’ll be with her for the state fair tour is from Minnesota. “We heard them on the last tour and we were pleased with them. They’re not well known or anything but they play everything, they can play country and they can play jazz.”
Better than touring. though Miss Newton-John says, “I like recording best. I think I like it best because it means I can sing a lot. Usually I go in in the afternoon and work through until I finish. It could be 1 in the morning. Sometimes there are days when I sing six or seven good tracks in the same day. Another day I can only get through one or two, It all depends. I record in London —— on Abbey Road.”
Asked about aspirations and goals, Miss Newton-John says “I just drift along with it.”
We have been told that because she is so pretty young men arc falling in love with her in droves. “Really?” she says when asked about it. “I don’t think they’re doing it enough to bug me.”
She says. “I’m single. I think it would be difficult if I wasn’t. I have a boyfriend but I think unless a husband would travel with you, it’s difficult for a marriage when you’re away so much.
“I don‘t want to be on the road forever I want to be able to get in a position where I can work so many weeks and be off fr so many weeks.“
About acting, Miss Newton-John says, “I’ve done a little bit. Nothing vast yet.” She isn’t sure what comes next after the tour of state fairs. Probably some more happy, long recording sessions on Abbey Road. And some more country hits.