Cliff belts out the closing bars to Mean Woman Blues
on Cliff Richard's ATV 'Saturday Spectacular' on 21 May 1960.
This is a classic cover of the song made famous by both Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley, which Cliff and The Shadows recorded for their album Cliff Sings released in November 1959. It was officially recorded at Abbey Road on 7 September 1959, and became a regular in Cliff's live set and on television during 1960.
They performed it on BBC Radio's 'Saturday Club' on 5 September 1959 and on 'Parade Of The Pops' on 1 February 1960. It was also Cliff's final closing number in his ATV television 'Saturday Spectacular' broadcast on 21 May 1960. The TV performance survives. The odd inclusion of both male and female dancers who appear to have stepped straight from the set of 'Come Dancing' does detract and disappoint the viewer a little, but the raw energy from this rock 'n' roll classic makes this a memorable performance happily captured on film for future generations to enjoy.
The take of the song for the 'Me And My Shadows' shows was cut at around the same time as the television show and is identical note for note, including the same dynamic ending which is different to EMI's officially released version on the album. The quality of the track is fairly good without too much distortion in sound or radio interference.
MC: a stunning Hank solo (the first, the second is something of a let-down by comparison) is only one of the fine attributes of the Album version of this exceptionally powerful composition. The RL cut too is pretty hot: not all Cliff And The Shadows' rock 'n' roll ventures of the early 60s were as muscular as this, more's the pity.