Book - The Dreamer by Cliff Richard
As anyone who has read my memoir based on music knows, I grew up with Cliff Richard.
While The Dreamer (great title) felt like a must-read, this is one book I quickly realise the evils of Empire are not going to be mentioned. Despite famously being born in India, this one talks about the sad decision having to be made by his parents to leave their privileged lives in India as violence escalated and having to start again in rented rooms in London. Whereas all the books I’ve recently read have been written by UK-born authors (Empireland, Brown Baby, Black and British) people born in the UK talk about the violence people endured at the hands of partition. It seems more like naivety rather than ignorance. Or is that the way publishers wanted it to seem?
Let’s leave politics there though.
Actually, I can’t as - as well it may that a memoir should include this - we do get a sense of his political leanings to the right. It’s interesting how so many Christians are philanthropists but seem to have no idea what’s caused the poverty in the countries they have their pictures taken in while playing fundraising concerts.
Back to the music. It all started with Elvis, similar to our house although we were 50% with Motown. A chance hearing of Presley belting out of a car window set the young Harry Webb (again, a well-known fact, no points for knowing this one) on course for being a pop star. He is super proud of the ‘British Elvis’ tagline’
There is a lot of ‘it was just business’ and the music came first. When he saw off all of the original school days band with a 't was a sad/tough decision but they understood.’ Even managers were dispatched in this way and yet there is a lot of talk of still being in touch with my first girlfriend for 60 years/every girl he ever dated (yes dated!)/band members.,
Also, Cliff Richard seemed surprisingly obsessed with attention from girls. He wanted what Elvis had from his fans.
It’s not spelt out although ‘inappropriate relationship’ seems to mean having an affair with his bandmate's wife.
The naivety comes back when talking about apartheid and justifying playing in South Africa during those days and what he subsequently did to make amends. And it shows again when meeting Colonel Parker, who we all seem to know now was manipulating when he managed Elvis (or promoted, as per the recent Elvis film). Again famously, meeting his hero eluded him but Vernon Pressley showed him around Graceland. He wasn’t there when I went; all I could think was that Graceland is much smaller than I imagined.
Cliff Richard lives up to his nice guy image by insisting Colonel Parker was a fine, down-to-earth guy. Even when he heard the Colonel had leaned on ED Sullivan to ensure Cliff didn’t play rock ‘n’ roll that would rival his paycheck.
Instead of Elvis, Cliff Richard inserts that his main rivals were the Beatles. Here, he claims Epstein paid girls to scream at them at JFK. Their paths would have crossed anyway, after all, we learn many of his records were recorded at Abbey Road, before the Beatles got there.
Cliff Richard’s Christianity (born again - I’d always assumed it was parenting) is not the first thing I think about although it is front and centre once it takes hold. I speed-read these sections. The inevitable anguish as to whether he can still be a pop star and a Christian comes up. What is still puzzling is that he can love Jesus and still be a singer, but doesn't have enough time to share his life with someone. Bizarre still when we learn that he has never lived alone, always with a friend or two.
The naivety or maybe ignorance about the world pops up throughout. He doesn’t think anything of including that he didn’t want a photo with Elvis because he had put on weight then.
And of course, Black people are not coming to gigs in South Africa Even post-apartheid, maybe they just couldn’t afford the tickets? However, he was conscious of this injustice.
I do agree on the law that states artists no longer receive royalties on their work after 50 years is bonkers and he was right to campaign to get that changed. Somehow he blames the EU for this! He also seems to think people wrongly accused is the fault of the Internet. Rather than the police. And then a few pages later he is suing the police. He seems to be OK with the American press - and understandably distrusting of (some of the) British press. Although doesn’t understand that perhaps the US press hasn't done a number on him because he's not known there. (His record company refusing to promote him there is a running theme).
I am sure the editors had their work cut out on ironing out these kinds of oddities.
Cliff Richard writes like an 80-year-old 'I've got an app on my phone that lets me mess with photos'. But then I probably wrote my memoir like a 45-year-old. So it makes absolute sense and undoubtedly The Dreamer will have been read by hardcore fans. It’s a fun read and I tried not to judge.