"Big Ship" is a song by

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

, released as a single in May 1969. It peaked at number 8 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 ...

Background and release

"Big Ship" was written by

Raymond Froggatt Raymond William Froggatt (born 13 November 1941) is an English songwriter and singer.Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Country Music'', Virgin Books, , p. 159-160 Biography Froggatt (otherwise known as "Froggy") was born in Bordes ...

and was close to being selected as Lulu's entry for the

1969 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 1969 was the 14th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Madrid, Spain, following the country's victory at the with the song "La, la, la" by Massiel. Organised by the European Broadcasting U ...

. However, it was rejected in favour of "

Boom Bang-a-Bang "Boom Bang-a-Bang" is a song recorded by Scottish singer Lulu. The song was written by Alan Moorhouse and Peter Warne. It was the at the Eurovision Song Contest 1969, held in Madrid. It was the joint winner with three other entries: Salomé ...

". In January 1969, record producer

Mickie Most Michael Peter Hayes (20 June 1938 – 30 May 2003), known as Mickie Most, was an English record producer behind scores of hit singles for acts such as the Animals, Herman's Hermits, the Nashville Teens, Donovan, Lulu, Suzi Quatro, Hot Chocolate ...

wrote in ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' that "Big Ship" was "a number one record ... not just here but all over the world" and was "strongly in line for a future record" by

Herman's Hermits Herman's Hermits are an English beat, rock and pop group formed in 1964 in Manchester, originally called Herman and His Hermits and featuring lead singer Peter Noone. Produced by Mickie Most, the Hermits charted with number ones in the UK a ...

. The band did record the song but it remained unreleased until its inclusion on the box set '' Into Something Good: The Mickie Most Years 1964–72''. Cliff Richard's manager Peter Gormley heard about the song and given the success of Richard's Eurovision song "

Congratulations Congratulations may refer to: Film and television *'' Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest'', 2005 television programme to commemorate its fiftieth anniversary Music Albums * ''Congratulations'' (album), an album by ...

" the year before decided to get him to record a version. It was recorded with the Mike Vickers Orchestra, who performed all instrumentation on the track. "Big Ship" was released as a single with the B-side "She's Leaving You", written by the Shadows' drummer

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 ...

, who also conducted the orchestra that backs the song.

Reception

Reviewing for ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

'', Peter Jones wrote that "the chorus, with organ and voices added, is dead commercial, and Cliff fills in the verses with his usual warmth and clarity. There Is a shanty-ish sort of feel to it and some excellent brass figures behind. Not his best, but better than most". For ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British 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 that ended up as a f ...

'', Derek Johnson described the song as having a "breezy air of light-hearted gaiety and vitality. Set to a rollicking nautical-flavoured score, with a vocal group joining in the chorus, it's a happy-go-lucky ditty in much the same mould as "

Good Times ''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was television's first African ...

"".

Track listing

# "Big Ship" – 2:26 # "She's Leaving You" – 3:28

Charts

References

{{authority control 1969 singles 1969 songs Cliff Richard songs Columbia Graphophone Company singles Song recordings produced by Norrie Paramor