"Say You Don't Mind" is a song written and originally recorded by English musician

Denny Laine Brian Frederick Hines (29 October 1944 – 5 December 2023), known professionally as Denny Laine, was an English musician who co-founded two major rock bands: the Moody Blues and Wings. Laine played guitar in the Moody Blues from 1964 to 1966 ...

. It was a top 20 hit for

Colin Blunstone Colin Edward Michael Blunstone (born 24 June 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. In a career spanning more than 60 years, Blunstone came to prominence in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of the Rock music, rock band the Zombies, which rel ...

in 1972.

History

Laine wrote the song in 1967 after he had quit

the Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in May 1964. The band initially consisted of Graeme Edge (drums), Denny Laine (guitar/vocals), Mike Pinder (keyboards/vocals), Ray Thomas (multi-instrumentalist/vocals) and Clint W ...

and was forming the Electric String Band. He recorded the song as his debut solo single, with a string arrangement by

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-born naval officer who served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Often referred to as the "Father of the American Navy", Jones is regard ...

, but it failed to chart.

Episode Six Episode Six, Episode 6 or Episode VI may refer to: Film * ''Return of the Jedi'' also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'', a 1983 film Music * Episode Six (band), a British band Television episodes * Episode 6 (All of Us Are ...

(featuring future

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

singer

Ian Gillan Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is an English singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice. Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...

and bassist

Roger Glover Roger David Glover (born 30 November 1945) is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as a member of the hard rock bands Deep Purple and Rainbow. As a member of Deep Purple, Glover was inducted into the Rock and Roll ...

) recorded the song at a BBC session in January 1968, with keyboardist Sheila Carter singing lead. The song was also recorded in 1970 by British psychedelic pop group Orange Bicycle, for their first album. The song was revisited by former

Zombies A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: ''zumbi'') is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore ...

frontman

in 1971 as the closing track on his first solo album, ''

One Year ''One Year'' is the debut solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Colin Blunstone, a member of the Zombies. It was released by Epic Records in 1971. It includes " Say You Don't Mind", which peaked at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart. Pr ...

''. He had suggested recording the song while the Zombies were still active, but this never happened. The recording featured a string arrangement by

Christopher Gunning Christopher Gunning (5 August 1944 – 25 March 2023) was an English composer of concert works and music for films and television. Early life Gunning was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire on 5 August 1944, the younger of two sons. He grew up ...

, which has only vocals and strings, no other instruments. In 2006,

Neil Tennant Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954) is an English singer, songwriter and music journalist, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo the Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He was a journalist for '' Smash Hits'', and assist ...

Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music h ...

said, "It's a very energetic song but it's driven by the strings and that's unusual in pop. He has a very delicate voice: I think he's the missing link between

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was a British singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano voice, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop mus ...

and

Nick Drake Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter and musician. An accomplished acoustic guitarist, Drake signed to Island Records at the age of twenty while still a student at the University of Cambridg ...

." According to Blunstone, Gunning was paid a flat fee of £15 to write the score. The recording was released as a single on

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

and became a hit, reaching number 15 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1972. Laine later said that due to an erroneous publishing contract, he did not receive songwriting royalties from this version. The song was performed live by

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the bene ...

on their 1972–3 tours, and was one of the few songs in the live set to feature Laine singing lead vocals instead of

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

. Laine later recorded another version, after leaving Wings in 1980, featured on the album '' Japanese Tears''. He featured the song live in concert, and it appeared on 1997's ''Performs the Hits of Wings''.

References

Citations Sources * * * {{refend

External links

"Say You Don't Mind"
at 45cat.com 1967 songs 1967 debut singles 1972 singles Colin Blunstone songs Paul McCartney and Wings songs Songs written by Denny Laine Epic Records singles