I first heard this song when I was 10 years old; I don't remember a time when I didn't know it. I like it well enough but it's been in my brain so long that I can't really have a new opinion about it.
When Jeff Christie wrote "Yellow River", he originally gave it to The Tremeloes to record. When they decided to release a different song as their next single, the vocals from their version were wiped off, Jeff Christie's vocals were added, and the single was released under the Christie name. This version went to #1 in 26 countries, including Britain, reached #23 on the Billboard Hot 100, and sold over three million copies.
Christie, the resulting band that was formed, released a follow-up single later that year, "San Bernadino". It only reached #100 on the Billboard Hot 100 and did not get airplay in Toronto but it did manage to make it into the top ten in several countries and reached #1 in Switzerland. The band had never actually been to San Bernardino, California, at the time of the song's release - which is perhaps why they misspelled the name - but the city adopted it as its official City Song in 2006 anyway.
Christie continued releasing singles until 1975 and folded shortly after that. Jeff Christie created another version of the band in 1990, touring under that name for 16 years. A collection of demos and unreleased songs was issued as a double album in 2012 under the title No Turn Unstoned.
Two official or semi-official videos of "Yellow River" exist: an early video featuring their original drummer, Mike Blakley, and a later video featuring replacement drummer Paul Fenton. He looks somewhat sour-faced in this video, perhaps because he was miming drums that he never played.
By the way, this song doesn't appear to reference a specific actual Yellow River anywhere - I doubt that Christie was thinking of the river in China when he was writing this.
Created March 20, 2026.