If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind

"If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind"
UK single label
Single by Cilla Black
B-side	"It Feels So Good"
Released	21 November 1969 (1969-11-21)
Recorded	28 September 1969 (1969-09-28)
Studio	EMI, London
Genre	Baroque pop folk rock
Length	2:50
Label	Parlophone
Songwriter	John Cameron
Producer	George Martin
Cilla Black singles chronology
"Conversations" (1969) "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" (1969) "Child of Mine" (1970)
Audio
"(If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" on YouTube

Throughout the first months of 1969, British singer Cilla Black was experiencing commercial success with the singles "Surround Yourself with Sorrow" and "Conversations", both of which managed to reach the top-10 of the Record Retailer chart.^[20] The majority of Black's material was chosen by her producer George Martin or acquaintances of his, primarily employees at his record company Associated Independent Recording (AIR).^[21][22] Henriksson, who produced Blond's version of the song, had signed with AIR in early 1969 and become close with Martin due to his round-trips from Sweden to London.^[14] It was during one of these trips that Henriksson played an acetate copy of The Lilac Years for Martin, who ended up enamoured with the record; in particular, Martin saw the commercial appeal of several songs, primarily "(I Will Bring You) Flowers In The Morning".^[14]

Martin reverted the title back to "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" after requesting sheet music for the song by Cameron's publisher.^[14] Nonetheless, Martin felt that the baroque style would fit Black's voice and he booked a session with her at EMI Studios in London on 28 September 1969; it was the first time in over half a year that Black had entered a recording studio.^[23] Black's rendition also carries a more folk-like tone.^[24] The string quartet was conducted and arranged by former Manfred Mann-guitarist Mike Vickers and Martin, in addition to producing, also acted as a session musician playing harpsichord.^[23][25] The session also produced the song, "It Feels So Good", which was co-written by Gus Backus.^[23][25]

"If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" was released as a single in the UK on 21 November 1969 through Parlophone Records, backed by "It Feels So Good".^{[23][25][26][nb 5]} A release in the United States followed in December 1969 through DJM Records; for this release, the song was re-titled "If You Should Ever Change Your Mind".^[27] In the UK, the single was caught up in the record-buying rush right before Christmas, taking over a month to chart before it entered the Record Retailer chart on 13 December 1969 at a position of 34.^[20] It would achieve a peak position of number 20 on 10 January 1970, becoming Black's 13th and penultimate top-20 hit in England.^[20] The song dropped out of the chart on 7 February 1970 at a position of 42, having spent 9 weeks on the charts.^[20] It also reached number 29 in the chart compiled by New Musical Express on 27 December 1969.^[28]

Despite becoming a top-20 hit in the UK, "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" was considered somewhat of a chart failure, as Black's previous two domestic singles had reached the top-ten.^[20] Elsewhere in Europe, the song only charted in Ireland, where it reached number 19.^[29] In Oceania, the single managed to reach number 53 in Australia and entered the New Zealand top-10, peaking at number 7.^[30][31] The year 1969 started the decline of Black's chart success which she never managed to recover from.^[32] She had a final top-ten single with "Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight)" in 1971, but never charted in the top-40 after that.^[20]

In a blind date for Melody Maker, soul singer Madeline Bell wrote that "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" was a "nice, gentle record that only she [Black] could get away with now".^[33] Although Bell thought the single sounded "nice", she believed that the record didn't "kill me".^[33] Writing for New Musical Express, journalist Derek Johnson states that the song has an "unobtrusive beat" which benefits from Vicker's "attractive scoring".^[24] He believes the arrangement to "capture the mood" of the song to perfection.^[24] He praises Black's contrasting vocal performances during the verses, which she "whispers tenderly and sympathetically", and the chorus when the "beat intensifies" and sings more forcefully.^[24] However, he is critical that Black did not use her "characteristic belt".^[24] Peter Jones at Record Mirror writes that the single has an almost "classical start" to it, while offering a "quiet, gradual buildup" before ending up in a "hot-footed, wide ranged chorus".^[34] He ends his review on the positive note that "it's not a routine single".^[34]

After Black's death in August 2015, Bob Stanley wrote in The Guardian that "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" was perhaps the "saddest" song she recorded in her career.^[35]

"If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind"
Single by Agnetha Fältskog
from the album My Colouring Book
Released	9 April 2004 (2004-04-09)
Studio	Atlantis, Stockholm
Genre	Orchestral pop
Length	3:15
Label	WEA
Songwriter	John Cameron
Producers	Agnetha Fältskog Anders Neglin Dan Strömkvist
Agnetha Fältskog singles chronology
"The Queen of Hearts" (1998) "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" (2004) "When You Walk in the Room" (2004)
Music video
"If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" on YouTube

Shortly after completing her third English-language studio album I Stand Alone in 1987, Swedish pop musician Agnetha Fältskog (formerly of pop group ABBA) went on an unofficial hiatus for almost 15 years, primarily because she felt that music was no longer a challenge for her.^[36][37] Instead, Fältskog pursued other interests, such as astrology, horse riding and yoga.^[38] In April 1999, ABBA musical Mamma Mia! premiered in London's West End theatre to critical acclaim from both audiences and critics alike.^[37][39] The production was so commercially successful that Fältskog was drawn back into recording music;^[36][40] she commenced in February 2003 at Atlantis Studios in Stockholm, Sweden to record an upcoming album.^[41]

Fältskog envisioned the album as a cover album, in that every song recorded is a cover from her teenage and childhood years during the 1950s and 1960s.^[36] In preparation for it, Fältskog spend roughly 4 years procuring a collection of primarily obscure vinyl records in order to assist in the creation of the album, according to The Guardian.^[42] Although Fältskog and Blond (during their time as Tages) had shared the same bill at concerts during the late 1960s,^[43] she instead based her version of "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" on the cover by Black.^[44] Journalist Michael Osborn stated that the production of the song represented an "old-fashioned sense of song recording".^[45] It was recorded as a modernized orchestral pop song.^[40]

As with the rest of the album, "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" was produced by Fältskog together with musicians Anders Neglin and Dan Strömkvist, who also conducted the string arrangement and performed drums, respectively.^[44][46] Musicians that perform on the track include ABBA guitarist Lasse Wellander.^[46]

"If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" was announced as the first single released from of Fältskog's upcoming comeback album, which would be titled My Colouring Book.^[47] It had a radio debut on Swedish commercial radio station Rix FM on 8 March 2004.^[47] The song was released worldwide as a CD single on 9 April 2004, predating the release of My Colouring Book by two weeks.^[40][48] The B-sides on the single were various radio remixes of "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" and varied in the different regions they were released in.^[49] With the exception of the archival release of "The Queen of Hearts" in 1998, "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" was the first single release by Fältskog since "Let It Shine" in 1987.^[49]

"If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" debuted on Swedish record chart Hitlistan on 23 April 2004 at a position of number 2, before leaving the chart on 23 July at a position of 60, having spent 15 weeks on the chart.^[48] On the UK singles chart, the single debuted at number 11 on 24 April 2004, before leaving the chart on 22 May at a position of 55, having spent five weeks on the chart.^[50] The song remains Fältskog's highest charting solo single in the UK.^[50][51] Elsewhere in Europe, the single also reached the top-20 in Denmark and Scotland.^[52][53]

In his review for the single, Dan Backman of Svenska Dagbladet writes that "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" remained "faithful to the Cilla Black version" and the Strömkvist's drum performance was inspired by Ringo Starr.^[44] Backman does note that Fältskog's voice is slightly weaker during the verses than during the choruses.^[44] Osborn writes that her rendition is "dramatic" and "delicately-wrought".^[45] Anders Larsson, writing for Aftonbladet, finds traces of Lennon–McCartney in the track but believes that Fältskog never puts personal emphasis on the song, instead performing it as an "experienced Schlager number".^[54]

• Black, Cilla (2009). What's It All About?. United Kingdom: Ebury Publishing. ISBN 9781407025162.
• Brandels, Göran; Wrigholm, Lennart (2012). Boken om Tages: från Avenyn till Abbey Road (in Swedish). Premium Publishing. ISBN 978-91-89136-88-5.
• Englund, Magnus (Summer 1988). "An interview with Tommy Blom". Ugly Things (7). Archived from the original on 5 June 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
• Fältskog, Agnetha (2004). My Colouring Book (CD). Europe: WEA. 5050467-3122-2-7.
• Kent, David (2005). Australian Chart Book 1940–1969. Turramurra, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-44439-5.
• Munns, Stephen (2012). Completely Cilla: 1963-1973 (CD). Europe: EMI. 5099960283221.
• Penna, Tristram (1997). 1963 - 1973 The Abbey Road Decade (CD). Europe: Zonophone. 7243 8 57053 2 8.
• Rees, Nigel (2002). Mark My Words: Great Quotations and the Stories Behind Them (1st ed.). United Kingdom: Barnes & Noble. ISBN 9780760735329.
• Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). United Kingdom: Guinness World Records Limited. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
• Ward, Daniel (2017). Agnetha Fältskog: The Girl with the Golden Hair. United Kingdom: Fonthill Media. ISBN 9781781555217.
• Wrigholm, Lennart (1991). "Tages: Makalös grej i Götet…". Now & then (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 4 November 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2024 – via Blaskoteket.