Nicky Thomas 'Love Of The Common People' (official audio)

Official audio for Nicky Thomas's 1970 hit version of 'Love Of The Common People'

Written by British songsmiths, John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins, ‘Love Of The Common People’ first saw release in 1967 when it was recorded by US vocal quartet, the Four Preps.

Soon after, the song was covered by an array of acts, including the Everly Brothers, Wayne Newton, Waylon Jennings, the Cats, Lynn Anderson, Sandy Posey, Jim Ed Brown and Pennsylvania Sixpence, while the following year, among those to cut the number included Joe Dolan, the Gosdin Brothers, Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy and the Simple Image. The versions continued into ’69, with notable covers being versions by John Denver, Melba Montgomery, Justin Tubb and the Winstons.

While none of the above artists succeeded to breach the UK charts with the song, it did finally make the country’s Top 50 on 3 June 1970, when Nicky Thomas’s finely understated rendition entered the listings at Number 36, eventually climbing to Number 9 a month later. Believed to have sold in excess of 175,000 copies, it proved to be the singer’s sole chart entry, despite going on to make numerous high quality sides for his London-based record company, Trojan Records.

The recording, which heavily influenced the 1982 hit version by British singer Paul Young, had been cut by Thomas in Jamaica for producer Joe Gibbs, with orchestration subsequently arranged by Trojan in London, making it one of the first of many ‘commercial reggae’ (or ‘pop reggae’) tracks released by the company during the early Seventies.

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LOVE OF THE COMMON PEOPLE LYRICS
Written by Ronnie Wilkins & John Hurley
Published by Edward Kassner Music Co. Ltd.

Living on free food tickets
Water in the milk from a hole in the roof
Where the rain came through
What can you do?

Tears from your little sister
Crying because she doesn't have a dress without a patch
For the party to go
But you know she'll get by

'Cause she's living in the love of the common people
Smiles from the heart of a family man
Daddy's gonna buy you a dream to cling to
Mama's gonna love you just as much as she can
And she can

It's a good thing you don't have bus fare
It would fall through the hole in your pocket and you'd lose it
In the snow on the ground
You got to walk into town to find a job

Trying to keep your hands warm
When the hole in your shoe let the snow come through
And chill you to the bone
So now you'd better go home where it's warm

You can live in the love of the common people
Smiles from the heart of a family man
Daddy's gonna buy you a dream to cling to
Mama's gonna love you just as much as she can
And she can

Living on a dream ain't easy,
The closer the knit, the tighter the fit
And the chills stay away
Take them in stride for family pride

You know that faith is your foundation
A whole lot of love and a warm conversation
But don't forget to pray
Just make it strong, where you belong

So you can live in the love of the common people
Smiles from the heart of a family man
Daddy's gonna buy you a dream to cling to
Mama's gonna love you just as much as she can
And she can

Living in the love of the common people
Smiles from the heart of a family man
Daddy's gonna buy you a dream to cling to
Mama's gonna love you just as much as she can

Living in the love of the common people
Smiles from the heart of a family man

#NickyThomas #loveofthecommonpeople #TrojanRecords