Shortly after splitting from the Yardbirds and in the process of forming his group, Jeff Beck recorded a few solo singles with producer Mickie Most in 1967. During the sessions, Beck still had some vision of becoming a pop star and recorded “Tallyman” and a cover of “Hi Ho Silver Lining,” and sang on both. Written by the American songwriting duo of Larry Weiss and Scott English—also behind the American Breed’s 1968 hit “Bend Me, Shape Me”—”Hi Ho Silver Lining” was first released as a single by the British band The Attack in March 1967, just months before Beck had a go at it.
Beck released it as an A Side to his more epic rock instrumental, “Beck’s Bolero,” which featured and has been credited to Jimmy Page. While the Attack’s release of “Hi Ho Silver Lining” failed to chart, Beck’s went straight to the Top 20 of the UK Singles chart at No. 14 and remained there for 14 weeks, giving him an instant hit. The recorded track featured Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, Rod Stewart on backing vocals, and drummer Clem Cattini.
Pieced together as more of a novelty song after Most suggested English add lyrics to the song after hearing an early version of it, including Flies are in your pea soup baby / They’re waving at me, “Hi Ho Silver Lining” later became a soccer chant and a song Beck regretted singing.
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The song pulls its title from the name of the horse (Silver) in The Lone Ranger and follows an optimistic girl who always looks on the brighter side of life but didn’t represent the moody guitar and the legendary catalog Beck would begin building.
“Hi Ho Silver Lining” soon became a song Beck regretted. He even associated the song with “having a pink toilet seat hung around your neck for the rest of your life.”
You’re everywhere and nowhere, baby
That’s where you’re at
Going down a bumpy hillside
In your hippy hat
Flying across the country
And getting fat
Saying everything is groovy
When your tyres are flat
And it’s hi, ho silver lining
And away you go now baby
I see your sun is shining
But I won’t make a fuss
Though it’s obvious
Flies are in your pea soup baby
They’re waving at me
Anything you want is yours now
Only nothing’s for free
Though “Hi Ho Silver Lining” brought Beck some early solo success, it didn’t make the final cut on his 1968 debut Truth, nor did “Tallyman,” while “Beck’s Bolero” did. Beck later released “Hi Ho Silver Lining” as a bonus track on the reissue of Truth in 2006.
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“It’s a great song,” said Beck of his early hit. “I just hated singing it. It’s just a bit embarrassing when you’re trying to play your moody guitar. Mickie [produce Mickie Most] said: ‘You’ll be hearing this for a long time.’ We did it as a joke, I think it was for the Prince’s Trust, and it really got the crowd going. But I’m never going to sing it again.”
Though it barely made Beck’s setlist throughout his career, he still performed “Hi Ho Silver Lining” on some occasions, including the 1983 ARMS Charity Concert for MS, on the Jools Holland Show in 2003, along with Robert Plant, Chrissie Hynde, and while on tour with Eric Clapton, 2009-2010.
In 2009, the song was featured in the British comedy Pirate Radio, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Bill Nighy, and has been covered by Slade, Imelda May with the Fisherman’s Friends, and more since its release.
Photo: David Redfern/Redferns/Getty Images
