In 1976 Cliff Richard recorded the song “Devil Woman”. It was a big hit, reaching number nine on the UK charts. In the USA it made it as far as number six on the Billboard Hot 100. That was Richard’s biggest hit ever in the United States. Let’s learn more about this famous song.
Terry Britten wrote it. He was a well known song writer whose work was performed by people like Michael Jackson. He had some other hits such as “What’s Love Got to Do with It”. Terry played the guitar on Cliff Richard’s recording of Devil Woman. The song was recorded at the famous Abbey Road, a frequent recording studio used by the Beatles.
The Devil Woman song tells a story. A stray cat with evil eyes curses a man. He becomes concerned and eventually seeks the help of a medium, a gypsy woman, to remove the curse. But it turns out the cat didn’t curse him. The gypsy cursed him in order to bring him to her.
Not many songs tell a straightforward story like that heard in Devil Woman. In other words they are very simple songs. They have a minimum of instruments and generally simple tunes. One of these simple songs is Devil Woman. The instruments used to record the song include a guitar, an electric piano, drums and percussion. And of course the singer.
For a pop song Devil Woman has unique combination of major and minor chords. Songs at the time didn’t use more than an octave like it did.
Devil Woman has been covered by others. One of these is the Accused. The group began in Washington in 1981. Their music is splatter rock. Their music includes sounds from well known horror movies. This often includes lyrics sung as shrieks.
In 2005 Cradle of Faith covered Devil Woman. This was an extreme metal band from England. Their songs were in the style of the band had said any kind of metal. Given their reputation and style of music this song was perfect for them.
No matter who plays it, Devil Woman is a devilish song.