Yesterday Man

"Yesterday Man"
Single by Chris Andrews
B-side"Too Bad You Don't Want Me"
Released17 September 1965
Genre
Length2'20"
LabelDecca F11536
Songwriter(s)Chris Andrews
Producer(s)Ken Woodman
Chris Andrews singles chronology
"Someone's Taken Maria Away"
(6.1965)
"Yesterday Man"
(1965)
"To Whom It Concerns"
(11.1965)
Performance video
"Yesterday Man" on Beat Club on YouTube

"Yesterday Man" is a song written by Chris Andrews and was his first single as a solo singer, released on 17 September 1965. It climbed to No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart, and No. 1 in Ireland, New Zealand, Germany and Austria. In England it sold 20,000 copies in its first day. After a visit to England in September 1965, Jerry Wexler made a deal for Atco Records to release the single in the United States. In the US, it reached No. 94 in 1966. The Cash Box trade paper reported in its 5 February 1966 issue that it had passed 300,000 sales in Germany alone, and later over 800,000 as a final tally in that country (28 May 1966). Additionally, Andrews was awarded a silver disc for 250,000 sales of the single in the UK.

In a contemporary review of the song, the Evening Sentinel wrote how: "Why write hits for Adam and Sandie all the time? says Andrews and sounds quite good on his own", further deeming it to be "Blue-beatish and good." In 2014, Spin included the song in their list of "25 Major Moments in White Reggae History"; in the accompanying write-up, writer Chris Martins deemed it "the birth of White Reggae" and highlighted how the song "made [Andrews'] heart pitter and patter to an island riddim". Mario Villanueva of The Greenville News included the song in a list of twelve exemplary "cod-reggae" songs.

Reggae Mint of UDiscover Music wrote that the "ska-styled solo hit" was a musical predecessor to the Beatles' song "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" (1968). Andrews' brass-heavy hit was also a partial inspiration for the oom-pah arrangement written by Johnny Marr for the Smiths' song "Frankly Mr. Shankly" (1986).

A German-language version was also recorded. Named "Alles tu Ich Fuer Dich", it was released on the label Deutsche Vogue.