Misplaced Pages

"Heaven and Hell"
Cover of the 1967 Netherlands single
Single by The Easybeats
B-side	"Pretty Girl"
Released	22 June 1967
Recorded	Olympic Studios, London, 1967
Genre	Rock, psychedelic pop
Length	2:38
Label	Parlophone (Australia), United Artists Records
Songwriter(s)	Harry Vanda and George Young
Producer(s)	Glyn Johns
Easybeats Australian / UK singles chronology
"Who'll Be the One" (1967) "Heaven and Hell" (1967) "The Music Goes 'Round My Head" (1967)
Easybeats US singles chronology
"Friday on My Mind" (1966) "Heaven and Hell" (1967) "Falling Off the Edge of the World" (1967)

"Heaven and Hell" is a 1967 song and single by Australian rock group The Easybeats, which was written by band members George Young and Harry Vanda. The song marked a changed in style for the group, influenced by the psychedelic and baroque pop of the time.

Controversy and releases

When the song was released worldwide in June 1967, it ran into censorship problems in some regions. In the U.K. it was banned by the BBC because of references to "discovering someone else in your bed". In the U.S., United Artists feared record stations would also object to the line "discovering someone else in your bed". To play it safe, a censored version was recorded with a replacement line "discovering that your love has gone dead". The song appeared in Australia, briefly, in censored form but was soon released uncensored.

The song performed disappointingly in the U.S and U.K. It charted in the U.S. on the Cashbox and Record World charts at #92 and #96 retrospectively. In the U.K. it reached #55 on Record Retailer's charts. In their home country of Australia it did much better, reaching #14 in Go-Set.

Track listing

Australia - Parlophone A-8224, U.K. - United Artists UP 1183, U.S. - United Artists UA 50187

1. "Heaven And Hell" ( Harry Vanda, George Young) – 2:35
2. "Pretty Girl " (Harry Vanda, George Young) – 2:28

Charts

References

1. "Easygbeats Single" (PDF). Melody Maker. 15 July 1967. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
2. Tait, John (2010). Vanda & Young: Inside Australia's Hit Factory. Australia: University of New South Wales Press. ISBN 978-1-74223-217-1.

• 1967 singles
• The Easybeats songs
• Number-one singles in Australia
• Parlophone singles
• Songs written by George Young (rock musician)
• 1967 songs
• Songs banned by the BBC