"Every Face Tells a Story" is a song originally written by Michael Allison and Peter Sills for British singer Cliff Richard, whom Olivia Newton-John was a backing singer for in the early 1970s. Richard originally attempted a recording of the song in December 1975 studio sessions for his 1976 studio album I'm Nearly Famous, but it remained unreleased. He recorded the song again for his 1977 studio album Every Face Tells a Story, for which it became the title track.[1]
Richard's version uses the same music, but the lyrics are about Jesus and are Gospel-themed. Although a pop star, Richard is a Christian and sometimes includes Gospel tracks on his albums. Don Black rewrote the lyrics but kept the title, removing the Gospel theme.[citation needed]