"Days of Pearly Spencer" (or in later releases "The Days of Pearly Spencer") is a 1967 song written and originally performed by the singer-songwriter from Northern Ireland David McWilliams, and included on his second album David McWilliams. It charted in continental Europe in 1967 and in the UK Singles Chart in 1992 after being covered by Marc Almond.

Having his first single, "God and My Country", flop, McWilliams entered a Belfast recording studio to record some demos. Around that time, Mervyn Solomon overheard his tapes, and was impressed enough to telephone his brother Phil Solomon, who agreed. As McWilliams was already signed to CBS, who manufactured Major Minor's recordings, Solomon offered to take McWilliams off their hands. The offer was accepted, and Solomon took McWilliams with him to London to record the song. Originally, the song was a poignant ballad.

The song had, according to Stuart Bailie of Radio Ulster, a "flickering, almost documentary style" in which it took listeners to the more run-down parts of Ballymena where people walked through rubble bare-foot looking old beyond their years. Due to the title of the song, many listeners believed that the song pertained to an individual harrowed by a poor lifestyle and poor-quality alcohol; McWilliams said he had written the song about a homeless man encountered in Ballymena. Some of those close to McWilliams, however, claimed he was writing about two ladies from his hometown.

The recording was produced by Mike Leander who formed a sweeping orchestral arrangement for the song. Leander had previously provided arrangements for such records as "She's Leaving Home" by The Beatles and Marianne Faithfull's "As Tears Go By."

...
Wikipedia