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*[[Reba McEntire]] had a #13 hit on the U.S. Country music charts with her cover on her 1981 album ''[[Heart to Heart (Reba McEntire album)|Heart to Heart]]''.
*[[Reba McEntire]] had a #13 hit on the U.S. Country music charts with her cover on her 1981 album ''[[Heart to Heart (Reba McEntire album)|Heart to Heart]]''.
*[[The Statler Brothers]] covered the song on their 1986 album ''[[Four for the Show]]''. Their version was released as a single and peaked at #36 on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Hot Country Songs|Hot Country Singles]] chart. A music video was made for the song and was shot at [[Opryland USA]].
*[[The Statler Brothers]] covered the song on their 1986 album ''[[Four for the Show]]''. Their version was released as a single and peaked at #36 on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Hot Country Songs|Hot Country Singles]] chart. A music video was made for the song and was shot at [[Opryland USA]].
*[[Luis Miguel]] covered the song on their 1987 album ''[[Soy Como Quiero Ser]]'' with the title "Solo Tú".
*[[John Alford (actor)|John Alford]] recorded the song as a double-A side with "[[Blue Moon (song)|Blue Moon]]" in 1996, which reached number 9 in the UK charts.
*[[John Alford (actor)|John Alford]] recorded the song as a double-A side with "[[Blue Moon (song)|Blue Moon]]" in 1996, which reached number 9 in the UK charts.
*[[Stevie Holland]] covered this song on her 2006 album ''[[More Than Words Can Say (album)|More Than Words Can Say]]''.
*[[Stevie Holland]] covered this song on her 2006 album ''[[More Than Words Can Say (album)|More Than Words Can Say]]''.

Revision as of 02:07, 27 November 2020

For the similarly titled song by Yazoo, see Only You (Yazoo song).
"Only You (And You Alone)"
Mercury hit version
Single by The Platters
from the album The Platters (Original recording) & The Fabulous Platters (Re-recording)
B-side"Bark, Battle and Ball"
ReleasedJune 1955
RecordedApril 26, 1955
GenreDoo-wop
Length2:36
LabelMercury
Songwriter(s)Buck Ram

"Only You (And You Alone)" (often shortened to "Only You") is a pop song composed by Buck Ram.[1] It was originally recorded by The Platters with lead vocals by Tony Williams in 1955.[2]

The Platters version

The Platters first recorded the song for Federal Records on May 20, 1954, but the recording was not released. In 1955, after moving to Mercury Records, the band re-recorded the song (on April 26) and it scored a major hit when it was released in May. In November that year, Federal Records released the original recording as a single (B-side - "You Made Me Cry") which sold poorly.[3] Platters bass singer Herb Reed later recalled how the group hit upon its successful version: "We tried it so many times, and it was terrible. One time we were rehearsing in the car ... and the car jerked. Tony went 'O-oHHHH-nly you.' We laughed at first, but when he sang that song—that was the sign we had hit on something."[4] According to Buck Ram, Tony Williams' voice "broke" in rehearsal, but they decided to keep this effect in the recording. This was the only Platters recording on which songwriter and manager Ram played the piano.[2]

The song held strong in the number 1 position on the U.S. R & B charts for seven weeks, and hit number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[5] It remained there for 30 weeks, beating out a rival cover version by The Hilltoppers. When the Platters track, "The Great Pretender" (which eventually surpassed the success of "Only You"), was released in the UK as Europe's first introduction to The Platters, "Only You" was included on the flipside. In the 1956 film Rock Around the Clock, The Platters participated with both songs, "Only You" and "The Great Pretender". The song can be heard in the opening mission of the game Batman: Arkham Knight, mirroring the end credits of Batman: Arkham City over which a recording of the Joker singing the song plays. The song also features in the game Far Cry 5, being used to brainwash the player character by the games villains.

The Hilltoppers version

The Hilltoppers released their version of the song as a Dot Records single in 1955. It reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 3 in the UK.

Franck Pourcel version

An instrumental version by Franck Pourcel was a hit single in 1959, and sold over 5 million copies.[6] Pourcel's version spent 16 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 9,[7] while reaching No. 3 on Canada's CHUM Hit Parade,[8] and No. 18 on Billboard's Hot R&B Sides.[9][10]

Ringo Starr version

"Only You"
Standard picture sleeve
Single by Ringo Starr
from the album Goodnight Vienna
B-side"Call Me"
Released11 November 1974 (US)
15 November 1974 (UK)
Length3:16
LabelApple
Songwriter(s)Buck Ram
Producer(s)Richard Perry
Ringo Starr singles chronology
"Oh My My"
(1974) 		"Only You"
(1974) 		"No No Song"
(1974)
Goodnight Vienna track listing
Template:Goodnight Vienna tracks

In 1974, Ringo Starr covered this song for his album Goodnight Vienna at the suggestion of John Lennon. This version was released as a single (b/w "Call Me") on 11 November in the US,[nb 1][11] and it became a number six hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 and reached number one on the Easy Listening chart in early 1975.[12] It was released in the UK on 15 November.[nb 2][13] Lennon plays acoustic guitar on the track, and recorded a guide vocal which was kept by producer Richard Perry. Harry Nilsson sings harmony vocals and appears with Starr in the amusing music video filmed on top of the Capitol Records building in Los Angeles. Lennon's vocal version appears on his Anthology box set, in 1998.

Other notable covers

The song was covered by Love Letter in Just Dance 2015.

See also

References

Footnotes
  1. ^ US Apple 1876[11]
  2. ^ UK Apple R 6000[13]
Citations
  1. ^ For copyright reasons, Ram, who was registered with ASCAP, also added one of his pen names, Ande Rand.[citation needed]
  2. ^ a b Buck Ram interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969)
  3. ^ Goldberg, Marv (2008). "The Platters". Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  4. ^ "Herb Reed (Obituary)". The Telegraph. June 6, 2012. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  5. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 463.
  6. ^ Strictly Instrumental", Billboard. July 8, 1972. p. F 4. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  7. ^ Hot 100 - Franck Pourcel's French Fiddles Only You Chart History, Billboard.com. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  8. ^ "CHUM Hit Parade", CHUM. Week of May 25, 1959. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  9. ^ Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs - Franck Pourcel's French Fiddles Only You Chart History, Billboard.com. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  10. ^ "Hot R&B Sides", Billboard. June 15, 1959. p. 39. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  11. ^ a b Harry, Bill (2004). The Ringo Starr Encyclopedia. London: Virgin Books. p. 183. ISBN 9780753508435.
  12. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 230.
  13. ^ a b Harry, Bill (2004). The Ringo Starr Encyclopedia. London: Virgin Books. p. 182. ISBN 9780753508435.
  14. ^ Brenda Lee - Only You, Ultratop. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  15. ^ Brenda Lee - Only You, Ultratop. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  16. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  17. ^ Hot 100 - Bobby Hatfield Only You (And You Alone) Chart History, Billboard.com. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  18. ^ Peat, Charlie. "Former singer inspired to write more music after 40-year-old song proves a hit on YouTube". Hendon and Finchley Times. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  19. ^ a b Stein Ingebrigtsen - Bare du, norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
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