| Only You (And You Alone) | |
| Cover: | The Platters - Only You single.jpg |
| Caption: | Mercury hit version |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | the Platters |
| Album: | The Platters |
| B-Side: | Bark, Battle and Ball |
| Released: | June 1955 |
| Recorded: | April 26, 1955 |
| Genre: | Doo-wop |
| Length: | 2:36 |
| Label: | Mercury |
| Prev Title: | Maggie Doesn't Work Here Anymore |
| Prev Year: | 1954 |
| Next Title: | The Great Pretender |
| Next Year: | 1955 |
"Only You (And You Alone)" (often shortened to "Only You") is a doo wop song composed by Buck Ram, the manager of the Platters, the group that made the song famous in the US, the UK and Belgium. The Platters's lead vocals are by Tony Williams.
Other well-known versions have been recorded by the Hilltoppers, Franck Pourcel and Ringo Starr. American country music versions were released by Travis Tritt, Reba McEntire, Bobby Hatfield and the Statler Brothers. In the UK, the most widely heard versions are the ones by the Platters, Ringo Starr, the band Child and the actor John Alford. In Norway, a version by Stein Ingebrigtsen charted in the Norwegian language. American singer Brenda Lee scored a hit in Belgium with her 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.[1]
Platters bass singer Herb Reed 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."[2] 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.
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 Top 100 chart.[3] It remained on the charts 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 group, "Only You" was included on the B-side. In the 1956 film Rock Around the Clock, the Platters participated with both songs.
The Platters re-recorded a slightly longer version of the song for Musicor Records in 1966, which features on the album I Love You 1,000 Times (MM 2091).
In 1999, the 1955 recording on Mercury Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[4]
| scope=col | Chart (1955 - 1957) | scope=col | Peak position |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Best Sellers in Stores (Billboard)[5] | 5 | ||
| US Rhythm & Blues Best Sellers in Stores (Billboard)[6] | 1 | ||
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.[7]
An instrumental version by Franck Pourcel was a hit single in 1959, and sold more than 5 million copies.[8] Pourcel's version spent 16 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching number 9,[9] while reaching number 3 on Canada's CHUM Hit Parade,[10] and number 18 on Billboards Hot R&B Sides.[11] [12]
| Only You | |
| Cover: | Only You Ringo Starr single cover.jpg |
| Caption: | Standard picture sleeve |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Ringo Starr |
| Album: | Goodnight Vienna |
| B-Side: | Call Me |
| Released: |
|
| Label: | Apple |
| Producer: | Richard Perry |
| Prev Title: | Oh My My |
| Prev Year: | 1974 |
| Next Title: | No No Song |
| Next Year: | 1974 |
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,[13] and it became a number six hit on the US Billboard best seller chart and reached number one on the Easy Listening chart in early 1975.[14] It was released in the UK on 15 November.[15] 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.
