"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.[1]
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.[2]
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."[3] 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.[1]
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.[4] 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 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,[16] 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.[17] It was released in the UK on 15 November.[18] 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 cover versions
Travis Tritt released his version of the song as a single in January of 1996, where it peaked at number 52 on the Hot Country Songs Chart and number 28 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks Chart. It was Tritts first single to miss the Top 40 on the Hot Country Songs Chart.
English singer Jeff Collins from Enfield recorded the song in 1972. It was popular in Europe, and rose to number 40 in the UK charts, charting for eight weeks.[23]
In 1973, the singer Stein Ingebrigtsen had a number one hit on Norway's VG-lista with a Norwegian version of the song, entitled "Bare du".[24] The lyrics were written by the record producer Arve Sigvaldsen.[24] A Swedish version of the song, "Bara du", also recorded by Ingebrigtsen, became popular in that country. Ingebrigtsen also recorded a German version entitled "So wie du" with lyrics written by Ralph-Maria Siegel.
The pop band Child released the song as a single in 1979, reaching number 33 in the UK Charts.
Reba McEntire had a number 13 hit on the U.S. Country music charts with her cover on her 1981 album Heart to Heart.
John Alford recorded the song as a double-A side with "Blue Moon" in 1996, which reached number 9 in the UK charts.
Mark Hamill recorded a cover of the song in-character as The Joker for the 2011 video game Batman: Arkham City. In the game Joker leaves multiple voicemails for Batman, with the song playing during the credits following Joker's death.
