"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 versions
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 Top 100 chart.[5] 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 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 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,[nb 1][17] 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.[18] It was released in the UK on 15 November.[nb 2][19] 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.
Travis Tritt released his version of the song as a single in January of 1996, where it peaked at #52 on the
Hot Country Songs Chart and #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.[24]
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".[25] The lyrics were written by the record producer Arve Sigvaldsen.[25] 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.
Somewhere in 1973,
John Lennon did a demo version for his partner and friend Ringo Starr to be recorded by him for his next solo album, the song can be heard on Lennon's 1990 Wonsaponatime album.
The pop band
Child released the song as a single in 1979, reaching number 33 in the UK Charts.
Reba McEntire had a #13 hit on the U.S. Country music charts with her cover on her 1981 album Heart to Heart.
Dallara, the first Italian
shouter (in Italian: urlatore), and his music were influenced by the
triplet pattern (in
Italian: stile terzinato) that had been introduced in Italy by the Platters in "Only You", and can be heard in their songs such as "Come prima".[26]
In the video game Far Cry 5, the song features prominently as a cult brainwashing trigger.
The song is parodied in the film A Chinese Odyssey (1995), sung by "Law Kar-ying" and its lyrics rewritten by "Jeffrey Lau".