"I " is an English language cover of the Italian song "Uno Dei Tanti", with music by Carlo Donida and lyrics by Giulio "Mogol" Rapetti. In its initial release, "Uno Dei Tanti" was released by Joe Sentieri in 1961. The English lyrics for "I " were written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who also produced the first English language release, performed by Ben E. King in 1963. The record used the backing track from Joe Sentieri's record.
In the US, the Ben E. King version reached #29 on the BillboardHot 100 charts and #16 on the Hot R&B Singles chart. Other versions which reached the Billboard charts were performed by Terry Knight and the Pack in 1966, Liquid Smoke in 1970, Warhorse in 1972 and Sylvester in 1979, with a disco-flavored version. The most popular version in the United States was by Tom Jones, which peaked at #14 in 1970 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Easy Listening chart. This version also peaked at #11 in Cashbox. Shirley Bassey released the song in September 1963, where it reached #6 on UK charts. She performs the song at almost every live concert she gives, and it is on many of her compilation albums, including I Am What I Am with the London Symphony Orchestra, and her 1989 album La Mujer where she sings it in Spanish. She has also been instrumental in making Donida's music known to English-speaking audiences through arranging for translations from the Italian, having performed with the composer conducting his own music on Italian television. Although never released as a single, Luther Vandross and Martha Wash recorded it as a duet, on his 1991 albumPower of Love. In 1997, the hook of the song was sampled in a song of the same name by underground hip hop groupJedi Mind Tricks, released on the albumThe Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological & Electro-Magnetic Manipulation of Human Consciousness. At the very beginning of their career, working under the name The Spectres, Status Quo released their version in September 1966 as their first single release.
