Only You (And You Alone)


"Only You " is a pop song composed by Buck Ram. It was originally recorded by The Platters with lead vocals by Tony Williams in 1955.

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 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 which sold poorly.
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." 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 Hot 100 chart. It remained there for 30 weeks, beating out a rival cover version by The Hilltoppers. When the Platters track, "The Great Pretender", 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 ', mirroring the end credits of ' 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.

Franck Pourcel version

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

Ringo Starr version

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 on 11 November in the US, 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. It was released in the UK on 15 November. 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