"Only You (And You Alone)" (often shortened to "Only You") is a

doo wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, ...

song composed by Buck Ram, the manager of

the Platters The Platters are an American vocal group formed in 1952. They are one of the most successful vocal groups of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound bridges the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the new burgeoning genre. The act ...

, 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 Franck Pourcel (14 August 1913 – 12 November 2000) was a French composer, arranger, and conductor of popular and classical music. Biography Early life Born in Marseille, France, Pourcel started learning the violin at the age of six. Later ...

and

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...

. American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

versions were released by

Travis Tritt James Travis Tritt (born February 9, 1963) is an American country music, country singer-songwriter. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In t ...

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire ( ; born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music, country singer and actress. Dubbed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Sin ...

, Bobby Hatfield and

the Statler Brothers The Statler Brothers (sometimes simply referred to as The Statlers) were an American country music, gospel, and vocal group from Staunton, Virginia. The quartet was formed in 1955 performing locally, and from 1964 to 1972, they sang as opening a ...

. In the UK, the most widely heard versions are the ones by the Platters, Ringo Starr, the band

Child A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

and the actor John Alford. In Norway, a version by Stein Ingebrigtsen charted in the Norwegian language. American singer

Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Primarily performing rockabilly, pop, country and Christmas music, she achieved her first ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' hit aged 12 i ...

scored a hit in Belgium with her version.

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 Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

, 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. 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." 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. It remained on the charts for 30 weeks, beating out a rival

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

by the Hilltoppers. When the Platters track, "

The Great Pretender "The Great Pretender" is a popular song recorded by the Platters, with Tony Williams on lead vocals, and released as a single in November 1955. The words and music were written by Buck Ram, the Platters' manager and producer who was a successf ...

" (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 "Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song in the 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter being under the pseudonym "Jimmy De Knight") in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was reco ...

'', the Platters participated with both songs. The Platters re-recorded a slightly longer version of the song for

Musicor Records Musicor Records was a New York City-based record label, active during the 1960s and 1970s. The label was founded by songwriter Aaron Schroeder and distributed by United Artists Records. In 1965, UA employee and A&R man Arthur Talmadge (a co-fo ...

in 1966, which features on the album ''I Love You 1,000 Times'' (MM 2091). In 1999, the 1955 recording on

was inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

Charts

The Hilltoppers version

The Hilltoppers released their version of the song as a

Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In its early years, Dot sp ...

single in 1955. It reached number 8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 3 in the UK.

Franck Pourcel version

An instrumental version by

was a hit single in 1959, and sold more than 5 million copies. Pourcel's version spent 16 weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, reaching number 9, while reaching number 3 on Canada's CHUM Hit Parade, and number 18 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''s Hot R&B Sides.

Ringo Starr version

In 1974,

covered this song for his album ''

Goodnight Vienna ''Goodnight Vienna'' is the fourth studio album by Ringo Starr. It was recorded in the summer of 1974 in Los Angeles, and released later that year. ''Goodnight Vienna'' followed the commercially successful predecessor ''Ringo (album), Ringo'', a ...

'' at the suggestion of

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

. This version was released as a single (b/w "Call Me") on 11 November in the US, and it became a number six hit on the US ''Billboard'' best seller chart and reached number one on the

Easy Listening chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary music, adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on ...

in early 1975. In Canada, the song also reached number one on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' middle-of-the-road chart and number 17 on the top singles chart within the same period. 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 Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal overdub experi ...

sings harmony vocals and appears with Starr in the music video filmed on top of the

Capitol Records Building The Capitol Records Building, also known as the Capitol Records Tower, is a 13-story tower building in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Designed by Louis Naidorf of Welton Becket Associates, it is one of t ...

in Los Angeles. Lennon's vocal version appears on his ''

Anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

'' box set, in 1998.

Charts

Other cover versions

released his version of the song as a single in January of 1996, where it peaked at number 52 on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

Chart and number 28 on the Canadian ''RPM'' Country Tracks Chart. It was Tritts first single to miss the Top 40 on the

Chart. *

covered the song on her 1962 album '' Sincerely, Brenda Lee''. When released as a single in Belgium, Lee's version reached number 3 in

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

and number 44 in

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

. *In 1963, Mr. Acker Bilk recorded the song as an instrumental number, which reached number 77 (U.S.). * Bobby Hatfield of

the Righteous Brothers The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the L ...

released a version in 1969, which reached number 95 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. *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. *In 1973, the singer Stein Ingebrigtsen had a number one hit on

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

's ''VG''-lista with a Norwegian version of the song, entitled "Bare du".Stein Ingebrigtsen - Bare du
''norwegiancharts.com''. Retrieved March 4, 2019. The lyrics were written by the record producer Arve Sigvaldsen. A Swedish version of the song, "Bara du", also recorded by Ingebrigtsen, became popular in that country. Ingebrigtsen also recorded a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

version entitled "So wie du" with lyrics written by Ralph-Maria Siegel. *The pop band

released the song as a single in 1979, reaching number 33 in the UK Charts. *

had a number 13 hit on the U.S. Country music charts with her cover on her 1981 album '' Heart to Heart''. *

The Statler Brothers The Statler Brothers (sometimes simply referred to as The Statlers) were an American country music, gospel, and vocal group from Staunton, Virginia. The quartet was formed in 1955 performing locally, and from 1964 to 1972, they sang as opening a ...

covered the song on their 1986 album '' Four for the Show''. Their version was released as a single and peaked at number 36 on the ''

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart. A music video was made for the song and was shot at

Opryland USA Opryland USA (later called Opryland Themepark and colloquially known as Opryland) was a amusement park, theme park in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The park was located between the Cumberland River and Tennessee State Route 155, Briley Pa ...

. * John Alford recorded the song as a double-A side with "

Blue Moon A blue moon refers either to the presence of a second full moon in a calendar month, to the third full moon in a season containing four, or to a moon that appears blue due to atmospheric effects. The calendrical meaning of "blue moon" is unc ...

" in 1996, which reached number 9 in the UK charts. *In 2025 Ludmila Shapira recorded Yiddish version, "Du aleyn" on YouTube with lyrics by Lenny Misikoff.

References

{{Authority control 1954 singles 1954 songs 1955 singles 1959 singles 1963 singles 1969 singles 1974 singles 1976 singles 1996 singles Apple Records singles Capitol Records singles Federal Records singles Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Mercury Records singles Number-one singles in Norway Reba McEntire songs Ringo Starr songs Song recordings produced by Richard Perry Songs written by Buck Ram The Platters songs The Statler Brothers songs The Stylistics songs Travis Tritt songs Warner Records singles

The Platters versions

Charts

The Hilltoppers version

Franck Pourcel version

Ringo Starr version

Charts

Other cover versions

See also

References