"The Letter" is a song written by

Wayne Carson Wayne Carson (born Wayne Carson Head; May 31, 1943 – July 20, 2015), sometimes credited as Wayne Carson Thompson, was an American country musician, songwriter, and record producer. He played percussion, piano, guitar, and bass. His most fam ...

that was first recorded by the American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band the Box Tops in 1967. It was the group's first and most successful single, reaching number one on the record charts in the United States and Canada. It was also an international success and placed in the top ten in several other countries. The Box Tops lead vocalist

Alex Chilton William Alexander Chilton (December 28, 1950March 17, 2010) was an American musician, best known as the lead singer of the rock bands the Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton's early commercial success in the 1960s as a teen vocalist for the Box Tops ...

sang "The Letter" in a gruff blue-eyed soul style. The song launched Chilton's career and inspired numerous cover versions. English rock and soul singer

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances featuring expressive body movements. Most of his best-known singles, such as "Feelin' Alright ...

's 1970 rendition became his first top ten single in the U.S.; several other artists have recorded versions which also reached the record charts. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' magazine included the Box Tops original at number 372 on its list of the "

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring song ranking compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2 ...

", and the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

added it to the list of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". In 2011, the single 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 ...

Composition and recording

Wayne Carson wrote "The Letter", built on an opening line suggested by his father: "Give me a ticket for an aeroplane". Carson included the song on a

demo tape A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...

he gave to

Chips Moman Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman (June 12, 1937 – June 13, 2016) was an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is known for working in R&B, pop music and country music, operating American Sound Studios and producing hit albums li ...

, owner of

American Sound Studio The American Sound Studio was a recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee which operated from 1964 to 1972. Founded by Chips Moman, the studio at 827 Thomas Street came to be known as American North, and the studio at 2272 Deadrick Street ...

in Memphis, Tennessee. When studio associate Dan Penn was looking for an opportunity to produce more, Moman suggested a local group, the DeVilles, who had a new lead singer, sixteen-year-old

. The other four members of the group that played on the session were Danny Smythe on drums, Richard Malone on electric guitar, John Evans on electric piano, and Russ Caccamisi on bass. Penn gave the group Carson's demo tape for some songs to work up. With little or no rehearsal, the group arrived at American Sound to record "The Letter". Chilton recalled: Penn added: "The guitar player had the lick right—we copied Wayne's demo. Then I asked the keyboard player to play an '

I'm a Believer "I'm a Believer" is a song written by Neil Diamond and recorded by the American band the Monkees in 1966 with the lead vocals by Micky Dolenz. The single, produced by Jeff Barry, hit the number-one spot on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart ...

' type of thing". Chilton sang the vocal live while the group was performing; Penn noted: "I coached him hiltona little... told him to say 'aer-o-plane,' told him to get a little gruff, and I didn't have to say anything else to him, he was hookin 'em, a natural singer." He later explained, " hiltonpicked it up exactly as I had in mind, maybe even better. I hadn't even paid any attention to how good he sang because I was busy trying to put the band together... I had a bunch of greenhorns who'd never cut a record, including me". About thirty takes were required for the basic track. Then Penn had Mike Leech prepare a string and horn arrangement to give it a fuller sound. Leech recalled: "My very first string arrangement was 'The Letter', and the only reason I did that was because I knew how to write music notation... Nobody else in the group did or I'm sure someone else would have gotten the call." Penn also overdubbed the sound of an airplane taking off to the track from a special effects record that had been checked out from the local library. He explained: Edwin Pouncey of ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...

'' described the " sampling" of the overhead jet plane as one of the more notable "pop and rock

musique concrète Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic ...

flirtations" of the period. The DeVilles were renamed the Box Tops and "The Letter", at only 1 minute, 58 seconds, was released by Mala Records, a subsidiary of

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benn ...

Personnel

The Box Tops *

– lead vocals * Gary Talley – guitar, backing vocals *John Evans – electric piano * Bill Cunningham – bass * Danny Smythe – drums Other personnel * Dan Penn – backing vocals *Mike Leech – horn and string arrangements

Chart performance

"The Letter" reached number one on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

singles chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine on September 23, 1967. It remained at the top position for four weeks and ''Billboard'' ranked the record the number two song for 1967. The single sold more than one million copies and the RIAA certified it as

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

Certifications

Joe Cocker renditions

English singer

recorded "The Letter" during the rehearsals for his upcoming American tour on March 17, 1970.

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock a ...

and the Shelter People provided the back up; Russell and

Denny Cordell Dennis Cordell-Lavarack (1 August 1943 – 18 February 1995), known as Denny Cordell, was an English record producer. He is notable for his mid-1960s and early 1970s productions of hit singles for The Moody Blues, Leon Russell, The Move, Proc ...

produced the recording.

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

released it as a single, with "Space Captain" as the B-side. It appeared on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in April 1970 and eventually reached number seven.''Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990'', "The Letter" became Cocker's first top ten single in the US. In the UK, the single reached number 39. Cocker performed it (and "Space Captain") during his 1970 performance at the

Fillmore East The Fillmore East was Promoter (entertainment), rock promoter Bill Graham (promoter), Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue (Manhattan), Second Avenue near 6th Street (Manhattan), East 6th Street on the Lower East Side section of Manhattan, ...

in New York City. Recordings of both songs are included on the live '' Mad Dogs & Englishmen'' album, which was released in August 1970 and was a best seller. The tour was filmed, resulting in the '' Mad Dogs & Englishmen'' concert film. In 2003, it was released on DVD. Reviewed in ''

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 ...

'', it was described as having a "blockbuster blues arrangement that has all the ingredients to up the number back in the Top Ten once again." '' Cashbox'' chose the single as a "Pick of the Week" and wrote that this "extended, weighted rendering of the first Box Tops hit adds Joe Cocker's underground-blues spice to the teen material giving it a power for comeback singles energy. Bright find for comeback activity from '

She Came In Through the Bathroom Window "She Came In Through the Bathroom Window" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1969 album ''Abbey Road''. Written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney, it is the fifth song of the album's climactic medley, i ...

.' Explosive top forty effort." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' wrote "Joe has a real feeling for this Box Tops hit. Good stuff period."

Chart performance

Other charting renditions

In 1979, a version by country singer

Sammi Smith Jewel Fay "Sammi" Smith (August 5, 1943 – February 12, 2005) was an American country music singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 1971 crossover hit " Help Me Make It Through the Night", which was written by Kris Kristofferson. Sh ...

reached number 27 on the ''Billboard''

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 year later in the UK, Amii Stewart's version reached number 39 on the UK Singles Chart.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Letter, The 1967 songs 1967 debut singles 1970 singles The Box Tops songs Joe Cocker songs Songs about letters (message) Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in Belgium Number-one singles in Norway A&M Records singles Songs written by Wayne Carson Song recordings produced by Denny Cordell