"Too Young" is a popular song, with music written by Sidney Lippman and lyrics by Sylvia Dee. A recording of the song was released by

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...

in 1951, which reached No. 1 in the United States and became the best-selling song of the year. The song was an early attempt by music labels to appeal to the younger demographics and its success later led to a boom in music that catered to the young. Another successful version was released by Donny Osmond in 1972.

Nat King Cole recording

"Too Young" was one of the early attempts by record labels to release songs with a young musical persona that might appeal to a young audience. In the United States, among the earliest versions were those recorded by Victor Young and His Orchestra, and Johnny Desmond. However, it was the version recorded by

that proved to be most successful. The song was recorded on February 6, 1951, and released by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

(catalog number 1449) in March. It reached the number one position on the ''

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 ...

'' chart in June 1951, staying there for five weeks and altogether on the Best Seller chart for 29 weeks. It also spent an unprecedented 12 weeks on top of '' Your Hit Parade'', and 8 weeks at No. 1 on the ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' chart. It was a million-selling record and ''Billboard'' ranked this version as the number one best-selling song of 1951. Cole described this song as one of his three favorites among his own songs. The success of the song may have convinced record executives that young people had the buying power, which would lead to the boom of

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

music that catered to a young audience in the mid-'50s.

Charts

Other early versions

Several versions contemporary to Nat King Cole's version were recorded, some making the US charts but not as high. The recording by Patty Andrews was released by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

as catalog number 27569. It first reached the ''Billboard'' Best Seller chart on June 8, 1951 and lasted one week on the chart, peaking at number 30. On other ''Billboard'' charts, this version reached as high as number 19 on the Most-played Jukebox Records chart. Versions that did not make the top 30 best-seller list, but did chart on various other ''Billboard'' charts were by Toni Arden ( Columbia, number 15 on Records Most Played by Disk Jockeys), by

Fran Allison Frances Helen Allison (November 20, 1907June 13, 1989) was an American television and radio comedienne, personality, and singer. She is best known for her starring role on the weekday NBC-TV puppet show '' Kukla, Fran and Ollie'', which ran fr ...

(

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

, number 20 on Records Most Played by Disk Jockeys), and by Richard Hayes ( Mercury, number 24). Semprini,

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

with rhythm accompaniment recorded it in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on July 7, 1951, as the second song of the medley "Dancing to the piano (No. 7): Part 1. Hit Medley of Slow Foxtrots" along with "

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

" and "Forbidden Love". It was released by

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on the

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label as catalog number B 10123. In the United Kingdom, Jimmy Young had a success with his version of the song, also made in 1951. The song made No. 1 on the UK's sheet music charts in 1951, spending 12 weeks in that position. Another contemporary version was released by

Steve Conway Steve, Steven or Stephen Conway may refer to: * Steve Conway (politician) (born 1944), State Senator from Washington State * Steve Conway (singer) Steve Conway (born Walter James Groom; 24 October 1920 – 19 April 1952) was a British singer ...

Donny Osmond cover

A version of "Too Young" by then 14-year-old Donny Osmond became an international top 10 hit for him, reaching number 5 in the UK and number 6 in Canada. It also spent eight weeks on the U.S. top 40, with a peak position of number 13 when released as a single (

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

catalog number 14407) in 1972.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other versions

Sam Cooke Samuel Cooke (; January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter. Considered one of the most influential soul music, soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred to as the "King of Soul" for his distin ...

recorded it for his ''Hits of the Fifties'' LP in 1960. In Australia, on Parlophone, Jim Gussey And His Orchestra, with vocals by Matt Dryden and Olive Lester, released their version. *

Bobby Vinton Stanley Robert Vinton (born April 16, 1935) is an American singer and actor, who hosted his own self-titled TV show in the late 1970s. As a teen idol, he became known as "The Polish Prince", as his music paid tribute to his Polish heritage. One ...

recorded the song for the album ''

There! I've Said It Again "There! I've Said It Again" is a popular song written and published by Redd Evans and David Mann in 1941. In early 1945, Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra released Victor 20-1637, which reached the number one position on the Billboard's Natio ...

''. *

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

included the song on Motown in 1973 in the album ''

Music & Me ''Music & Me'' is the third studio album by the American singer Michael Jackson. It was released on April 13, 1973 on the Motown label. It was arranged by Dave Blumberg, Freddie Perren, Gene Page and James Anthony Carmichael and remains Jackson' ...

''. This version was released as a single in Italy. *In 1978, the

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dansband (; "dance band"), or in Norwegian and Danish, is a Swedish language, Swedish term for a band that plays (; "dance band music"). ' is often danced to in partner dance, pairs. Jitterbug and foxtrot music are often included in this category. T ...

'' Vikingarna released a disco version of the song on their album, ''The Vikings Export''.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1951 singles 1972 singles Nat King Cole songs Donny Osmond songs Michael Jackson songs Marvin Gaye songs Songs written by Sidney Lippman Songs with lyrics by Sylvia Dee 1951 songs