Only You (And You Alone)

"Only You (And You Alone)"
Mercury hit version
Single by The Platters
from the album The Platters (Original recording) & The Fabulous Platters (Re-recording)
B-side	"Bark, Battle and Ball"
Released	May 1955
Format	7" vinyl
Recorded	April 26, 1955
Genre	Doo-wop
Length	2:36
Label	Mercury
Writer(s)	Buck Ram

"Only You"
Standard picture sleeve
Single by Ringo Starr
from the album Goodnight Vienna
B-side	"Call Me"
Released	11 November 1974 (US) 15 November 1974 (UK)
Format	Vinyl record 7"
Length	3:16
Label	Apple
Writer(s)	Buck Ram
Producer(s)	Richard Perry
Ringo Starr singles chronology
"Oh My My" (1974) "Only You" (1974) "No No Song" (1974)
Goodnight Vienna track listing 11 tracks Side one "(It's All Down to) Goodnight Vienna" "Occapella" "Oo-Wee" "Husbands and Wives" "Snookeroo" Side two "All by Myself" "Call Me" "No No Song" "Only You (And You Alone)" "Easy for Me" "Goodnight Vienna (Reprise)"

"Only You (And You Alone)" (often shortened to "Only You") is a pop song composed by Buck Ram. It was recorded most successfully by The Platters, with lead vocals by Tony Williams, in 1955.

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 (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 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 Platter's recording on which songwriter and manager Ram played the piano.

The song held strong in the number-one 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 a white band called The Hilltoppers. When the Platters track, "The Great Pretender" (which eventually surpassed the success of "Only You"), 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".

In 1974, Ringo Starr covered this song (b/w "Call Me") 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 UK on 15 November. Lennon plays acoustic guitar on the track, and recorded a guide vocal which was kept by producer Richard Perry. Ringo did the spoken recitation on the repeat of the first half of the song. Ringo's version was in a 2/44 compared to the Platters version of the song.6 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.