Remembering the song "Only You (And You Alone)" by The Platters

The song “Only You (And You Alone)” is a doo-wop song written by Buck Ram, the manager of The Platters, who achieved considerable success in the United States, Great Britain and Belgium. The song was made famous by Tony Williams, the lead vocalist of The Platters.

The History of the Creation and Meaning of the Song Only You by The Platters

If we talk about the everyday meaning of the song, it is, of course, about love. The divine meaning of the song is that its performer addresses God. “Only You” is a composition created by Rem with the initial goal of passing it on to the Ink Spots group. However, for unknown reasons, the song never made it to the group, despite the fact that the author had previously collaborated with this group and written for it.

Ram later claimed that he refused to give "Only You" to the Ink Spots because the band broke up before he had the chance to do so. However, this is not entirely true - the Ink Spots were still popular during the period when the Platters began recording the earliest versions of the song.

Most likely, Ram simply didn’t like the composition. After writing it, he put the notes in a box, where they gathered dust until his assistant Jean Bennett started sorting through things and the box fell apart. Bennett noticed the notes and noted that she found the song interesting. Ram reacted harshly, calling it trash. Nevertheless, Bennett put the notes on Ram’s piano. When Tony Williams noticed them, he insisted on recording the composition. However, the first recording seemed to confirm Ram’s opinion – the song really was a failure.

However, none of the versions of "Only You" were commercially successful, and despite Ram's best efforts, it seemed that The Platters would not make significant achievements in the music industry anytime soon. Federal Records dropped the band, believing that they were not capable of anything more.

However, fate smiled on the group. Buck Ram became the manager of the Penguins, another group formed from a variety of talented Los Angeles performers. The Penguins had just released their only major hit, “Earth Angel,” and Mercury Records was eager to sign them.

Ram agreed to the deal, but he had one stipulation: Mercury had to sign The Platters as well. Once the deal was signed, Ram paid little attention to the Penguins. They had served their purpose, getting the band that really mattered to Ram signed to a major label.

Six months passed between the Platters' final Federal session and their first Mercury recording. During that period, the band only performed on one session - as backing vocals for Joe Houston. However, the band spent those six months rehearsing intensively, and when they finally entered the studio to record with Mercury, their sound suddenly became genuinely good.

Everything fell into place. They were now a polished, professional band. Their skill level had become so high that they could even afford to make mistakes during recording. In one of the first takes, Williams' voice faltered on the word "only," and he apologized to Ram. But Ram responded:

“No, that sounded good, leave it.”

The Platters bassist Herb Reed explained how the band came up with their famous version of the song:

“We tried to record it many times, and every time it sounded terrible. One day we were rehearsing in the car… and it jerked. Tony said, “O-oOHHHH-only you.” At first we just laughed, but when he sang that line, it was clear we had found something special.”

As Buck Ram recalled, Tony Williams' voice "broke" during a rehearsal, but they decided to leave it in the final recording. This version was unique to The Platters, as Ram, being the songwriter and manager, personally played the piano - the first and only time in the band's history.

“Only You” became one of those songs that defined an era. Unlike other doo-wop songs, it embodied the soft, lyrical ballad of the 1950s. The song was a smash hit, spending thirty weeks on the R&B charts, seven of which at number one, and twenty-two weeks on the pop charts, peaking at number five.