'Only You' by the Platters

Subject: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: leeneia
Date: 20 Jun 24 - 11:57 PM

This is a post about a song and about a person's changing musical perspective. Recently YouTube brought up a video of the Platters singing "Only You" in 1955. I thought it was beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cNdCyjcRk1k

In 1955 I was ten years old and I thought it was just another irritating pop song inflicted on me by my brothers, who always had to have the Top 40 station going. Lord, how I disliked the scratchy voices, the whiny voices, the electric guitars and the amateur saxophone interludes. In 1959 we moved, and I thought, "How great! I won't have to listen to WJJD anymore." Within two hours my brothers located WOKY and the beat went on.

But first, is "Only You" traditional? I say yes. It has a melody and a regular beat and the chord names have at most three characters in them. That's my definition of traditional.

In 1955 I was listening to music on a cheap radio. But mostly I didn't understand at all that the soloist was singing falsetto (or countertenor I suppose.) Now I appreciate the purity and strength in what he's doing.

Another thing that happened is that a few years ago three elderly folky guys in my circle started singing corny old Top-40 songs, but doing it with their good voices. With good voices singing I realized that a lot of those old tunes were actually good. Who knew?

Anybody else have any thoughts or memories to share about changing musical reactions?

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Jun 24 - 01:05 AM

You know better than to think "Only You" is traditional, leeneia. It's certainly a Doo Wop classic, but it has a known composer, Buck Ram, and it was published in 1954 - which is well within recorded history. But it's a good song.
Buck Ram also wrote The Great Pretender which is also not a traditional song.
But hey, both songs have a Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Only_You_(And_You_Alone)

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 21 Jun 24 - 01:59 AM

For many years up until we disbanded in 2004, my R&R band ‘did’ SGIYE, and it was one of the best-received songs in our show. I loved singing it, and I made sure to sing it as close to Tony Williams’ (The Platters) original lead vocal as possible. Theirs was a beautiful version of a beautiful song.

But ‘traditional’? Nah…!!

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 21 Jun 24 - 02:03 AM

Oops, I was talking about ‘Only You’ there, of course! Duh! Tired old brain!

On the subject of sticking close to Tony Williams’ lead vocal, I was careful to include Tony’s mispronunciation of ‘can’ in the first line, which he sang as ‘canned’.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Helen
Date: 21 Jun 24 - 03:07 AM

Or maybe, BWM, you were messing with the tired old brains of us old folks reading this. LOL

I'm glad you clarified that because I was having trouble trying to work out which song you meant.

I remember sitting in the back seat of the car with my older sister on Sunday evenings, listening to the swing music on the radio as we went back home from visiting our cousins. That was in the early to mid '60's. A few years later our parents bought a radiogram - a cabinet radio with an LP record player, along with a large number of 78 rpm records from the swing era. So many happy memories of that music. I still love a lot of those old songs, e.g. Destiny sung by Johnny Ray, Sixteen Tons - Merle Travis, Bob Crosby and the Bobcats, Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, and the weird record by Nervous Norvus with Transfusion and I think the B side was called Dig. I fell in love with those songs at a very young age and never forgot them.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 21 Jun 24 - 04:08 AM

Just as a matter of interest, what song is "SGIYE"?

DC

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Jun 24 - 04:49 AM

Smoke gets in your eyes, obviously.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 21 Jun 24 - 09:15 AM

Oh come on Doug, do try to keep up! ;-) :-)

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 21 Jun 24 - 09:20 AM

And, lest there be any doubt, ‘R&R’ stands for that new-fangled music the kids all loved -Rock ‘n’ Roll. ;-)

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 21 Jun 24 - 09:38 AM

I'm easily confused.

DC

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 21 Jun 24 - 09:59 AM

It appears I’m easily confused too! :-)

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: GUEST,Hootenanny
Date: 21 Jun 24 - 02:08 PM

I am puzzled, as is made clear above 'Only You' IS NOT a traditional song.

So, why is it on Mudcat? It ain't folk and it ain't blues. It was pop music of a much higher standard than most.

And I just love the way somebody above works out how to define a folk song.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Jun 24 - 02:21 PM

Well, Hootenanny, Mudcat is for music that folk musicians like. And among us, some of us are going to like just about everything. We've had a few purists try to clean house here now and then, but they get bored and go away when they find out nobody is listening to them. "Only You" is a good song, and some of us sing it sometimes. Why not talk about it, rather than waste our time arguing about whether or not we should talk about it?

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: GUEST,Malcolm Storey
Date: 21 Jun 24 - 08:15 PM

I think Only You is a brilliant song with a defined history.

Why is it being discussed here?

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Helen
Date: 21 Jun 24 - 08:31 PM

leeneia said in the original post, "This is a post about a song and about a person's changing musical perspective".

and "
Anybody else have any thoughts or memories to share about changing musical reactions?"

I went a bit off-topic because I was referring to the music I listened to as a child and how it influenced my musical appreciation over the years, so I wasn't talking about changing musical reactions so much as enduring musical reactions. I still get that thrill listening to some of those old songs that I first heard on a car radio 60 years ago.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Helen
Date: 21 Jun 24 - 11:51 PM

I was just in the car listening to the stereo and by pure coincidence, two tracks came up by Benny Goodman from my playlist, Clarinet a la King, and Sing Sing Sing.

Having read leeneia's original post previously I listened to the two tracks with "new ears", not like my child self listening to it as background music, but from the perspective of an old woman whose lifelong soundtrack has been accompanied by so many different forms of music, by so many musical geniuses in so many genres.

Just the drumming alone on Sing Sing Sing by Gene Krupa 1971 is breathtaking, but everything about that tune is amazing, especially the way it progresses from one part to the next. Just when it seems to be coming to a stop, something even more amazing is pulled out of the musical magicians' hats.

I'm not starting from the point of not liking those tunes when I first heard them because I grew to love them very quickly. I'm coming from a point of looking backwards and saying, this music was amazing and I can appreciate it even more from this end of my life.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: leeneia
Date: 22 Jun 24 - 12:42 AM

Hello, Helen. I couldn't get your link to work, so here's another to a You Tube video of Sing Sing Sing on the Ed Sullivan show.

great drummer

I enjoyed it. I wonder what he's saying to himself as he plays.

Again, this is music that I appreciate more now than when I was younger. It also helps that in this video we have a close-up view of exactly what he is doing, such as tapping one drumstick on the other drumstick and letting it bounce off and onto the skin.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: leeneia
Date: 22 Jun 24 - 12:50 AM

My definition of a traditional song:

has a melody people can remember
has a regular beat
chords have no more than three characters: D,E, Am7, not Em6sus4 or the
   like
people can probably dance to it

A term like Doo Wop isn't musicology, it's marketing.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Helen
Date: 22 Jun 24 - 01:57 AM

Sorry, I mucked up the Gene Krupa link.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: GUEST,Hootenanny
Date: 22 Jun 24 - 05:04 AM

Joe,
I look in here from time to time as I once believed perhaps mistakenly that Mudcat was set up for people with an interest in blues and traditional music. Was I mis-informed?

You now say that it is for music that folk musicians like ??

How do you work that out? It would appear to me that the majority of your contributors are not folk musicians.

You don't have to be a purist because you like to use a product that contains what it says on the label.

Do you consider yourself to be a folk musician or like me someone who enjoys a wide range of music but likes to sing and play traditional songs and tunes.

Also I would just like to say thank you to the person above who has now expanded things to give us an even better definition of traditional song.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 22 Jun 24 - 05:45 AM

If you’re not interested in a thread, you’re under no compunction to get involved in it, or even open it - just scroll on by and let those who are interested enjoy it. That’s the grown-up thing to do.

It’s not necessary to be a spoiler.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Helen
Date: 22 Jun 24 - 07:38 PM

I'll tell you two songwriters who will never become my favourites, even if I live to be 100: Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. It would take a massive earthquake sized upheaval to get me to listen to either of them voluntarily rather than under sufferance e.g. if Hubby plays them on the car stereo.

Having said that, I do like Jeff Buckley's version of Hallelujah, and sometimes if other people sing BD or LC songs. It's the tunelessness and singing flat on the originals which drives me bananas. Sorry to all those BD & LC fans out there. I'm more of a melody and rhythm fan than a poetic lyrics fan especially if they are halfway between spoken and sung. LOL

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 23 Jun 24 - 01:18 AM

Helen, I'm with you. In the case of Bobby the Zee, I do like many of his songs done by other people - my current favourite is the Clements Brothers’ version of ‘You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go’ (from ‘Blood on the Tracks’), which I’ve learnt and added to my own repertoire recently.

The Clements Brothers, ‘You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go’.

Dylan’s own versions of his songs seldom do anything for me, but his talent as a songwriter amazes me.

And I’m probably setting myself up for lynching here, but I dislike everything of Leonard Cohen’s intensely - both the songs themselves (boring, or miserable, or both) and every version of them I’ve ever heard, especially LC’s own tuneless droning. But hey, it’s ‘to each, his (or her) own’ and, if others enjoy his stuff, that’s fine - just don’t ask me to join you!

And I still love The Platters!

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Helen
Date: 23 Jun 24 - 01:31 AM

Normally I get shot down in virtual flames when I diss those two guys, so I'm very surprised that you agree with me. :-D

The Clements Brothers song is beautiful with that guitar and bass accompaniment and the vocal harmonies. Thanks!

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 23 Jun 24 - 01:40 AM

Ha! I guess we’re fellow out-of-step Out-liers!! I’ve been an out-of-step Out-lier all my life, so it doesn’t bother me… ;-) :-)

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Helen
Date: 23 Jun 24 - 04:56 AM

Yes, I worked out a long, long time ago that my headstone will read "Never normal".

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 23 Jun 24 - 11:01 AM

The Church Commissioners wouldn't permit that, Helen, any more than they'd permit "often thought to be completely out to lunch" [for my headstone]. Unless of course they could be translated into Gaelic.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: gillymor
Date: 23 Jun 24 - 02:21 PM

Here she lies,
One in a million,
Couldn't recognize,
The genius of Dyl(i)an

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Helen
Date: 23 Jun 24 - 03:51 PM

Or should that be Dill(ian)?

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: gillymor
Date: 23 Jun 24 - 03:57 PM

Shut yo mouth

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Helen
Date: 23 Jun 24 - 04:14 PM

Gotcha! LOL

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: GUEST,Hootenanny
Date: 23 Jun 24 - 06:28 PM

Joe

I doubt that again you will not take the trouble of giving an answer to my question but please look at all the entries above. Is this what you call "talking about it" instead of wasting time ????

Seriously.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Helen
Date: 23 Jun 24 - 07:09 PM

GUEST,Hootenanny, would you like to discuss the topic?

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Helen
Date: 23 Jun 24 - 08:08 PM

My understanding of the topic from leeneia's original post is how our appreciation of different styles of music, or specific pieces of music or works by specific songwriters or composers or lyricists can change over time. The music we may have dismissed as not worth listening to at certain phases of our lives may become more meaningful later in our lives, depending on the experiences we have enjoyed or endured.

As an example, having lived through an experience of what I now know was coercive control in a relationship a few decades ago I listen to the song The Spy by The Doors with "new ears" and interpret some of the lyrics in a slightly darker way than when I first heard the song. I loved their Morrison Hotel album as soon as I heard it, and still do, but I listen to the lyrics of that song differently compared to when I first heard it.

The same goes for a lot of music, in terms of its composition, melody, rhythm, and/or interpretation by different musicians or artists.

My taste in music is very broad including 40 years of playing mostly Irish, Welsh, Scottish and Celtic music with my friends in an amateur session group. I used to say I liked everything except country and western music, but there are even some C&W songs I like now. My two favourite composers are Vivaldi and Leftfield (which I refer to as an electro-percussion duo) but my list of favourite music is vast and diverse, culturally and in terms of genre.

When I studied a Marketing module at University one of the things I remember hearing was that it takes six exposures of a product for it to "worm its way' into our psyches, and I have also heard that said about music. There were a few songs I heard on the radio which I liked a lot when I first heard it and then began to think that they were not as interesting as I first thought. On the other hand, there have been songs or music that I have heard for the first time or few times and thought that I didn't like them and then they grew on me and I began to appreciate their musical genius.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Helen
Date: 23 Jun 24 - 08:10 PM

Three favourite composers: I forgot to mention Turlough O'Carolan.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 24 Jun 24 - 03:28 AM

”My understanding of the topic from leeneia's original post is how our appreciation of different styles of music, or specific pieces of music or works by specific songwriters or composers or lyricists can change over time. The music we may have dismissed as not worth listening to at certain phases of our lives may become more meaningful later in our lives, depending on the experiences we have enjoyed or endured.”

That’s my understanding too, Helen, and I found the rest of your post very interesting and thought-provoking. I guess it’s to be expected but, over the years and as I’ve aged (77 now), my musical interests have widened greatly and, nowadays, I can (and do) listen to pretty much anything, with the possible exception of Hip-hop, and get pleasure from it on some level. I’m at home all day alone (my wife is younger than me and still works full-time) so the radio is on via Smart-speaker, and playing music all the time I’m in the house.

I’d just refer GUEST: Hootenanny to my post of 22 Jun 24 - 05:45 AM. There’s only one person ‘wasting time’ on this thread.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Helen
Date: 24 Jun 24 - 03:24 PM

Thanks BWM.

Yes, Hip-Hop and that all-over-the-place modern jazz (as opposed to the original jazz and swing marvels) doesn't do it for me either.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Joe Offer
Date: 24 Jun 24 - 03:37 PM

Hootenanny, I think I gave you the answer I wanted to give you. Take it or leave it.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: GUEST,Hootenanny
Date: 24 Jun 24 - 04:24 PM

Joe,

I didn't get your answer so if you can not/will not give a straight answer to a straight question I will leave it.

Thanks but no thanks

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Helen
Date: 24 Jun 24 - 04:33 PM

Good answer, Joe! Date: 21 Jun 24 - 02:21 PM

Argument - Monty Python

LOL

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Joe Offer
Date: 24 Jun 24 - 06:19 PM

Hootenanny: here you go. If you don't like my answer, tough shit. There are Websites that spend all their time talking about whether or not it is appropriate to talk about something. We decided it wasn't worth our time to deal with such arguments, so we let people talk about what they want to talk about. Now, if you want to spend your time talking about what we should talk about instead of just talking about things, go to wherever Jim Carroll is and have a ball. In short, if you don't like what we're talking about, go away.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Helen
Date: 24 Jun 24 - 06:33 PM

I second that. All in favour say Aye, those not in favour - there's the door.

Can we get back to discussing the topic? :-)

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: keberoxu
Date: 25 Jun 24 - 05:37 PM

I have forgotten the name of the Platters' lead singer,
a very charismatic sounding performer.
But this reminds me:

years ago I heard some recordings made by a very young Johnny Mathis,
and he sounded very much like the Platters' lead singer.
So I think that is how Mathis got started in pop music --
very different than the love songs and Christmas music
that he has become known for since then.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Helen
Date: 25 Jun 24 - 07:03 PM

keb, Johnny Mathis has a beautiful mellow voice. I just randomly searched for videos and found this:

Johnny Mathis - Hallelujah

I said on 22 June that I love Jeff Buckley's version of that song, but this version is beautiful too.

I searched for the lead singer of The Platters and it was originally Tony Williams.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Thompson
Date: 28 Jun 24 - 05:17 AM

Surely all music of which you can say "This is my people's music" is folk music and traditional music?
Only You, with Tony Williams' extraordinary tenor lead, his stylised phrasing and the doo-wop backing of the Platters, is deep in the tradition of black (city? maybe not? maybe country too?) music.
Have to say I really love this.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: GUEST,Lin
Date: 28 Jun 24 - 09:02 AM

Joe Offer has a very good response in regards to this song by the Platters. I too think "Only You" is a great song. I was a little girl when this song came out and heard it on my transistor radio, along with all the wonderful music of those days. A song called "The Three Bells" which is like a ballad folk song is another great song. Can't think of the name of the group right now. And one of my favorites by Bobby Vee was "Rubber Ball" and "Suzie Baby." Bob Dylan really admired Bobby Vee's music and in fact, played in a concert somewhere with him.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 28 Jun 24 - 11:45 AM

GUEST: Lin - ‘The Three Bells’ is a.k.a. ‘The Jimmy Brown Song’, and was a hit in 1959 for a group called The Browns, just when my awakening to ‘the devil’s music’ (as my Salvation-Army-regulars grandparents described R&R and Doo-wop) was in its early throes. It’s of it’s time, and great for that - I still love it, along with the aforementioned Platters’ songs, and Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers’ ‘Why Do Fools Fall in Love’ and ‘Juvenile Delinquent’.

When I hear any of those songs, I’m back on the fairground across the street from my grandparents’ place, with the sights, sounds, and smells of the funfair!

Although I love folk music, the pop music of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s has far more relevance for me than songs about jolly ploughboys, drowned fishermen and broken-tokens from 200 years ago.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Jun 24 - 01:27 PM

But The Three Bells seems much more impressive in the original French. But when you look at the French version closely, it's just as sappy.

But hey, "Only You": is just a damn good song, so matter how you classify it.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: keberoxu
Date: 28 Jun 24 - 07:47 PM

I'm also partial to the same vocalists' version of "My Prayer", which is
actually an Inkspots hit.
But Tony Williams does a beautiful job of the lead vocal on that song.

Subject: RE: 'Only You' by the Platters
From: leeneia
Date: 03 Jul 24 - 12:49 PM

To return to the theme of musical reactions changing with time, I want to speak of "Smoke gets in Your Eyes."

When I was age 10 - 13, my mother would iron clothes in our dining room. Clothes would be piled on the table, she'd turn on the radio, and I would do homework or fold socks, keeping her company. I heard of a lot of easy listening and old standards.

When I heard "Smoke gets in Your Eyes" by the Platters, I disliked it instantly. What the heck was that abrupt, gurgling wail about? A couple days ago I listened to it again, and I feel the same. What the heck vowel is that supposed to be? I didn't like it then and I don't like it now.

One day a DJ played "Smoke gets in Your Eyes" by the Platters and then by (I think) Sam Cooke. Mom and I agreed that we liked the old-fashioned version better. I think that a lot of our musical sensibility is innate and inherited.