Everybody Loves Somebody

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"Everybody Loves Somebody"
Single by Dean Martin
from the album Everybody Loves Somebody
B-side"A Little Voice"
ReleasedJune 1964
Recorded1964
StudioUnited Western, Hollywood[1]
GenreTraditional pop
Length2:48
LabelReprise
Songwriter(s)Sam Coslow, Irving Taylor, Ken Lane
Producer(s)Jimmy Bowen
Dean Martin singles chronology
"La Giostra"
(1964)
"Everybody Loves Somebody"
(1964)
"The Door Is Still Open to My Heart"
(1964)

"Everybody Loves Somebody" is a song written in 1947 by Irving Taylor and pianist Ken Lane, and made famous by Dean Martin who recorded and released his version in 1964.

History[edit]

Written almost 20 years earlier, by 1964 the song had already been recorded by several artists. The song was first recorded by Peggy Lee with Dave Barbour and his orchestra on November 20, 1947 for Capitol. Two weeks later Frank Sinatra recorded the song for Columbia with Axel Stordahl conducting the orchestra on December 4, 1947, but wasn’t released and issued until mid- 1948.[2] Though none of the recordings were a success. Lane was playing piano for Dean Martin on his Dream with Dean LP sessions, and with an hour or so of studio time left and one song short, Lane suggested that Martin take a run at his tune. Dean was agreeable, and the small combo of piano, guitar, drums, and bass performed a relatively quiet, laid-back version of the song (coincidentally, Martin had sung it almost 20 years earlier on Bob Hope's radio show in 1948, and also on Martin and Lewis's NBC radio program at about the same time). Almost immediately Martin re-recorded the song for his next album, this time with a full orchestra and chorus. His label, Reprise Records, was so enthusiastic about the hit potential of this version they titled the LP Everybody Loves Somebody to capitalize on it.

Although still a major recording artist, Dean Martin had not had a top 40 hit since 1958. With the British Invasion ruling the U.S. charts, few had hopes that an Italian American crooner who had been singing mainly standards for almost 20 years would sway many teenagers. Martin resented rock n' roll, and his attitude created conflict at home with his 12-year-old son Dean Paul Martin, who like many young people at the time worshipped pop groups like The Beatles. He told his son, "I'm gonna knock your pallies off the charts,"[3] and on August 15, 1964 he did just that: "Everybody Loves Somebody" knocked The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" off the No. 1 slot on Billboard, going straight up to the top of both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Pop-Standard Singles chart,[4] the latter for eight weeks.[5]

It ultimately replaced "That's Amore" as Martin's signature song, and he sang it as the theme of his weekly television variety show from 1965 to 1974. The song has become so identified with Martin that later versions are invariably compared to his take.

"Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime" appears on Martin's grave marker in Los Angeles.[6]

In 1999, the 1964 recording of "Everybody Loves Somebody" on Reprise Records by Dean Martin was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[7]

Covers[edit]

Ray Gelato recorded a cover of the song inserted in the 2004 self-titled album (T2, TWR0131-2), released in the UK.

Chart performance[edit]

Frank Sinatra
Chart (1948) Peak
position
US Billboard Pop-Standard Singles 25
Dean Martin
Chart (1964) Peak
position
Australia - Music Maker[8] 3
Canada - RPM Top 40-5s[9] 8
Canada - CHUM Hit Parade[10] 3
Belgium (Flanders)[11] 5
Germany[12] 20
New Zealand - "Lever Hit Parade"[13] 1
Norway - VG-lista[12] 10
UK - Record Retailer[14] 11
US Billboard Hot 100[15] 1
US Billboard Pop-Standard Singles[16][4] 1
US Cash Box Top 100[17] 1

References[edit]

Notes
  1. ^ Cogan, Jim; Clark, William (2003). Temples of Sound: Inside the Great Recording Studios. San Francisco, California, USA: Chronicle Books. p. 218. ISBN 0-8118-3394-1.
  2. ^ "Everybody Loves Somebody by Dean Martin". Songfacts. Retrieved June 4, 2018. The songwriters Sam Coslow, Ken Lane and Irving Taylor wrote this for Dean Martin's friend and fellow Rat Pack member Frank Sinatra. His version was released in 1948, but went nowhere.
  3. ^ Quoted from Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams by Nick Tosches.
  4. ^ a b "Pop-Standard Singles", Billboard, August 1, 1964. p. 43. Accessed September 21, 2016.
  5. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001. Record Research. p. 158.
  6. ^ Hayden, Joseph (July 15, 2019). Any Last Words?: Deathbed Quotes and Famous Farewells. Mango Media. ISBN 9781633539914 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ "GRAMMY HALL OF FAME AWARD". www.grammy.com. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  8. ^ "Billboard Hits of the World", Billboard, September 26, 1964. p. 33. Accessed September 21, 2016.
  9. ^ "Top 40-5s", RPM Weekly, Volume 2, No. 1, September 01, 1964. Accessed September 21, 2016.
  10. ^ "1050 CHUM - CHUM Charts". CHUM. Archived from the original on July 15, 2006. Retrieved September 21, 2016. Chart No. 386, Week of August 03, 1964.
  11. ^ Dean Martin - Everybody Loves Somebody, Ultratop. Accessed September 21, 2016.
  12. ^ a b Dean Martin - Everybody Loves Somebody, norwegiancharts.com. Accessed September 21, 2016.
  13. ^ "Lever Hit Parade" 27-Aug-1964, Flavour of New Zealand. Accessed September 21, 2016.
  14. ^ Dean Martin - Full Official Chart History, Official Charts Company. Accessed September 21, 2016.
  15. ^ Dean Martin - Chart History - The Hot 100, Billboard.com. Accessed September 21, 2016.
  16. ^ Dean Martin - Chart History - Adult Contemporary, Billboard.com. Accessed September 21, 2016.
  17. ^ "Cash Box Top 100", Cash Box, August 15, 1964. Accessed September 21, 2016.
Bibliography
  • The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition, 1996

External links[edit]