B-side "A Little Voice" Format 7" vinyl Genre Traditional pop | Released June 1964 Recorded 1964 Length 2:48 | |
"Everybody Loves Somebody" is a song written in 1947 by Sam Coslow, Irving Taylor and pianist Ken Lane.
Contents
History
Although written almost twenty years earlier, by 1964 the song had already been recorded by several artists – including Frank Sinatra – but without much 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.)
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 even titled the LP Everybody Loves Somebody to capitalize on it.
Although still a major recording artist, 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 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 14-year-old son Dean Paul Martin, who like many teenagers at the time worshipped pop groups like The Beatles. He told his son, "I'm gonna' knock your pallies off the charts," and in August 15, 1964 he did just that: "Everybody Loves Somebody" knocked the Beatles "A Hard Day's Night" off the number one slot on Billboard, going straight up to the top of both the Billboard Hot 100 and the "Pop-Standard Singles" chart, the latter for eight weeks.
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 until 1974. The song has become so identified with Martin that later versions are invariably compared to his take.
As an apt description of the power of the song in Martin's life, the words "Everybody Loves Somebody" appear on his grave marker in Los Angeles.
Later versions
Parodies
A parody of the song "Everybody Needs Some Money" is featured in the Western Union commercial in the early-1990s.