"Letter Full of Tears" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Don Covay and released by Gladys Knight & the Pips as a single in November 1961. It became their second top-20 hit, peaking at number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100.[1] The song was covered the following year by English singer Billy Fury who had a minor hit with it in the UK.
| "Letter Full of Tears" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Gladys Knight & the Pips | ||||
| from the album Letter Full of Tears | ||||
| B-side | "You Broke Your Promise" | |||
| Released | November 1961 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:45 | |||
| Label | Fury | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Don Covay | |||
| Producer(s) | ||||
| Gladys Knight & the Pips singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
editAfter the top-ten success of "Every Beat of My Heart" earlier in 1961, subsequent releases of a re-recording of "Every Beat of My Heart" and a cover of the Jesse Belvin song "Guess Who" had failed to continue the group's success. They then asked songwriter Don Covay, who had written Chubby Checker's number one hit "Pony Time", to write a song for them. The resulting song, "Letter Full of Tears", was then arranged by Horace Ott. Bubba Knight has said it "was the first time we had ever used a string section". However, producer Bobby Robinson "didn't really want to record strings, and Marshall Sehorn begged him to put strings on this song for us. Because during this time, when you used strings, it kind of made yourself a bit more sophisticated than the regular R&B thing".[2]
Track listing
edit7": Fury / 1054
- "Letter Full of Tears" – 2:45
- "You Broke Your Promise" – 2:45
Charts
edit| Chart (1962) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100[1] | 19 |
| US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[3] | 3 |
| US Cash Box Top 100[4] | 17 |
| US Cash Box R&B Top 50[4] | 6 |
Billy Fury version
edit| "Letter Full of Tears" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Billy Fury | ||||
| B-side | "Magic Eyes" | |||
| Released | 23 February 1962 | |||
| Recorded | 14 November 1961[5] | |||
| Studio | Decca Studios, London | |||
| Genre | R&B | |||
| Length | 3:15 | |||
| Label | Decca | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Don Covay | |||
| Producer(s) |
| |||
| Billy Fury singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Release
edit"Letter Full of Tears" was a departure for Fury from his previous rock and roll and pop ballad releases. It was his first R&B single, though he had been singing R&B songs on stage for a while.[6] It was recorded in November 1961, soon after the release of Gladys Knight & the Pips' version, and released in February 1962.[5] It was released with the B-side "Magic Eyes", written by Americans Dorian Burton and Herb Bernstein.
"Letter Full of Tears" was not particularly successful, especially given that Fury's previous three singles had all been top-five. However, Fury later said that "I had an awful lot of trouble with this song. I didn't want to do it because it wasn't my style and I find the vocal really difficult to do and I was really pressurised into doing it. And I didn't like the arrangement".[6] Whilst on the official Record Retailer chart, the single only peaked at number 32, it did fare better on other music paper charts, such as Disc and New Musical Express, both on which the single peaked at number 17.
Track listing
edit7": Decca / F 11437
- "I'm Lost Without You" – 2:28
- "Magic Eyes" – 2:12
Charts
edit| Chart (1962) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Disc Top 20[7] | 17 |
| UK New Musical Express Top 30[8] | 17 |
| UK Record Mirror Top 20[9] | 20 |
| UK Record Retailer Top 50[10] | 32 |
Other versions
edit- In 1974, Millie Jackson covered the song on her album I Got to Try It One Time.[11]
- In 1981, Little Milton covered the song on his album Walkin' the Back Streets.[12]
- In 1982, Randy Crawford covered the song on her album Windsong.[13]
- In 1993, Arlene Smith (former lead singer of the Chantels) and Johnny Colla (guitarist for Huey Lewis and the News) covered the song on the tribute album Celebrating the Music of Don Covay – Back to the Streets.[14]
- In 2012, an previously unreleased recording by Esquerita from 1966 was included on the album Sinner Man – The Lost Session.[15]
References
edit- ^ a b "Gladys Knight and the Pips Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
- ^ Dahl, Bill (2011-02-28). Motown: The Golden Years: More than 100 rare photographs. Penguin. p. 182. ISBN 978-1-4402-2557-4.
- ^ "Gladys Knight and the Pips Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.
- ^ a b "Cash Box Top 100" (PDF). Cash Box. 3 February 1962. pp. 4, 28. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ a b "Letter Full of Tears". www.nic.fi. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
- ^ a b Stafford, David; Stafford, Caroline (2018). Halfway to Paradise: The Life of Billy Fury. Music Sales Group. pp. 186–187. ISBN 978-1-78759-074-8.
- ^ "Top Twenty" (PDF). Disc. 24 March 1962. p. 3. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ "NME Music Charts". New Musical Express. 16 March 1962.
- ^ "Britain's Top 20". Record Mirror. 17 March 1962.
- ^ "Billy Fury | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2022-10-02.
- ^ "Millie Jackson – I Got To Try It One Time (1974, Vinyl)". Discogs. 1974. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
- ^ "Little Milton – Walkin' The Back Streets (1981, Vinyl)". Discogs. October 1981. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
- ^ "Randy Crawford – Windsong (1982, Light Grey Shell, Cassette)". Discogs. 1982. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
- ^ "Back To The Streets (1993, CD)", Discogs, 1993, retrieved 2021-11-09
- ^ "Esquerita – Sinner Man - The Lost Session (2012, Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved 2021-11-09.