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Who Wrote My Baby She Wrote Me a Letter

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1967 Box Tops song written by Wayne Carson

"The Letter"
The Letter (The Box Tops single) coverart.jpg

U.k. unmarried flick sleeve
Unmarried by the Box Tops
B-side "Happy Times"
Released July 1967 (1967-07)
Studio American Sound, Memphis, Tennessee
Genre Pop rock, blue-eyed soul
Length one:58
Characterization Mala
Songwriter(southward) Wayne Carson
Producer(due south) Dan Penn
The Box Tops singles chronology
"The Letter"
(1967) 		"Neon Rainbow"
(1967)
Audio sample
  • file
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"The Letter" is a song written by Wayne Carson that was offset recorded by the American rock band the Box Tops in 1967. It was the group's first and biggest record chart hit, reaching No. 1 in the United States and Canada. It was too an international success, achieving the top 10 in several other countries.

The Box Tops atomic number 82 vocalist Alex Chilton sang "The Letter" in a gruff blue-eyed soul manner. The song launched Chilton's career and inspired numerous cover versions. English language stone and soul vocalizer Joe Cocker'southward 1970 rendition became his first top ten single in the U.S.; several other artists have recorded versions which likewise reached the record charts.

Rolling Rock magazine included the Box Tops original at No. 372 on its listing of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Fourth dimension";[ane] the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame added information technology to the list of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".[two] In 2011, the single was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[3]

Composition and recording [edit]

Wayne Carson wrote "The Alphabetic character", congenital on an opening line suggested by his father: "Give me a ticket for an aeroplane".[4] Carson included the song on a demo tape he gave to Fries Moman, owner of American Sound Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. When studio associate Dan Penn was looking for an opportunity to produce more, Moman suggested a local group, the DeVilles, who had a new pb singer, 16 yr-old Alex Chilton.[4] The other iv members of the group that played on the session were Danny Smythe on drums, Richard Malone on electric guitar, John Evans on electric pianoforte, and Russ Caccamisi on bass.[5] Penn gave the group Carson'south demo tape for some songs to work up.[4] With little or no rehearsal, the group arrived at American Audio to record "The Alphabetic character".[5] Chilton recalled:

We set up and started running the tune downward... [Dan] adjusted a few things on the organ audio, told the drummer not to exercise anything at all except the basic rhythm that was called for. No rolls, no nothin'. The bass actor was playing pretty hot stuff, and so he didn't mess with what the bass player was doing.[five]

Penn added: "The guitar player had the lick right—we copied Wayne's demo. Then I asked the keyboard player to play an 'I'm a Believer' type of thing".[5] Chilton sang the vocal live while the grouping was performing;[five] Penn noted: "I coached him [Chilton] a little... told him to say 'aer-o-plane,' told him to get a lilliputian gruff, and I didn't accept to say anything else to him, he was hookin 'em, a natural singer."[half dozen] He later explained, "[Chilton] picked information technology up exactly as I had in heed, perchance even ameliorate. I hadn't even paid whatsoever attending to how good he sang because I was busy trying to put the band together... I had a bunch of greenhorns who'd never cutting a record, including me".[seven]

About 30 takes were required for the bones track. Then Penn had Mike Leech fix a cord and horn arrangement to requite information technology a fuller audio.[iv] Leech recalled: "My very first cord organisation was 'The Letter', and the only reason I did that was because I knew how to write music notation... Nobody else in the grouping did or I'm sure someone else would take gotten the call."[4] Penn likewise overdubbed the sound of an airplane taking off to the track from a special furnishings record that had been checked out from the local library.[v] He explained:

That was a big function of the record... When I finished it up, I played it for Chips [Moman], and he said, "That's a pretty good little rock & roll record, but you've got to take that airplane off information technology." I said, "If the record's going out, it's going out with the plane on it". He said, "Okay, it'south your record."[5]

The DeVilles were renamed the Box Tops and "The Letter", at but 1 minute, 58 seconds, was released by Mala Records, a subsidiary of Bell Records.

Chart functioning [edit]

"The Letter" reached No. ane on the Hot 100 singles chart published by Billboard magazine on September 23, 1967.[8] Information technology remained at the top position for 4 weeks and Billboard ranked the record the No. 2 song for 1967.[9] The single sold more than 1 million copies[ten] and the RIAA certified information technology as gold.[11]

Joe Cocker renditions [edit]

"The Letter"
Joecockerletter45.jpg

German language single picture sleeve
Single past Joe Cocker
B-side "Infinite Captain"
Released Apr 1970 (1970-04)
Recorded March 17, 1970
Studio A&One thousand soundstage, Hollywood, California
Genre Rock
Length iv:10
Label A&M
Songwriter(s) Wayne Carson
Producer(s) Denny Cordell, Leon Russell
Joe Cocker singles chronology
"She Came in Through the Bath Window"
(1970) 		"The Letter"
(1970) 		"Cry Me a River"
(1970)
Audio sample
  • file
  • assist

English language vocalist Joe Cocker recorded "The Letter of the alphabet" during the rehearsals for his upcoming Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour on March 17, 1970.[25] Leon Russell and the Shelter People provided the support; Russell and Denny Cordell produced the recording.[25] A&M Records released it every bit a single, with "Infinite Helm" as the B-side. It appeared in Billboard'southward Hot 100 in Apr 1970 and somewhen settled at No. 7.[26] "The Letter of the alphabet" became Cocker's offset height ten single in the US. In the UK, the single reached No. 39.[27]

Cocker performed it (and "Space Captain") during his 1970 operation at the Fillmore East auditorium in New York City.[25] Recordings of both songs are included on the live Mad Dogs & Englishmen anthology, which was released in Baronial 1970 and was a best seller.[28] The concert was also filmed in its entirety and released in theaters. In 2003, it was released on DVD.[28]

Nautical chart operation [edit]

Other charting renditions [edit]

In 1979, a take by country singer Sammi Smith reached No. 27 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.[34] A yr later in the UK, Amii Stewart'southward version reached No. 39 on the UK Singles Nautical chart.[35]

References [edit]

  1. ^ "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Rock. No. 963. December ix, 2004. Archived from the original on July 6, 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  2. ^ "500 Songs That Shaped Stone and Ringlet". Rock and Ringlet Hall of Fame. 1995. Archived from the original on May 2, 2007. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  3. ^ "Grammy Hall of Fame Awards – By Recipients". Grammy.org. 2011. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d e Jones, Roben (2010). Memphis Boys: The Story of American Studios . Academy Press of Mississippi. pp. 78–81. ISBN9781604734010.
  5. ^ a b c d e f k George-Warren, Holly (2014). A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton. Penguin. eBook. ISBN978-0-670-02563-3.
  6. ^ McKeen, William (2000). Stone and Ringlet Is Here to Stay: An Anthology (1st ed.). New York City: West. W. Norton. pp. 495–496. ISBN0-393-04700-8.
  7. ^ McNutt, Randy (2002). Guitar Towns: A Journey to the Crossroads of Stone 'n' Ringlet (1st The states ed.). Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana Academy Printing. pp. 104–105. ISBN0-253-34058-6.
  8. ^ "Hot 100". Billboard. Vol. 79, no. 38. September 23, 1967. p. 24. ISSN 0006-2510.
  9. ^ "Superlative Records of 1967". Billboard. Vol. 79, no. 52. Dec xxx, 1967. p. 42. ISSN 0006-2510.
  10. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (1997). Joel Whitburn's Top Popular Singles. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Inquiry. p. 64. ISBN0-89820-122-5.
  11. ^ "Gold & Platinum Search – The Box Tops". RIAA . Retrieved June viii, 2017.
  12. ^ "Get-Ready National Peak twoscore". Poparchives.com.au. December 13, 1967. Archived from the original on March 6, 2017. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  13. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Archived from the original on April 3, 2017. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  14. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – The Letter of the alphabet". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  15. ^ "The Box Tops – The Letter" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  16. ^ Flavor of New Zealand, 17 November 1967
  17. ^ "Box Tops – Singles". Official Charts. Archived from the original on July xiii, 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  18. ^ Hoffmann, Frank (1983). The Greenbacks Box Singles Charts, 1950–1981. Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow Printing. p. 58.
  19. ^ "Go-Set National Height forty for 1967". Poparchives.com.au. December 1967. Archived from the original on March vi, 2017. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  20. ^ "Canada nautical chart". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  21. ^ "Elevation 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1967". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  22. ^ "Meridian Records of 1967 (Based on Billboard Charts)" (PDF). Billboard. December xxx, 1967. p. 42. Retrieved March iii, 2018.
  23. ^ "Greenbacks Box YE Pop Singles - 1967". Tropicalglen.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 25 Jan 2018.
  24. ^ "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard . Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  25. ^ a b c Mad Dogs & Englishmen (DVD notes). Joe Cocker. Santa Monica, California: A&Thousand Records. 2005. p. 7. B0005532-09. {{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  26. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990, ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  27. ^ a b "Joe Cocker – Singles". Official Charts. Archived from the original on July five, 2017. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  28. ^ a b Eder, Bruce. "Joe Cocker: Mad Dogs & Englishmen [2003 Video/DVD]". AllMusic. Archived from the original on March 1, 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  29. ^ "Become-Set up National Top 60". Poparchives.com.au. August fifteen, 1970. Archived from the original on March 16, 2017. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  30. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Athenaeum Canada, July 4, 1970". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Archived from the original on December three, 2017. Retrieved 2017-06-04 .
  31. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Popular Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  32. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 half dozen/xx/70". Tropicalglen.com. Archived from the original on viii June 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  33. ^ "RPM'due south Top 100 of 1970". RPM. September one, 1971. Archived from the original on August 28, 2017. Retrieved June 7, 2017 – via bac-lac.gc.ca.
  34. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot State Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research. p. 390. ISBN978-0-89820-177-two.
  35. ^ "Amii Stewart – Singles". Official Charts. Archived from the original on August 27, 2019. Retrieved December three, 2021.

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Letter_(Box_Tops_song)

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