Hello there! This week our blog features a beautiful soul song, Let It Be Me. We will begin with the original version by Gilbert Becaud, titled Je t’Appartiens. We will then include a cover from The Everly Brothers, and another cover by Betty Everett and Jerry Butler.
Gilbert Becaud and Je t’Appartiens:
I got the idea to use this song when I saw a post by biologist blogger Jerry Coyne. There I learned that Let It Be Me was originally written by French musician Gilbert Becaud.
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Gilbert Becaud was born in Toulon, France in 1927; he became a noted French singer-songwriter. As a youth he was a promising pianist, and was admitted to the Conservatoire de Nice. After graduating, he played piano with various groups until in 1953 the great Edith Piaf convinced him that he should try singing. Becaud began a successful singing career, and he personally wrote most of his hit songs.
Below is a photo of singer-songwriter-actor Gilbert Becaud.
Becaud’s most famous composition is likely the 1961 song Et Maintenant, which was one of the best-selling records ever in France. It was translated into English as What Now My Love? That song was subsequently recorded by artists such as Shirley Bassey, Elvis, Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra. In the late 60s, Becaud collaborated with Neil Diamond on a couple of hit songs.
Becaud gained the nickname “Monsieur 100,000 Volts” because of his many accomplishments. In fact, Becaud’s song catalog contains 450 tunes! Also, he was known to be a high-energy performer.
The song Je t’Appartiens was written by Becaud with lyrics by Pierre Delanoe. It was released in 1955 and became a big hit in France. Here is Gilbert Becaud in a live performance of Je t’Appartiens.
Both the audio and video quality leave a lot to be desired, but you can certainly pick out the tune of Let It Be Me in this performance. And you can get a taste of Becaud’s performing style.
In addition to his career as a singer-songwriter, Becaud also was an actor. He appeared in eight films or TV series. Becaud died from lung cancer in December 2001, on his houseboat on the River Seine.
Gilbert Becaud was an acclaimed French artist. In 1974 he was named a Chevalier in the Legion d’honneur. We salute Sir Gilbert and his many accomplishments.
The Everly Brothers and Let It Be Me:
Don and Phil Everly were brothers who grew up in Shenandoah, Iowa. Elder brother Don was born in February 1937 and Phil was born in January 1939. As young children, they began performing with their parents’ Everly Family singers as “Little Donnie and Baby Boy Phil.” The legendary close harmony singing for which they became famous was a result of years of performing together. The Everly Brothers songs generally featured older brother Don singing the baritone lead and his younger sibling Phil taking the tenor harmony part.
Here is a photo of Phil (L) and Don Everly from about 1955.
When the brothers were in high school, the family moved to Tennessee where Don and Phil were hired as songwriters by Acuff-Rose music publishers. The duo had their first big hit in 1957 with Bye Bye Love, a song written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant. The Everlys formed a most profitable association with that husband-and-wife songwriting team, who wrote over a score of songs that Don and Phil turned into hits.
Of course, the song Let It Be Me was initially written by Gilbert Becaud, and the English lyrics were written by Manny Curtis. Curtis’ lyrics are simple, direct and moving; the singer asks his beloved “if you must cling to someone, now and forever let it be me.”
I bless the day I found youI want to stay around youAnd so I beg youLet it be me
Don’t take this heaven from oneIf you must cling to someoneNow and foreverLet it be me
Each time we meet, loveI find complete loveWithout your sweet loveWhat would life be?
So never leave me lonelyTell me you love me onlyAnd that you’ll alwaysLet it be me
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Don Everly heard an instrumental version of Let It Be Me that had been recorded by Chet Atkins, and was determined that the Everlys should record it. Although all the previous Everly Brothers songs had been recorded in Nashville under the supervision of the great Chet Atkins, Let It Be Me was recorded in New York City in December, 1959.
Here are the Everly Brothers in a live version of Let It Be Me.
Isn’t this lovely? The Everly Brothers harmonies are always stunning. In fact, every subsequent recording of Let It Be Me has followed the Everly Brothers harmony scheme.
Right around this time, the Everly Brothers were moving from their original country rockabilly sound to more conventional pop music. So Let It Be Me can be seen as the first step towards a new style for the Everlys. For example, this was one of the first songs to have a string accompaniment, consisting here of eight violins and a cello.
Let It Be Me has appealed to a wide variety of musicians. There are over 300 covers of this tune and the original French version Je t’Appartiens. For example, it has been covered by Sonny & Cher, Sam & Dave, Glen Campbell, James Brown, Elvis, Bob Dylan and Nancy Sinatra.
Through 1962 the brothers continued as one of the best-selling pop groups, but an argument with their Acuff-Rose publishing group left them in a precarious position. They were cut off from the Bryants, who had provided them with many hits. Worse still, if they wrote their own songs the royalties would still go to Acuff-Rose.
The Everlys tried to write songs using pseudonyms, a trick that had worked for many other artists. However, Acuff-Rose caught on and confiscated the royalties for these songs.
The career of the Everlys was further hampered by the fact that both brothers became addicted to methamphetamines. Don’s condition was worse than Phil’s, and in fall 1962 he collapsed onstage during a British tour. In addition to their health problems, the Everlys found it difficult to compete with British Invasion groups. Somewhat paradoxically, during the late 60s and early 70s the appeal of the Everly Brothers remained higher in Canada, Australia and the UK than in the US.
Then in July 1973 at a concert at California’s Knott’s Berry Farm, Don showed up drunk and was having difficulty performing. In the middle of the show, Phil smashed his guitar and walked off, leaving Don to finish the show by himself. Following that incident, the two brothers did not speak for more than a decade.
Fortunately, the brothers reunited for several shows during the 1980s. Here are the Everly Brothers in a live performance of Let It Be Me.
This took place at a concert in Melbourne, Australia in 1989. Although the brothers are a lot older, they can still produce their trademark dazzling harmonies. After the 80s, the brothers occasionally appeared at various tribute concerts.
In January, 2014 Phil Everly died of lung disease.
The Everly Brothers were an inspiration to dozens of pop groups who followed after them. In their early days, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Simon & Garfunkel developed their styles by performing Everly covers. The Bee Gees, the Hollies, and other rock ‘n’ roll groups that feature harmony singing were also influenced.
I recommend to you an enjoyable blog called The Immortal Jukebox by Thom Hickey. He wrote a post about the Everly Brothers on the occasion of Phil Everly’s death in 2014. You can find that article here: http://theimmortaljukebox.com/tag/the-everly-brothers/
Betty Everett and Jerry Butler and Let It Be Me:
Betty Everett and Jerry Butler, Jr. were exceptional soul artists. Betty was born in 1939 in Greenwood, Mississippi. Her musical career began when she played piano and sang gospel music at her church. Betty then moved to Chicago where her interests turned to pop music.
Betty gained fame after she signed a contract with Vee-Jay Records. Her second record was a cover of the song You’re No Good, which made the Billboard Hot 100 playlists. But it was her next song for which she is best known: this was It’s In His Kiss, which was also called The Shoop Shoop Song.
That song made it all the way to #6 on the Billboard charts. Betty never again managed to crack the top 20 in her solo work. However, she also recorded a number of duets with Jerry Butler. Their biggest hit is the one we feature here, a 1964 cover of Let It Be Me. That song made it to #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, and to #1 on the soul playlists.
Jerry Butler was born in 1939 in Sunflower, Mississippi. His family moved to Chicago when he was three, where they lived in the infamous Cabrini-Green housing project. Jerry performed in a church choir where he met Curtis Mayfield, who also came from Cabrini-Green.
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Butler and Mayfield then formed a vocal group called The Roosters. Most if not all of the members were from the Cabrini-Green projects. Eventually that group morphed into The Impressions. Butler was the lead singer and Curtis Mayfield was the guitarist (the only instrument in that singing group), and he wrote most of the group’s songs.
In 1958, Butler and two of the Impressions, brothers Richard and Arthur Brooks, wrote the song For Your Precious Love. That song was released as a single and made it to #11 on the Billboard pop charts. The song is considered a classic, and Rolling Stone magazine rates it #327 in their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The video we are about to show (Betty Everett and Jerry Butler in a live performance of Let It Be Me) took place in 2000 at an event called Doo Wop 51. It followed the Doo Wop 50 event in 1999, that celebrated roughly 50 years since the first Doo Wop songs were recorded.
That event was sponsored by PBS. The concert (actually 2 performances over 2 consecutive days) took place in Pittsburgh, which had been a center for Doo Wop music. The concerts were filmed and used by PBS for pledge drives. The concerts were a stunning success; at the time, it was the most successful fund-raising drive ever for PBS.
Both the 1999 and 2000 concerts were hosted by Jerry Butler. And here, from Doo Wop 51, are Jerry Butler and Betty Everett in Let It Be Me.
As you can see, their performance was a highlight of the concert. The audience loved it – and why not? Both Butler and Everett are in fine form, despite their age. Butler has not lost the silky-smooth vocals for which he was famous with the Impressions and on his own. Here, Butler and Everett’s harmonies provide something equal to the Everly Brothers version.
Betty Everett died in 2001, at age 61.
Jerry Butler left the Impressions rather early, and set out on a solo career. He had a string of hits in the 60s and 70s, several of which were written by his former Impressions mate Curtis Mayfield; Mayfield also sang harmony with Butler on those records.
For many years Butler was active in politics, serving as a Cook County (Illinois) Commissioner. He retired from that post in 2018. He was also the chairman of the board of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation for several years.
In 1991 Butler was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with his bandmates Curtis Mayfield, Fred Cash, Sam Gooden and Arthur and Richard Brooks. Jerry Butler’s solo career was sufficiently notable that there has been support for him to be inducted again into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this time for his solo work.
These are significant achievements from a great soul singer. We tip our hat to Jerry Butler.
Source Material:
Wikipedia, Let It Be Me (the Everly Brothers song)
Songfacts.com, Let It Be Me
Wikipedia, Gilbert Becaud
Wikipedia, The Everly Brothers
Wikipedia, Doo Wop 50
Wikipedia, Jerry Butler
Wikipedia, Betty Everett
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