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"One Night" is a song written by Dave Bartholomew, Pearl King, and Anita Steiman. It originally was an R&B hit for Smiley Lewis in 1956, before being recorded with greater commercial success by Elvis Presley in 1958.
Smiley Lewis
The original recording of the song by Smiley Lewis, for Imperial Records, is sometimes titled "One Night of Sin", in line with the original lyrics. The single reached No.11 on the Billboard R&B chart in early 1956. The song's composition was originally credited to Dave Bartholomew and his wife, Pearl King.
Elvis Presley version
| "One Night" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Elvis Presley | ||||
| A-side | "I Got Stung" | |||
| Released | October 21, 1958 | |||
| Recorded | February 23, 1957 | |||
| Studio | Radio Recorders, Hollywood | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:32 | |||
| Label | RCA Victor | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Dave Bartholomew, Pearl King, Anita Steinman | |||
| Elvis Presley singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Presley recorded a version of the song with its original lyrics on January 18, 1957, but this version would not be released until 1983 on the album Elvis: A Legendary Performer, Volume 4. Both Elvis' manager and record company had reservations about the suggestive lyrics. Elvis did not give up on the song. He continued to play with it during his spare time on the set of Loving You, finally rewriting the lyrics that he felt were holding the song captive, changing "One night of sin is what I'm now paying for" into "One night with you is what I'm now praying for." Presley's recording credited Anita Steinman as an additional co-writer, with Bartholomew and King.
On February 23, 1957, at Radio Recorders in Los Angeles, he showed up with his new lyrics, feeling sure they would meet his label's approval. It was issued as a single in October 1958 and peaked at No. 4 on Billboard's singles chart. The song was published by Elvis Presley Music.
Presley's recording was issued as a double A-side with "I Got Stung", and reached number one twice on the UK Singles Chart. In the U.S., "One Night", reached number four on the pop singles chart and number ten on the R&B chart. The song became the UK's 1000th number-one single upon its second release in January 2005. It was also his last single to be issued on 78 RPM records in the United States. On 12 February 1959, it became the first song to reach No. 1 on the Irish Music Charts Top 10, when they were being printed in the Evening Herald. It spent one week at the top spot.
Rock critic Pete Johnson observed that the song contains a triple negative with the lyrics "I ain't never did no wrong".
Personnel
- Scotty Moore, guitar
- Elvis Presley, lead guitar, vocals
- Bill Black, bass
- D.J. Fontana, drums
- Dudley Brooks, piano
- The Jordanaires, vocals
Other versions
- 1961: Fats Domino on his album Let the Four Winds Blow
- 1972: Tami Lynn on her album Love is Here and Now You’re Gone (Cotillion Records – SD 9052)
- 1972: Jeannie C. Riley on her album Down to Earth (MGM Records – SE-4849)
- 1972: Shakin' Stevens on the album "Rockin' & Shakin' With Shakin' Stevens & The Sunsets"
- 1975: English glam rock band Mud on their album Mud Rock Volume 2 (reached #32 in the UK charts)
- 1978: Folk singer/songwriter Arlo Guthrie performed the song live with back-up band Shenandoah on his concert album entitled One Night
- 1988: Guana Batz on their album Rough Edges
- 1989: Joe Cocker titled his remake "One Night of Sin" on his album of the same name
- 2006: Billy Ray Cyrus recorded this song during the sessions for his album Wanna Be Your Joe
- 2007: Corinne Bailey Rae performed the song on Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino
- 2020: Glenn Danzig released the song as a single from the Danzig album Danzig Sings Elvis
References
- ^ Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 8 - The All American Boy: Enter Elvis and the rock-a-billies. [Part 2]" (audio). Pop Chronicles. University of North Texas Libraries.
- Whitburn, Joel (1996). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-1995. Record Research. p. 266.
- Jorgensen 1998, p. 129.
- Jorgensen 1998, pp. 79, 85, 86.
- Collins, Ace (2005). Untold Gold: The Stories Behind Elvis's #1 Hits. Chicago Review Press. p. 126. ISBN 9781556525650. Retrieved 25 June 2019 – via Internet Archive.
- Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 707. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 468.
- "One Night / I Got Stung". Elvisrecords.com. Retrieved 2016-08-29.
- Jorgensen 1998, p. 86.
- Connolly, Ray (21 March 2017). Being Elvis: A Lonely Life. Liveright Publishing. ISBN 9781631492815. Retrieved 25 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- Source
- Jorgensen, Ernst (1998). Elvis Presley, A Life in Music: The Complete Recording Sessions. St. Martin's Press.
