"All Alone Am I" is a song from 1962 popularized by the American singer
Brenda Lee
Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed onl ...
. The song was originally composed by the Greek composer
Manos Hadjidakis
Manos may refer to:
Films
* ''The Hands'' (Spanish: ''Las manos''), a 2006 Argentinean-Italian film
* '' Manos: The Hands of Fate'', 1966 horror film
Music
* Manos (band), German Black metal band
* ''Manos'' (album), by The Spinanes
Other use ...
and recorded in Greek by
Tzeni Karezi
Tzeni Karezi ( el, Τζένη Καρέζη, 12 January 1932 – 26 July 1992); also known as Jenny Karezi, was a Greek film and stage actress.
Biography Early life
Evgenia Karpouzi was born in Athens, Greece, to a mathematician father and ...
for the soundtrack of the film ''To nisi ton genneon'' (''The Island of the Brave''); the original song in Greek is titled "Μην τον ρωτάς τον ουρανό" ("Min ton rotas ton ourano", translation: "Don't ask the heaven"). Later, a new version of the song with English lyrics was produced by
Owen Bradley and appeared as the title track on one of Lee's albums. The song is written in the key of
F major
F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor.
The F major scale is:
:
F major is the ...
, but begins on the sub-dominant B-flat major 7th chord.
Background
In 1960, the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
film ''
Never on Sunday
''Never on Sunday'' ( el, Ποτέ την Κυριακή, ) is a 1960 Greek romantic comedy film starring, written by and directed by Jules Dassin.
The film tells the story of Ilya, a Greek prostitute (Melina Mercouri), and Homer (Dassin), an Am ...
'' was released to considerable acclaim, earning multiple
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
nominations in the US. The film's star,
Melina Mercouri, was nominated for
Best Actress
Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...
, while the
title song from the film won the Oscar for
Best Original Song
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
for Greek musician
Manos Hatzidakis
Manos Hatzidakis (also spelled Hadjidakis; el, Μάνος Χατζιδάκις; 23 October 1925 – 15 June 1994) was a Greek composer and theorist of Greek music, widely considered to be one of the greatest Greek composers and one of the most ...
, who had composed the music used in the film. A melody that appeared in both ''Never on Sunday'' and ''The Island of the Brave'' was sent to Lee's management as a tune to be considered for the singer to record, and after being translated into
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
by Arthur Altman, became "All Alone Am I".
[Hyatt, Wesley (1999). ''The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits'' (Billboard Publications)]
Chart performance
"All Alone Am I" became a top 10 pop hit in both the US and the UK. The song peaked at number three on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in November 1962 and number seven on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
in February 1963.
Official Charts Company info from Official Charts Company
/ref> The song also spent five weeks atop the US ''Billboard'' easy listening chart in November and December 1962, Lee's only song to do so.
See also
* List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1962 (U.S.)
References
External links
Single release info from discogs.com
{{authority control
1962 singles
Brenda Lee songs
Songs with music by Arthur Altman
1962 songs
Decca Records singles
Song recordings produced by Owen Bradley