"I'm the Lonely One" is a song by

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

and

the Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

, released as a single in January 1964. It peaked at number 8 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 ...

Background and release

"I'm the Lonely One" was written by then- Viscounts member

Gordon Mills Gordon William Mills (15 May 1935 – 29 July 1986) was a successful London-based music industry manager and songwriter. He was born in Madras, British India and grew up in Trealaw in the Rhondda Valley, South Wales. During the 1960s and 1970s ...

. The B-side, "Watch Watch You Do with My Baby" was written by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

songwriters Bill Giant, Bernie Baum and Florence Kaye. Both songs were included on the EP ''Cliff's Palladium Successes''. Reviewing for '' Disc'',

Don Nicholl Donald Nicholl (August 9, 1925 – July 5, 1980) was an English-American screenwriter and producer. His production company Nicholl Ross West (with Mickey Ross and Bernie West) wrote for the situation comedies ''All in the Family'', ''The Jeffer ...

described "I'm the Lonely One" as "a snappy change of pace that will probably do icharda lot of good in the parade. The song skips along infectiously on a good light beat and the hand clapping in the accompaniment will pull you in quickly". The song did receive some criticism however, with one letter to the music press asking why the group had to "sink so low and go all R&B on their latest record? On this disc, they lose all claim to originality". However, Richard said that "actually, it wasn't originally planned as a single. I usually include a couple of rockers on my albums, and this song was cut with that in view, but the beat craze changed our plans." In April 1964, Richard released a German-language version of "I'm the Lonely One", titled "Zuviel allein (The Lonely One)", with German lyrics by Kurt Hertha and backing vocals by the Botho-Lucas-Quartett. It was released as a double A-side with a German-language version of "Don't Talk to Him", titled "Sag' "no" zu ihm".

Track listing

7": Columbia / DB 7203 # "I'm the Lonely One" – 2:16 # "Watch What You Do with My Baby" – 2:04 7": Columbia / C 22 707 (Germany) # "Zuviel allein" – 2:16 # "Sag' "no" zu ihm" – 2:53

Personnel

– vocals * Hank Marvin – lead guitar, backing vocals * Bruce Welch – rhythm guitar, backing vocals *

John Rostill John Henry Rostill (16 June 1942 – 26 November 1973) was an English musician, bassist and composer, recruited by the Shadows to replace Brian Locking. Biography Born in Kings Norton, Birmingham, England, Rostill attended Rutlish School in s ...

– bass guitar *

Brian Bennett Brian Laurence Bennett, (born 9 February 1940) is an English drummer, pianist, composer and producer of popular music. He is best known as the drummer of the UK rock and roll group the Shadows. He is the father of musician and Shadows band me ...

– drums * Norrie Paramor – piano

Charts

References

{{authority control 1964 singles 1964 songs Cliff Richard songs Songs written by Gordon Mills Columbia Graphophone Company singles Song recordings produced by Norrie Paramor