"Tell Laura I Love Her" is a

teenage tragedy song A teenage tragedy song is a style of ballad in popular music that peaked in popularity in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Examples of the style are also known as "tear jerkers", "death discs" or "splatter platters", among other colorful sobriquet ...

written by

Jeff Barry Jeff Barry (born Joel Adelberg; April 3, 1938) is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer. Among the most successful songs that he has co-written in his career are " Do Wah Diddy Diddy", " Da Doo Ron Ron", " Then He Kiss ...

and Ben Raleigh. It was a US top ten

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Funk ...

hit for singer Ray Peterson in 1960 on

RCA Victor Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

, reaching No. 7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Later that same year, it was recorded and released by

Ricky Valance David Spencer (10 April 193612 June 2020), known professionally as Ricky Valance, was a Welsh pop singer. He was best known for the UK number one single " Tell Laura I Love Her", which sold over a million copies in 1960. He was the first male We ...

in the United Kingdom, where it went to the No. 1 spot 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 ...

. The song has been a hit in 14 countries, and has sold over seven million copies.

Content

The song tells the tragic story from a witness' perspective of a young man named Tommy who is in love with Laura and wants to marry her, so he enters a stock car race, despite being the youngest and most inexperienced driver, hoping to win and use the prize money to buy Laura a wedding ring. The second verse tells how his car overturns and bursts into flames. Tommy is fatally injured and his last words are "Tell Laura I love her... My love for her will never die". In the final verse, Laura prays inside the chapel, where a church organ is heard, and where she can still hear Tommy's voice intoning the title one more time, before it fades out.

Recording history

The lyrics of "Tell Laura I Love Her" originally concerned a rodeo, not an automobile race, as composer Jeff Barry was an aficionado of cowboy culture. However, at RCA's instigation, Barry rewrote the song, in order to more closely resemble the No. 1 hit " Teen Angel". The personnel on the original recording included Al Chernet, Charles Macy, and Sebastian Mure on guitars: Lloyd Trotman on bass; Andrew Ackers on organ; Bob Burns on sax; and Bunny Shawker on drums.

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

in England decided not to release Ray Peterson's 1960 recording on the grounds that it was "too tasteless and vulgar" and destroyed about twenty-five thousand copies that had already been pressed. A cover by Ricky Valance, released by EMI on the

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

label, was No. 1 on the

for three weeks. Valance's version was initially banned by the BBC; it was considered to be in "bad taste" and expressed concern for copycat activity. The Peterson single was re-released in 1962, following the success of Valance's recording.

Chart history

Weekly charts

;Ricky Valance ;Johnny T. Angel

Year-end charts

Other versions

In the U.S. a recording by Johnny T. Angel (a.k.a. Bill Gilliland) on

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benny ...

peaked at No. 94 on June 22, 1974. In 1973, Dutch singer

Albert West Albertus Petrus Enricus Gerardus Westelaken (2 September 1949 – 4 June 2015), better known by his stage name Albert West, was a Dutch pop singer and record producer. He was the lead singer of The Shuffles from 1963 to 1973. He was born i ...

released his 7" version which reached No. 8 on the Dutch Top 40. In 1973, New Zealand band Creation released a rendering which peaked at No. 3 on the New Zealand charts and at No. 20 in the Australian charts the following year. The story of the song was adapted for stage and turned into ''Tell Laura I Love Her (The Musical)'' in 2007 by Richard C. Hague. Spanish versions were recorded (''"Dile a Laura que la quiero"'') by

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

an singer Ray Palaviccino in 1962, by Mexican singer

César Costa César Roel Schreurs, best known as César Costa, is a Mexican actor and rock-and-roll singer. Costa was born in Colonia Condesa of the Mexican capital. He studied elementary and Junior Highschool at the German College and Law at the Unive ...

(Dile que la quiero / La historia de Tommy), and Spanish group Los HH in 1963. There were also versions in Serbian (''"Lora, ja te volim"'', by Miodrag Jevremović), Danish (''"Hils Lillian kærligt"'', by

Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the bel ...

and ''"Si' til Lis hun er min tøs"'', by Dick Kaysø and Peter Thorup), Dutch (''"Ik blijf van Laura houden"'', by Charles Tuinenburg and The Melody Strings), Finnish (''"Laura (sua kauheesti kaipaan)"'' by

Hector In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

), French (''"Dis à Laura"'', by Richard Anthony), German (''"Das Ende der Liebe"'', by Rex Gildo), Italian (''"Dite a Laura che l'amo"'', by Michele), Swedish (''"Jag Älskar Min Laura"'', by Carli Tornehave) , Mandarin (''"告訴羅娜我愛她"'') and Vietnamese (''"Trưng Vương Khung Cửa Mùa Thu"'', by Nam Lộc).

Answer song versions

answer song An answer song, response song or answer record, is a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s to the 1950s. Answer so ...

, "Tell Tommy I Miss Him" was released by Marilyn Michaels in 1960. It was originally released by

as a single and is included on the 2007 compilation album ''The Answer to Everything - Girl Answer Songs of the '60's''. In 1961, country singer

Skeeter Davis Skeeter Davis (born Mary Frances Penick; December 30, 1931September 19, 2004) was an American country music singer and songwriter who sang crossover pop music songs including 1962's " The End of the World". She started out as part of the Davis ...

released the same song on her album ''

Here's the Answer ''Here's the Answer'' is the second studio album by American country artist Skeeter Davis. The album was released in January 1961 on RCA Victor Records and was produced by Chet Atkins. The album consisted of cover versions of hit singles by coun ...

''. British singer Laura Lee with orchestra directed by Johnny Keating also recorded a version, released by Triumph Records as a single in the UK in August 1960.

References

{{Authority control 1960 singles 1960 songs 1960s ballads Pop ballads Songs with lyrics by Ben Raleigh Songs written by Jeff Barry Teenage tragedy songs Songs about cars UK Singles Chart number-one singles Vehicle wreck ballads Columbia Graphophone Company singles RCA Victor singles EMI Records singles