"It's All Over" is a song by

the Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close-harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly and Phillip "Phil" Everly, the duo combined elements of rock and roll, country, ...

, released as a single in December 1965 from their album '' In Our Image''.

Release and reception

"It's All Over" is one of the few Everly Brothers songs to feature Phil Everly on lead vocals, with Don Everly doing the harmony. The song also prominently features a

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

played by

Don Randi Don Randi (born February 25, 1937) is an American keyboard player, bandleader, and songwriter who was a member of the Wrecking Crew. He's the father of bassist / singer Leah Randi. Career Don was born February 25, 1937, in New York City. He wa ...

. The single was only released in the US and the Netherlands, with the B-side "I Used to Love You", written by

Sonny Curtis Sonny Curtis (born May 9, 1937) is an American singer and songwriter. Known for his collaborations with Buddy Holly, he was a member of the Crickets and continued with the band after Holly's death. Curtis's best known compositions include " Wa ...

. It was scheduled for release in the UK in January 1966, but was never released. Reviewed in ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'', "It's All Over" was described as a "soft dreamyeyed heartbreaker. Husky sad tale of a lost love has tons of tear-jerking ten-appeal". In ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'', it was described as a "slow ballad paced by a

. Unusual sound will get attention for the change of pace". However, the song failed to chart in the US or the Netherlands.

Cliff Richard version

In March 1967,

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

released a cover of the song as a single, which peaked at number 9 on the UK Singles Chart.

Release and reception

"It's All Over" was first recorded by Richard in September 1966. However, this version remains unreleased and instead, a re-recording of the song a month later was the version released as a single. Richard's version was arranged by Bernard Ebbinghouse, whose orchestra performs all instrumentation on the track. The B-side, "Why Wasn't I Born Rich", is backed by

the Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters between 1958 and 1959) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the pre-Beatles era from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. They served as the bac ...

, who wrote the song for the pantomime

cast album A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the sho ...

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

''. Peter Jones for ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...

'' was "just a little disappointed" with "It's All Over", describing it as "very slow, low-pitched, throaty, and sentimental, but somehow Cliff doesn't really get going. However. it's a superbly professional performance". Reviewing for ''

Disc and Music Echo ''Disc'' was a weekly British popular music magazine, published between 1958 and 1975, when it was incorporated into ''Record Mirror''. It was also known for periods as ''Disc Weekly '' (1964–1966) and ''Disc and Music Echo '' (1966–1972). ...

'', Penny Valentine described the song as "very drifting stuff saved for me by the intensely well written words by Don Everly".

Track listing

# "It's All Over" – 2:28 # "Why Wasn't I Born Rich" – 2:41

Charts

Other versions

* In 1967, American

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, ...

group

The Casinos The Casinos was a nine-member doo-wop group from Cincinnati, Ohio, led by Gene Hughes and which included Bob Armstrong, Ray White, Mickey Denton, and Pete Bolton. Ken Brady performed with the group, taking over for Hughes from 1962 to 1965 as ...

released a cover of the song as a single, which peaked at number 65 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. * In 1976, American country music singer

Don Gibson Donald Eugene Gibson (April 3, 1928 – November 17, 2003) was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson wrote such country standards as " Sweet Dreams" and " I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjo ...

covered the song on his album '' I'm All Wrapped Up in You''. * In 2013, American duo Dawn McCarthy and

Bonnie "Prince" Billy Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Brothers, Palace Son ...

covered the song on their album '' What the Brothers Sang''.

References

{{authority control 1965 singles 1967 singles 1965 songs The Everly Brothers songs Cliff Richard songs Songs written by Don Everly Warner Records singles Columbia Graphophone Company singles Song recordings produced by Dick Glasser Song recordings produced by Norrie Paramor