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Please Send Me Someone to Love
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Wikipedia article
"'Please Send Me Someone to Love'" is a blues ballad, written and recorded by American blues and soul singer Percy Mayfield in 1950, for Art Rupe's Specialty Records. It was on the Billboard's R&B chart for 27 weeks and reached the number-one position for two weeks; it was Mayfield's most successful song.
Song background
It has been called a "multilayered universal lament".
Mayfield sang it in a soft ballad style. Its appeal lay in the sensitivity of its lyrics in juxtaposing an awareness of a world in conflict with a personal expression of the need for love.
Sung in Mayfield's gentle, suave vocal style, the lyrics were a combination of a romantic love ballad and a social message against discrimination.
Track listing
'US 7"Vinyl'
# "Please Send Me Someone to Love" (2:50)
# "Strange Things Happening" (2:49)
Charts
Johnny Diesel and the Injectors version
In 1989, the Australian ARIA award-winning rock band Johnny Diesel and the Injectors recorded the song for the soundtrack of the film 'The Delinquents'. It was released as a single and peaked at number 11 on the Australian ARIA chart and was the 87th biggest-selling single in 1990.
Track listing
# "Please Send Me Someone to Love" (4:17)# "Who's for Better" (3:40)
# "Thang 1" (3:15)
* Tracks 2 and 3 recorded live at the Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, Australia, August 16, 1989
Other versions
* Dinah Washington released a cover of the song in 1951.
* The Moonglows had a hit with their cover version in 1957.
* In 1967, Fred Neil covered the song for his album 'Sessions'.
* In 1968, Toni Williams covered the song. It was the B-side of his single "Sad, Lonely and Blue", released by Zodiac Records.
* In 1969, Ruth Brown covered the song for her album 'Black Is Brown and Brown Is Beautiful'.
* Freddie King recorded his version during his years with Shelter Records.
* Paul Butterfield covered the song on his 1973 album 'Paul Butterfield's Better Days'
* In 1977, The Animals covered the song on their reunion album, 'Before We Were So Rudely Interrupted'.
* James Booker covered the song on his album 'King Of New Orleans Keyboard'. In 2003, Leigh Harris and Larry Sieberth covered it on the album 'Patchwork: A Tribute to James Booker'.
* In 1997, B.B. King and Mick Hucknall covered the song on the album 'Deuces Wild'.
* In 1993, Sade released a cover of the song for the soundtrack of the movie 'Philadelphia'.
* In 1994, Grover Washington Jr. recorded the song for his album 'All My Tomorrows'.
* In 1998, Fiona Apple released a cover of the song for the soundtrack of the movie 'Pleasantville'.
* In 2011, John Oates released a cover of the song for his solo album 'Mississippi Mile'.
References
Category:1950 singles
Category:1990 singles
Category:Diesel (musician) songs
Category:Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Category:Songs written by Percy Mayfield
Category:1950 songs
Category:Chrysalis Records singles
Category:1950s ballads
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