All I Have to Do Is Dream

"All I Have to Do Is Dream" is a popular song made famous by the Everly Brothers, written by the husband and wife songwriting team Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, and published in 1958. The song is ranked No. 141 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The Everly Brothers' version

By far the best-known version was recorded by The Everly Brothers and released as a single in April 1958. It had been recorded in just two takes ^[1] on March 6, 1958 and features Chet Atkins on guitar. It is the only single to be at #1 on all of Billboard's singles charts simultaneously, on June 2, 1958. It first reached #1 on the "Most played by Jockeys" and "Top 100" charts on May 19, 1958, and remained there for five and three weeks, respectively; with the August 1958 introduction of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the song ended the year at #2. "All I Have to Do Is Dream" also hit number one on the R&B charts ^[2] as well as becoming The Everly Brothers' third number one on the country chart ^[3]. The Everly Brothers briefly returned to the Hot 100 in 1961 with this song. It entered the UK singles chart on May 23rd, 1958, reaching the number one position on July 11th and remaining there for six weeks and spending 21 weeks on the singles chart.

The song has also featured on several notable lists of the best songs or singles of all time, including Q's 1001 best songs ever in 2003 and Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, where it placed 141. It was named one of the "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll" by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2004.

The B-side, "Claudette", was the first major songwriting success for Roy Orbison, and was named for his wife. As a result of this song he terminated his contract with Sun Records and affiliated himself with the Everly's publisher, Acuff-Rose.

The song appears in the game Mafia 2. However the game is set in 1951, 7 years before the song was released.

Andy Gibb and Victoria Principal's version

"All I Have To Do Is Dream" is a single by Andy Gibb with Victoria Principal this song was the last single by Andy, and this song was the only single by Victoria Principal, this song was a single only and the B-side "Good Feeling" was recorded and released in 1978 from his second album Shadow Dancing.

Hit recordings

Another well known version was released by Richard Chamberlain on his album Richard Chamberlain Sings. This version became a hit when released as a single in 1963, peaking at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Other hit versions of the song include duets by Bobbie Gentry and Glen Campbell in 1969 (No. 27 U.S. pop, No. 6 U.S. country, No. 3 UK, No. 6 Euro Hit 50, No. 6 Sweden). The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's version hit No. 66 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1975. Cliff Richard, singing with Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers, took the song to No. 14 on the UK singles chart in 1994.

Other versions

In 1963, Rock & Roll legend, Roy Orbison included the song on his successful album, In Dreams.

In 1981, Grammy winner Juice Newton included the song on her career-establishing Juice album.

In 1984, Jeff Bridges and Karen Allen recorded a duet of the song for the film Starman in which they also starred.

In 1994, Linda Ronstadt and Kermit the Frog recorded a duet cover for the Muppet album Kermit Unpigged.

R.E.M. covered the song as "(All I've Got to Do Is) Dream".

A version performed by The Dandy Warhols was featured in the 2005 videogame Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse.

The Corrs included a cover of the song on their 2006 greatest hits album Dreams: The Ultimate Corrs Collection. The song's vocals featured a duet between Andrea Corr and Laurent Voulzy.

On November 4, 2010, Stephen Colbert and Elvis Costello ended "The Colbert Report" with a duet of the song, the full version of which appeared on the ColbertNation web site by the following morning.^[4]

References

1. ^ Acoustic Guitar: Everly Brothers Part 2
2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 194. 
3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 117. 
4. ^ Colbert Report website