Make the World Go Away

"Make the World Go Away"
Single by Ray Price
from the album Burning Memories
Released 1963
Genre Country
Label Columbia
Writer(s) Hank Cochran
"Make the World Go Away"
Single by Eddy Arnold
from the album My World
B-side "Easy Way"
Released October 1965
Genre Country
Label RCA
Writer(s) Hank Cochran
Producer(s) Chet Atkins
Eddy Arnold singles chronology
"I'm Letting You Go"
(1965)
"Make the World Go Away"
(1965)
"I Want to Go with You"
(1966)

"Make the World Go Away'" is a country-popular music song composed by Hank Cochran. It has become a Top 40 popular success three times: for Timi Yuro (during 1963), for Eddy Arnold (1965), and for the brother-sister duo Donny and Marie Osmond (1975). The original version of the song was recorded by Ray Price during 1963. It has remained a country crooner standard ever since.

History

Hank Cochran composed the song during 1963. Cochran was already a successful songwriter, having written two successes for Patsy Cline: "I Fall to Pieces" (with Harlan Howard) and "She's Got You". "Make the World Go Away" was recorded first by Ray Price and was one of Price's first songs to feature an orchestra and female chorus, a trend that continued with other songs like "Burning Memories" and "For the Good Times". Price's album scored #2 on the country charts and #100 on the popular music charts.[1]

Versions

Many artists have covered this song over the years, here are a few examples:

During 1963, Timi Yuro released a soul music version of the song from her album of the same name. A moderate success, the single scored #24 on the Billboard U.S. Top 40 popular music chart and as much as #11 on the Canadian charts.

At his last recording session in July 1964 Jim Reeves recorded a version of the song which became the opening track to his 1965 album The Jim Reeves Way.

"Make the World Go Away" became a greater success for Eddy Arnold during 1965, scoring #1 on the country music charts[2] and also scoring #1 on the adult contemporary charts. It scored #6 on the popular music chart. "Make the World Go Away" was part of the so-called Nashville Sound, an early mixture of popular with country music, and it became one of the most popular recordings of 1960s country music. It is generally considered to be Arnold's best-known song.

Elvis Presley's 1970 version of "Make the World Go Away" was the closing track of his album Elvis Country (I'm 10,000 Years Old). Dean Martin included his interpretation of the song on his 1970 album My Woman, My Woman, My Wife.

During 1975, Donny Osmond and Marie Osmond covered "Make the World Go Away", scoring hits in the UK and the United States. The song was recorded by the pair on the MGM album of the same title.

During 1978, country music singer Charly McClain covered "Make the World Go Away" for her second album, Let Me Be Your Baby. The single, with "Leanin' on the Bottle" on the B-side, scored #73 on the country charts.

Roger Whittaker covered the song for the 1987 album His Finest Collection.

In October 2004, Mickey Gilley's version of "Make the World Go Away" was featured on the fictional radio station K-Rose in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

During 2005, Martina McBride covered "Make the World Go Away" for her album Timeless.

Other popular singers who have covered the song include Engelbert Humperdinck, Jimmie Rogers and Tom Jones.

At the 2008 Academy of Country Music Awards program, Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley sang the song as a duet to honor Eddy Arnold for his long career in country music. "Make the World Go Away" is the song playing on the radio of the car in Underwood's 2008 music video for her single "Just a Dream".

In October 2012, Alison Krauss and Jamey Johnson performed their version of this song on the Late Show with David Letterman, promoting the album Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran.

Foreign versions

In Italy there were two local versions: the first, with the title Resta solo come sei (Stay as just the way you are), with the Italian lyrics written by Leo Chiosso, was recorded in 1964 by Iva Zanicchi; the second, with the title Qualche cosa tra noi (Something between us), adapted and arranged by Maestro Giancarlo Chiaramello, was recorded in the late 1967 by the Japanese singer Yoko Kishi.

Chart positions

Ray Price version

Chart (1963) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles 2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 100

Timi Yuro version

Chart (1963) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 24
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 8

Eddy Arnold version

Chart (1965) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles 1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 6
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 1
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary 2
UK Singles Chart 8

Donny and Marie Osmond version

Chart (1975) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles 71
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 44
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 31
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary 40
Canadian RPM Top Singles 33
UK Singles Chart 18
Irish Singles Chart 20

Charly McClain version

Chart (1977) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles 73

References

  1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 275.
  2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 31.

External links

Preceded by
"May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose" by Little Jimmy Dickens
Billboard Hot Country Singles number-one single (Eddy Arnold version)
December 4 – 18, 1965
Succeeded by
"Buckaroo" by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Preceded by
"A Taste of Honey" by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
Billboard Easy Listening number-one single (Eddy Arnold version)
December 4 – 25, 1965
Succeeded by
"England Swings" by Roger Miller