Only One Woman

"Only One Woman"
Single by The Marbles
B-side	"By The Light Of A Burning Candle"
Released	August 1968
Format	7", 45rpm
Recorded	July 1968 IBC Studios, London, England
Genre	Soft rock
Length	2:43
Label	Polydor (UK) Cotillion (US)
Writer(s)	Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb
Producer(s)	Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Robert Stigwood
The Marbles singles chronology
"Only One Woman" (1968) "The Walls Fell Down" (1969)

"Only One Woman" is a song and the first single by the English duo The Marbles, written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees. It later also appeared on their self-titled album The Marbles.

Recording and reception

It was recorded around July 1968 in IBC Studios, London. The backing track was created by Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb and Colin Petersen, with an orchestral arrangement by Bill Shepherd. Colin plays the same percussion effect as on "I've Gotta Get a Message to You". The song exists only in a mono mix. Following the release of this single, Graham Bonnet made some remarks about the song being too simple, which put the Marbles on the outs with the Gibb brothers for the next few months.

The song was the biggest hit they had in their short-lived career.^[1] It debuted to number 34 in the UK^[2] and eventually peaked at number five on 2 November 1968.^[3] In the Netherlands, it reached number three.^[4]

Their performance in a French TV of the song was televised on 192TV.^[5]

Personnel

• Graham Bonnet – lead vocal
• Trevor Gordon – backing vocal
• Barry Gibb – guitar
• Maurice Gibb – bass, piano
• Colin Petersen – drums
• Bill Shepherd – orchestral arrangement

Chart performance

Cover versions

• Sopworth Camel recorded an Italian version of the song in 1968, named "Sei la mia donna"
• the Bee Gees recorded their own version for inclusion on their album Main Course. It featured lead vocals by Barry but was finally not released.
• Nigel Olsson, recently released from Elton John's band as their drummer, released his second self-titled studio album. This album included a cover of "Only One Woman", which was also released as a single.
• Alcatrazz wit Graham Bonnet himself, re-recorded the song on their third album, Dangerous Games, released in 1986.
• Alien, a Swedish rock band with Jim Jidhed as lead vocalist reached number one in Sweden with their cover version.^[21] It was also covered by Declan Galbraith on his "Thank You" album and by German actor and singer Uwe Ochsenknecht (simply billed as "Ochsenknecht") in 1992.
• Lucie Bílá, a singer of Czech Republic covered this song as "Zpíváš mi Requiem", which became a moderately successful hit in the Czech Republic in that year.

References