More Than I Can Say
Encyclopedia
"More Than I Can Say" is a song written by Sonny Curtis
and Jerry Allison
, both former members of Buddy Holly
's band The Crickets
and was recorded by their band in 1959 soon after Holly's death and was released in 1960. Their original version hit #42 on British Record Retailer Chart on 5/12/60. It has been notably performed by singers Bobby Vee
and Leo Sayer
.
pop music
singer whose prominence in the music industry arose from tragedy. After Holly, Ritchie Valens
and The Big Bopper
were killed in a plane crash in February 1959, a then-teenaged Vee was one of a group of local musicians recruited to play at the next leg of a scheduled concert in Fargo
, North Dakota
. In 1961, Vee (whose other hit singles
include "Take Good Care of My Baby
" and "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes
") recorded "More Than I Can Say", and it reached #61 on the Billboard Hot 100
chart. It was a bigger hit in the United Kingdom
, where the song and its B-side, "Staying In", peaked at #4 on the UK Singles Chart
.
who enjoyed the majority of his chart success in the 1970s and early 1980s. He had two singles reach #1 in the U.S., "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing
" and "When I Need You
", both in 1977. He nearly had a third song achieve this feat, as his cover version
of "More Than I Can Say" spent five weeks at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1980 and January 1981, kept from the top spot by Lady
by Kenny Rogers
and (Just Like) Starting Over
by John Lennon
. Sayer's version of the song was certified a Gold Record by the RIAA. It also spent three weeks at #1 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart. In the U.K., the song peaked at #2 on the UK Singles Chart, while it spent two weeks atop the Kent Music Report
in Australia
. Sayer has stated that while looking for an "oldie" to record for his album Living in a Fantasy
, he saw a TV commercial for a greatest hits collection by Vee and chose the song on the spot: "We went into a record store that afternoon, bought the record and had the song recorded that night."
Sonny Curtis
Sonny Curtis is an American singer and songwriter. Most of his work falls into the Pop and Country genres. He was a teenage pal and band member with Buddy Holly in Lubbock, Texas...
and Jerry Allison
Jerry Allison
J.I. Allison is an American musician, best known for being the drummer for The Crickets and co-writer of their Buddy Holly hit "Peggy Sue"....
, both former members of Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
's band The Crickets
The Crickets
The Crickets are a rock & roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed by singer/songwriter Buddy Holly in the 1950s. Their first hit record was "That'll Be the Day", released in 1957....
and was recorded by their band in 1959 soon after Holly's death and was released in 1960. Their original version hit #42 on British Record Retailer Chart on 5/12/60. It has been notably performed by singers Bobby Vee
Bobby Vee
Robert Thomas Velline , known as Bobby Vee, is an American pop music singer. According to Billboard magazine, Vee has had 38 Hot 100 chart hits, 10 of which hit the Top 20.-Career:...
and Leo Sayer
Leo Sayer
Leo Sayer is a British singer-songwriter, musician, and entertainer whose singing career has spanned four decades. Sayer became a naturalised Australian citizen in 2009. Sayer was a top singles and album act on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1970s...
.
Bobby Vee version
Vee is an AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
singer whose prominence in the music industry arose from tragedy. After Holly, Ritchie Valens
Ritchie Valens
Ritchie Valens was a Mexican-American singer, songwriter and guitarist....
and The Big Bopper
The Big Bopper
Jiles Perry "J. P." Richardson, Jr. also commonly known as The Big Bopper, was an American disc jockey, singer, and songwriter whose big voice and exuberant personality made him an early rock and roll star...
were killed in a plane crash in February 1959, a then-teenaged Vee was one of a group of local musicians recruited to play at the next leg of a scheduled concert in Fargo
Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County. In 2010, its population was 105,549, and it had an estimated metropolitan population of 208,777...
, North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
. In 1961, Vee (whose other hit singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
include "Take Good Care of My Baby
Take Good Care of My Baby
"Take Good Care of My Baby" is a song written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin and made famous by Bobby Vee, when it was released in 1961. It quickly became popular, reaching #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in September. The song was covered by The Beatles during their audition at Decca Records on...
" and "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes
The Night Has a Thousand Eyes (song)
"The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" is a popular song written by Benjamin Weisman, Dorothy Wayne, and Marilynn Garrett made famous by Bobby Vee on his 1963 Liberty Records album, The Night Has a Thousand Eyes. The popular single hit #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, #2 on the Easy Listening survey, and #9...
") recorded "More Than I Can Say", and it reached #61 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart. It was a bigger hit in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, where the song and its B-side, "Staying In", peaked at #4 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
.
Leo Sayer version
Sayer is a British singer-songwriterSinger-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
who enjoyed the majority of his chart success in the 1970s and early 1980s. He had two singles reach #1 in the U.S., "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing
You Make Me Feel Like Dancing
"You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" is a song by the British singer Leo Sayer, taken from his 1976 album Endless Flight. The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it his first number one single in United States, and #2 on the UK Singles Chart...
" and "When I Need You
When I Need You
"When I Need You" is a popular song written by Albert Hammond and Carole Bayer Sager. It was first recorded by Hammond on his 1976 album When I Need You. Produced by Richard Perry, Leo Sayer's version made number 1 on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in February 1977 after three of his earlier...
", both in 1977. He nearly had a third song achieve this feat, as his cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of "More Than I Can Say" spent five weeks at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1980 and January 1981, kept from the top spot by Lady
Lady
The word lady is a polite term for a woman, specifically the female equivalent to, or spouse of, a lord or gentleman, and in many contexts a term for any adult woman...
by Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
and (Just Like) Starting Over
(Just Like) Starting Over
" Starting Over" is a song written and performed by John Lennon for his album, Double Fantasy. The B-side was Yoko Ono's "Kiss Kiss Kiss". It was released as a single on 24 October 1980 and reached number one in both the USA and UK two weeks after he was murdered. It is his biggest solo American...
by John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
. Sayer's version of the song was certified a Gold Record by the RIAA. It also spent three weeks at #1 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart. In the U.K., the song peaked at #2 on the UK Singles Chart, while it spent two weeks atop the Kent Music Report
Kent Music Report
The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Sayer has stated that while looking for an "oldie" to record for his album Living in a Fantasy
Living in a Fantasy
Living in a Fantasy is the eighth album by the English singer-songwriter, Leo Sayer, and was released in August 1980.Although the album was not a huge commercial success, the single that it spawned, a cover version of Bobby Vee's "More Than I Can Say", spent five weeks at #2 on the Billboard Hot...
, he saw a TV commercial for a greatest hits collection by Vee and chose the song on the spot: "We went into a record store that afternoon, bought the record and had the song recorded that night."
Covers
- Covers have been recorded by country musicCountry musicCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
artist Sammy KershawSammy KershawSamuel Paul "Sammy" Kershaw is an American country music artist. A third cousin of Cajun fiddler Doug Kershaw and ex-husband of Lorrie Morgan, he has been active in country music since 1991. He has released ten studio albums, with three RIAA platinum certifications and two gold certifications...
on his 1999 album, Maybe Not TonightMaybe Not TonightMaybe Not Tonight is the title of the sixth studio album released by American country music artist Sammy Kershaw. It was released in 1999 on Mercury Records. The first album of his career not to achieve an RIAA certification, it also failed to produce any Top Ten country hits...
; by British reggae singer June Lodge, and in 1987 by the norwegian swing/pop duo Bobbysocks! on their LP Walkin' on AirWalkin' on AirWalkin' on Air is a 1987 album from Norwegian pop duo Bobbysocks. Within four days, the album sold 50,000 copies, and was certified gold in Norway...
. - The ShadowsThe ShadowsThe Shadows are a British pop group with a total of 69 UK hit-charted singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. Cliff Richard in casual conversation with the British rock press frequently refers to the Shadows by their nickname: 'The Shads'...
did an instrumental version on their 1981 album Hits Right Up Your StreetHits Right Up Your StreetHits Right Up Your Street is the fourteenth rock album by British instrumental group The Shadows, released in 1980 through Polydor Records and Pickwick Records. The majority of the album is in the form of covers by popular artists at the time.-Track listing:- Charts :...
.
See also
- List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1980s
- List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1980 (U.S.)