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You Don't Have To Say You Love Me |
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Written by: Original Italian song "Io Che Non Vivo (Senza Te)" written by Vito Pallavicini and Pino Donaggio English lyrics written by Vicki Wickham and Simon Napier-Bell Recorded: June 6-7, 1970, RCA Studio B, Nashville Released master is take 3. Single:w/ "Patch It Up", 47-9916, October 6, 1970 Also re-released as Gold Standard Series, 447-0678, February 1972 RIAA Certified: Gold (as of 03/27/1992) Highest U.S. Charts Positions: #1 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart #10 on Cash Box Top 100 #11 on Billboard Hot 100 #56 on Billboard's Country chart 1st LP release: Elvis Thats The Way It Is - November 11, 1970 |
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I'm pretty much torn between Elvis' take on this one and Dusty Springfield's original. Although not the songwriter, Dusty had more than a little to do with the creation of "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me". Vito Pallavicini and Pino Donaggio penned the original Italian tune "Io Che Non Vivo (Senza Te)" and Donaggio sang it as an entry in the 1965 Sanremo Song Festival. Dusty was quite impressed and wanted to do an English-language version. It was more than a year later when Dusty's manager Vicki Wickham mentioned to Simon Napier-Bell that Dusty needed English lyrics for this Italian song, and although neither of them were really songwriters, they had a go at it. What they came up with turned out to be one of Dusty's biggest hits! |
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It's no surprise that Elvis went after material like this during his comeback period. A song with this kind of instrumental build up and drama was right up his alley. He speeds up the tempo some from Dusty's original, and it works quite well. However, have a listen at some of his later live versions for proof that any faster than this and it loses its charm. This original studio version also just has more punch than later versions, both in the instrumentation and Elvis' vocals. If you're not a fan of this Orbison-style dramatics, it may be a little over-the-top, but Elvis is in fine form throughout and delivers the finale with a lot of grit and emotion. |
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Other Spins(What did the critics and fans say?)"You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" - the 1966 Dusty Springfield hit - is quite different. Although naturally beefier than Ms Springfield's treatment, Presley appears to have been subjected to phasing by the engineers, for his voice is sibilant and unnatural. A pity, for this is a very good performance. Robert Matthew-Walker, Elvis Presley: A Study in Music, 1979 Elvis takes a shot at a ballad that never gets off the ground because the horns and strings are too busy fighting it out. Nonetheless, the song was a huge smash when released. The Complete Elvis, edited by Martin Torgoff, 1982 Check out other Elvis fans' opinions on the Elvis News page for You Don't Have To Say You Love Me Check out other opinions at Rate Your Music "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" Links
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Simon Napier-Bell's autobiography |
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When I said, I needed you You said you would always stay It wasn't me who changed, but you And now you've gone away Don't you know that now you're gone And I'm left here on my own Now I have to follow you And beg you to come home You don't have to say you love me Just be close at hand You don't have to stay forever I will understand Believe me, believe me I can't help I love you But believe me, I'll never tie you down Left alone with just a memory Life seems dead and so unreal All that's left is loneliness There's nothing left to feel |
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