About The Song
The Everly Brothers — Don (1937-2021) and Phil Everly (1939-2014) — were active from 1956 to 1973 and again from 1983 to 2005. During the ten-year hiatus, the two pursued solo careers. The duo was famous for their close harmonies. Their music mixed elements of pop, country, and rock and roll, and they pioneered the subgenre of country rock.
I scrolled through Everly Brothers’ songs and had difficulty choosing among old familiar favourites as there are so many, and each has a unique attraction; I finally landed on today’s selection, “Let It Be Me,” with its sweet sentiments of love. While the song doesn’t include as much harmonization as others, I enjoyed the solo parts; I also felt the strings added another layer of warmth to this song of absolute adoration and devotion.
In addition to learning that this was the first Everly Brothers song to use strings (eight violins and a cello, to be exact), and one of the first pop songs to do so, I also gleaned a few more details from Songfacts: “This is a reworking of a French song recorded in 1955 by Gilbert Becaud [along with Manny Kurtz and Pierre Delanoe] called ‘Je T’Appartiens.’
“The first English version of this song was released in 1957 by an actress named Jill Corey, who recorded it with Jimmy Carroll and his orchestra. This version went to #57 in 1957, two years before The Everly Brothers version.
“Don Everly heard an instrumental rendition on the 1959 album Chet Atkins In Hollywood and fell in love with the melody. When he found out there were lyrics, he brought the song to producer Archie Bleyer. Wesley Rose, owner of the publishing company Acuff-Rose that signed the Everly Brothers as songwriters and connected them with Bleyer’s Cadence label, sparred with Bleyer over the tune but lost. Don recalled: ‘I went to Archie and told him I wanted to do it with strings. Wesley just sat there pouting through the whole session like a kid.’”
In addition to the above conflict, Songfacts tells that the brothers parted ways with Cadence just before “Let It Be Me” became a hit, and moved to Warner Brothers, receiving a USD 100,000 signing bonus, a terrific sum at the time (equivalent to a staggering USD 1,063,500 in 2024 dollars). It was a wise move for Warner Bros., given the quality and appeal of the song and the Everlys’ status as beloved musicians.
Unfortunately, according to Wikipedia, Don and Phil didn’t remain close, becoming estranged due to vast divides in their views on politics and life in general. That’s obviously not uncommon, especially in the polarized world we live in now. The Los Angeles Times newspaper interviewed Don in 2014. When speaking of music as one thing they agreed on, he said, “… it’s almost like we could read each other’s minds when we sang.”
The Everly Brothers released “Let It Be Me” as a single in 1960. It also appeared on the album The Fabulous Style of the Everly Brothers (1960) and on several compilations, and has been covered by numerous artists including a duet by Bobbie Gentry (b. 1942) and Glen Campbell (1936-2017), a solo by Jill Corey (1935-2021, whose was the first English version, as reported above), and others.
Video
Lyrics
I bless the day I found you
I want to stay around you
And so I beg you, let it be me
Don’t take this Heaven from one
If you must cling to someone
Now and forever, let it be me
Each time we meet, love
I find complete love
Without your sweet love
What would life be?
So never leave me lonely
Tell me you love me only
And that you’ll always, let it be me
Each time we meet love
I find complete love
Without your sweet love
What would life be?
So never leave me lonely
Tell me you love me only
And that you’ll always let it be me