I was reading the online news this morning, drinking coffee and listening to my Itunes catalogue of songs. The song You Don't Know me came on. I love the song. I have heard it by many recording artists. Hearing it this morning caused me to wonder who wrote it. So I Googled it. I found the following in Wikipedia:
You Don't Know Me" is a song written by Cindy Walker and Eddy Arnold in 1955. It was first recorded by Arnold that year and released as a single on April 21, 1956 on RCA Victor. The first version of the song to make the Billboard charts was by Jerry Vale in 1956, peaking at #14 on the pop chart. Arnold's version charted two months later, released as an RCA Victor single, 47-6502, backed with "The Rockin' Mockin' Bird", which reached #10 on the Billboard country chart. Cash Box magazine, which combined all best-selling versions at one position, included a version by Carmen McRae that never appeared in the Billboard Top 100 Sides listing.
The best-selling version of the song is by Ray Charles, who took it to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1962, after releasing the song on his #1 album Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music. This version also topped the "Easy listening" chart for three weeks in 1962, and was used in the 1993 comedy film Groundhog Day. The song also became the twelfth number one country hit for Mickey Gilley in 1981.
The song has been performed or recorded by hundreds of artists, including Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, and Willie Nelson. Charles re-recorded the song with Diana Krall on his #1 album of duets, Genius Loves Company, the only song common to both of Charles' two #1 albums. It was sung by Meryl Streep in the 1990 movie Postcards from the Edge, and by John Legend in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Robert Downey Jr also performs this song as Blake Allen in the James Toback movie Two Girls and a Guy.
Go to this link for Patricia Barber's version of this great song.
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