I Can't Stop Loving You

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"I Can't Stop Loving You"
Single by Don Gibson
from the album Oh Lonesome Me
A-side"Oh Lonesome Me"
WrittenJune 7, 1957 (1957-06-07)[1][2]
PublishedFebruary 7, 1958 Acuff-Rose Publications, Inc.[3]
ReleasedDecember 1957 (1957-12)
RecordedDecember 3, 1957 (1957-12-03)[4]
StudioRCA Studio B, Nashville
GenreCountry
Length2:37
LabelRCA Victor
Songwriter(s)Don Gibson
Producer(s)Chet Atkins
Don Gibson singles chronology
""Oh Lonesome Me"
(1958)
"I Can't Stop Loving You"
(1957)
"Blue Blue Day"
(1958)

"I Can't Stop Loving You" is a popular song written and composed by country singer, songwriter, and musician Don Gibson, who first recorded it on December 3, 1957, for RCA Victor Records. It was released in 1958 as the B-side of "Oh, Lonesome Me", becoming a double-sided country hit single. At the time of Gibson's death in 2003, the song had been recorded by more than 700 artists, most notably by Ray Charles, whose recording reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart.[5]

Composition[edit]

Gibson wrote both "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "Oh, Lonesome Me" on June 7, 1957, in Knoxville, Tennessee.[5] "I sat down to write a lost love ballad," Gibson said in Dorothy Horstman's 1975 book Sing Your Heart Out, Country Boy. "After writing several lines to the song, I looked back and saw the line 'I can't stop loving you.' I said, 'That would be a good title,' so I went ahead and rewrote it in its present form."[6]

Charts[edit]

Note: This original recording was released as "I Can't Stop Lovin' You".[7]

Chart (1958) Peak
position
Norway (VG-lista)[8] 2
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[9] 7
US Billboard Hot 100[10] 81

Ray Charles version[edit]

"I Can't Stop Loving You"
Single by Ray Charles
from the album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music
B-side"Born to Lose"
ReleasedApril 1962
RecordedFebruary 15, 1962
StudioUnited Western Recorders, United B, Hollywood, California
Genre
Length2:37 (single version)
4:12 (album version)
LabelABC-Paramount 10330
Songwriter(s)Don Gibson[12]
Producer(s)Sid Feller[12]
Ray Charles singles chronology
"Hit the Road Jack"
(1961)
"I Can't Stop Loving You"
(1962)
"You Don't Know Me"
(1962)
Audio sample

The song was covered by Ray Charles in 1962, featured on Charles' Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, and released as a single. Charles' version reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1962, for five weeks. This version went to number one on the U.S. R&B and adult contemporary charts.[13][14] Billboard ranked it as the No. 2 song for 1962.[15] Charles reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1962, staying for two weeks.[16] In Sweden it was the first number one single on the sales chart Kvällstoppen on July 10, 1962.[17]

The Ray Charles version is noted for his saying the words before the last five lines of the song on the final chorus: "Sing the song, children". Choral backing was provided by The Randy Van Horne Singers. It was ranked No. 164 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and No. 49 on CMT's "100 Greatest Songs in Country Music".

In 1963 at the 5th Annual Grammy Awards, the Ray Charles version of the song won him the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording.[18]

This recording was featured in Metropolis, where it can be heard during the explosion of the skyscraper Ziggurat shortly after the climax.[19]

Charts[edit]

Chart (1962) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[20] 1
Finland (Suomen virallinen)[21] 2
Norway (VG-Lista)[22] 4
Sweden (Kvällstoppen)[17] 1
Sweden (Tio i Topp)[23] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[24] 1
U.S. Billboard R&B Singles 1
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[25] 1
UK Singles Chart[12] 1

All-time charts[edit]

Chart (1958-2018) Position
US Billboard Hot 100[26] 125

Other versions[edit]

The song has been recorded by many other artists. Some recordings are titled as "I Can't Stop Lovin' You" (with or without an apostrophe).

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Don Gibson, 75, Songwriter Known for Country Standards". The New York Times. Associated Press. 2003-11-19. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  2. ^ Staff 11/18/2003, CMT com. "Acclaimed Songwriter Don Gibson Dies". CMT News. Retrieved 2021-09-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ "Card .0867". vcc.copyright.gov. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  4. ^ "78/45 Singles - Don Gibson Discography". patsyclinediscography.com. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  5. ^ a b Edwards, Joe (5 November 2003). "Country Legend Don Gibson Dies". CBS News. Associated Press. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  6. ^ Horstman, Dorothy (1975). Sing Your Heart Out, Country Boy (Third ed.). Country Music Foundation Press. p. 365. ISBN 0-915608-19-7.
  7. ^ "45cat - View Image".
  8. ^ "Don Gibson – I Can't Stop Loving You". VG-lista.
  9. ^ "Don Gibson Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  10. ^ "Don Gibson Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  11. ^ Stanley, Bob (13 September 2013). "This Is My Prayer: The Birth of Soul". Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop. Faber & Faber. p. 158. ISBN 978-0-571-28198-5.
  12. ^ a b c Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 66. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
  13. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 113.
  14. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 52.
  15. ^ Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1962
  16. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 139. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  17. ^ a b Hallberg, Eric (193). Eric Hallberg presenterar Kvällstoppen i P 3: Sveriges radios topplista över veckans 20 mest sålda skivor 10. 7. 1962 - 19. 8. 1975. Drift Musik. ISBN 9163021404.
  18. ^ "Ray Charles | Artist | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com.
  19. ^ Metropolis ending (2001) HD, archived from the original on 2021-12-21, retrieved 2021-07-25
  20. ^ Kent, David (2005). Australian Chart Book 1940 - 1969. Turramurra, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book Pty Ltd. ISBN 0-646-44439-5.
  21. ^ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  22. ^ "I Can't Stop Loving You". VG-lista 2022 (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  23. ^ Hallberg, Eric; Henningsson, Ulf (1998). Eric Hallberg, Ulf Henningsson presenterar Tio i topp med de utslagna på försök: 1961 - 74. Premium Publishing. ISBN 919727125X.
  24. ^ "Ray Charles Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  25. ^ "Ray Charles Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
  26. ^ "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  27. ^ The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (2004). The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Oxford University Press. p. 2500. ISBN 9780199840441.
  28. ^ Henry, Clarence Bernard (2013). Quincy Jones: His Life in Music. University Press of Mississippi. p. 82. ISBN 9781617038617.
  29. ^ "Boots Randolph - Boots Randolph's Yakety Sax! Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  30. ^ a b c Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 361.
  31. ^ "Original versions of I Can't Stop Loving You by Johnny Rodriguez | SecondHandSongs". SecondHandSongs.