Only Love Can Break a Heart

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For the album of the same name, see Only Love Can Break a Heart (album).
Not to be confused with the Neil Young song "Only Love Can Break Your Heart".

"Only Love Can Break a Heart"
Only Love Can Break a Heart - Gene Pitney.jpg
Single by Gene Pitney
from the album Only Love Can Break a Heart
B-side"If I Didn't Have a Dime (To Play the Jukebox)"
ReleasedSeptember 1962
GenrePop
Length2:50
LabelMusicor
Songwriter(s)Hal David, Burt Bacharach
Producer(s)Wally Gold, Aaron Schroeder

"Only Love Can Break a Heart" is a popular song from 1962, performed by the American singer-songwriter Gene Pitney. The song was written by Hal David (words) and Burt Bacharach (music) and appears on Pitney's second album Only Love Can Break a Heart.

Gene Pitney version[]

Pitney had enjoyed some success as a songwriter prior to breaking through as a performer in his own right. He wrote the songs "Hello Mary Lou", "Rubber Ball", and "He's a Rebel", the last a number-one Billboard Hot 100 hit for The Crystals in 1962.[1] Ironically, Pitney's success as a singer was beginning at this time, and, on November 3, 1962, "He's a Rebel" kept "Only Love Can Break a Heart", Pitney's highest charting hit, at No. 2 for one week, from topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[2][3] The song also spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart in October and November 1962,[4] while reaching No. 2 on New Zealand's "Lever Hit Parade".[5] Pitney did his own whistling on the song.

Chart performance[]

Chart (1962) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[2] 2
US Billboard Easy Listening[4] 1
New Zealand – "Lever Hit Parade"[5] 2
Canada – CHUM Hit Parade[6] 11
US Billboard R&B[4] 16

Country music versions[]

Country music singers Sonny James and Kenny Dale also recorded cover versions of "Only Love Can Break a Heart". Both versions reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart during the 1970s.[4] James' version peaked at No. 2 in March 1972, held out of the top by Freddie Hart's "My Hang-Up Is You." As a result, "Only Love ..." just missed continuing James' record-breaking streak of consecutive number-one singles, which had reached 16.[7] Dale's version of the song reached number seven on the Hot Country Singles chart in 1979 and it was his biggest hit on the country charts.

Other versions[]

Margaret Whiting charted with the song in 1967. Whiting's version reached No. 96 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 4 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart.[8][9]

Bobby Vinton released the song in 1977, and it reached No. 99 on the Billboard Hot 100,[10] while reaching No. 46 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart,[11] and No. 50 on the RPM "Adult Oriented Playlist" in Canada.[12] Vinton's version appears on his album The Name Is Love.

Dionne Warwick released her version of the song as a single in 1977, but it only reached No. 9 on the "Bubbling Under" portion of the Billboard Hot 100.[4]

In 1999, Glen Campbell recorded the song on his album My Hits and Love Songs.

See also[]

  • List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1962 (U.S.)

References[]

  1. ^ Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of No. 1 Hits, 5th Edition (Billboard Publications)
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Whitburn, Joel (1996). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition (Billboard Publications)
  3. ^ Casey Kasem noted that fact on the May 24, 1986, edition of American Top 40.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Hyatt, Wesley (1999). The Billboard Book of No. 1 Adult Contemporary Hits (Billboard Publications)
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b "Lever Hit Parade" 15-Nov-1962, Flavour of New Zealand. Accessed October 21, 2015
  6. ^ "CHUM Hit Parade – Week of October 29, 1962". CHUM. Archived from the original on November 7, 2006. Retrieved January 21, 2016.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) Chart No. 292.
  7. ^ Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs: 1944–2005," 2006.
  8. ^ Margaret Whiting – Chart History – The Hot 100, Billboard.com. Accessed October 21, 2015
  9. ^ Margaret Whiting – Chart History – Adult Contemporary, Billboard.com. Accessed October 21, 2015
  10. ^ Bobby Vinton – Chart History – The Hot 100, Billboard.com. Accessed October 21, 2015
  11. ^ Bobby Vinton – Chart History – Adult Contemporary, Billboard.com. Accessed October 21, 2015
  12. ^ "RPM Adult Oriented Playlist", RPM, Volume 27, Ed. 13, June 25, 1977. p. 27. Accessed October 21, 2015

External links[]

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