Robert Allen, were both best known for collaborations with other partners. The music Allen composed, aside from this song, was usually for collaborations with Al Stillman, and Adler wrote the lyrics after the 1955 death of his usual composing partner, Jerry Ross
.
Background and Doris Day recording
The song's genesis was a comment made to Adler by his lawyer: "You know what
Marty Melcher, and Mitch Miller, who headed Columbia Records, for which company Day recorded. Although Day, Melcher and Miller all saw the song's potential as a hit for Day, Melcher made Day's recording of "Everybody Loves a Lover" conditional on the song's copyright being granted to Artists Music, the publishing firm he owned with Day – a condition to which Allen was not agreeable. However, after a few days, Melcher phoned Allen to say that Day would record the song without her and Melcher acquiring its publishing rights.[1]
Day recorded "Everybody Loves a Lover" in May 1958 with
Frank DeVol producing and Earl Palmer on drums.[2] Issued as Columbia catalog number 41195, "Everybody Loves a Lover" first reached the Billboard magazine charts on July 21, 1958. On the Disk Jockey chart, it peaked at number 6; on the Best Seller chart, at number 17; and on the Hot 100 composite chart, it reached number 14.[3] The Doris Day version is noteworthy for the third verse, in which, through overdubbing, the first four lines of verse 2 are superimposed on the first four lines of verse 1, creating a counterpoint duet. The two segments end on the same word, "Pollyanna", sung in harmony. The song was Day's last big charting hit in the US, although she would hit number 4 in 1964 in the UK with the title song of her then-current movie Move Over, Darling. The Doris Day version of "Everybody Loves a Lover" was used in the soundtrack for the BBC's period drama Call the Midwife
Cash Box described it as "a contagious New Orleans-styled shuffle showcase," saying that "the gals (and the instrumentalists) polish it off in sparkling style."[4]
In its original traditional pop format, "Everybody Loves a Lover" has also been recorded by
bubbled under the Hot 100 with a #103 peak), Alice Babs (as "Den som glad är" Swedish), Chisu (as "Kellä Kulta, Sillä Onni" Finnish), Sacha Distel (as "Dis! O Dis!" French), Nana Gualdi (as "Junge Leute Brauchen Liebe" German), Jan Howard, Laila Kinnunen (as "Kellä Kulta, Sillä Onni" Finnish), Lill-Babs (as "Den som glad är" Swedish), Angélica María (as "Vivaracho" Spanish), Guy Mitchell, Jane Morgan, Line Renaud (as "Dis! O Dis!" French), and Keely Smith. In 2010 Australian singer Melinda Schneider recorded the song for her Doris Day tribute album Melinda Does Doris. Instrumental versions have been recorded by Joe Loss and Shirley Scott
.
On 19 November 2015 a remake of "Everybody Loves a Lover" by Scott Dreier and Jane Monheit was made available for download at the Doris Day Animal Foundation website in return for a $5 donation, all donations thus raised going in their entirety to the Doris Day Animal Foundation, the song's publishers as well as the artists having waived any royalties. Recorded at EastWest Studios, the track is a preview of Dreier's upcoming tribute CD The Doris Day Project.[6]
