Too Young (Sidney Lippman and Sylvia Dee song)
"Too Young" is a
Nat King Cole recording
"Too Young" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Nat King Cole | ||||
B-side | "That's My Girl" | |||
Released | March 1951 | |||
Recorded | February 1951 | |||
Studio | Capitol, 5515 Melrose Ave, Hollywood | |||
Length | 3:11 | |||
Label | Capitol Records | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Nat King Cole singles chronology | ||||
|
"Too Young" was one of the early attempts by record labels to release songs with a young musical persona that might appeal to a young audience.[3] In the United States, among the earliest versions were those recorded by Victor Young and His Orchestra,[4][5] and Johnny Desmond. However, it was the version recorded by Nat King Cole that proved to be most successful.[2]
The song was recorded on February 6, 1951, and released by Capitol Records (catalog number 1449) in March. It reached the number one position on the Billboard chart in June 1951,[6] staying there for five weeks and altogether on the Best Seller chart for 29 weeks.[7] It also spent an unprecedented 12 weeks on top of Your Hit Parade, and 8 weeks at No. 1 on the Cash Box chart.[2] It was a million-selling record and Billboard ranked this version as the number one best-selling song of 1951.[8] Cole described this song as one of his three favorites among his own songs.[9]
The success of the song may have convinced record executives that young people had the buying power, which would lead to the boom of rock and roll music that catered to a young audience in the mid-'50s.[2]
Charts
Chart (1951) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Billboard Best Selling Pop Singles[10] | 1 |
US Cash Box Best Selling Singles[11]
|
1 |
Other early versions
Several versions contemporary to Nat King Cole's version were recorded, some making the US charts but not as high.
The recording by
Versions that did not make the top 30 best-seller list, but did chart on various other Billboard charts were by
In the United Kingdom,
Donny Osmond cover
"Too Young" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Donny Osmond | ||||
from the album Too Young | ||||
B-side | "Love Me" | |||
Released | June 10, 1972 | |||
Recorded | April 17, 1972 | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 2:59 | |||
Label | MGM | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | ||||
Donny Osmond singles chronology | ||||
|
A version of "Too Young" by then 14-year-old Donny Osmond became an international top 10 hit for him, reaching number 5 in the UK and number 6 in Canada. It also spent eight weeks on the U.S. top 40, with a peak position of number 13[14][17] when released as a single (MGM catalog number 14407) in 1972.
Chart history
Weekly charts
Chart (1972) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia[citation needed] | 13 |
Canada RPM Top Singles[18] | 6 |
Ireland (IRMA)[19] | 2 |
New Zealand (Listener)[20] | 3 |
The Official Charts Company)[21]
|
5 |
US Billboard Hot 100[22] | 13 |
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[23] | 23 |
US Cash Box Top 100 [24] | 8 |
Year-end charts
Chart (1972) | Rank |
---|---|
Canada[25] | 98 |
UK[26] | 65 |
Other versions
This section needs additional citations for verification. (October 2022) |
- Sam Cooke recorded it for his Hits of the Fifties LP in 1960. In Australia, on Parlophone, Jim Gussey And His Orchestra, with vocals by Matt Dryden and Olive Lester, released their version.
- Bobby Vinton recorded the song for the album There! I've Said It Again.
- Michael Jackson included the song on Motown in 1973 in the album Music & Me. This version was released as a single in Italy.[27]
- In 1978, the Swedish dansband Vikingarna released a disco version of the song on their album, The Vikings Export.
References
- ^ "Too Young". SecondHandSongs.
- ^ ISBN 9780786429462.
- ISBN 9780819562579.
- ^ "America's Fastest Selling Records - Specials". Billboard. December 16, 1950. p. 13.
- ^ "Too Young". Internet Archive. 1950.
- ^ "Best-selling Pop Singles". Billboard. June 23, 1951. p. 26.
- ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (1973). Top Pop Records 1940-1955. Record Research.
- ^ "Year's Top Pop Records according to Retail Sales" (PDF). The Billboard. 64 (1): 11. January 5, 1952.
- ^ Nat King Cole interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969)
- ^ "The Billboard Music Popularity Charts: Best Selling Pop Singles". Billboard. July 7, 1951. p. 20.
- ^ "The CASH BOX Best Selling Singles week ending June 9, 1951". Tropicalglen.
- ^ "Most Played Jukebox Records". Billboard. June 30, 1951. p. 30.
- ^ a b "Records Most Played by Disk Jockeys". Billboard. July 7, 1951. p. 18.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8108-5129-0.
- OCLC 19389211.
- ^ "Steve Conway - Too Young/White Wedding". Discogs. 1951.
- ISBN 978-0-8230-7690-1.
- ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1972-07-29. Retrieved 2018-09-25.
- ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Too Young". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
- ^ "flavour of new zealand - search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
- ^ "Official Charts Company". Retrieved 2018-07-19.
- ISBN 0-89820-089-X
- ^ "Donny Osmond Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
- ^ "Cash Box Top 100 7/22/72". Tropicalglen.com. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
- ^ "Canadian TOP 100 singles of 1972". Music and Years. Archived from the original on September 16, 2011.
- ^ "Year-End Chart 1972". Your Music Charts. 29 March 2021.
- ISBN 9780755200917.
External links
- Nat King Cole - Too Young on YouTube
- Donny Osmond - Too Young on YouTube