We're All Alone
Encyclopedia
"We're All Alone" is a song written by Boz Scaggs
, who introduced it on his 1976 album Silk Degrees
; in 1977, "We're All Alone" was a top-ten hit for Rita Coolidge
in the US and the UK.
had a single version which reached #78 in August 1976 and in the spring of 1977 a version by Bruce Murray was an airplay item in Canada
; Murray stated in 1979 he'd been told by Boz Scaggs that Murray's version of the song was Scaggs' personal favorite.
The Walker Brothers
- one of Scagg's formative influences
- cut "We're All Alone" for their Lines
album; the track had an October 1976 single release in the UK where the Frankie Valli version had a single release that July; the Walker Brothers' version did reach #22 in the Netherlands in August 1977 a month before the Rita Coolidge
version reached the Dutch charts. In March 1977 the version by the Three Degrees
- recorded for the album Standing Up For Love - was a UK single release meaning that the Rita Coolidge version of "We're All Alone" which reached UK #7 that summer was the fourth UK single release to feature the song as an A-side
. Scaggs' own version of "We're All Alone" was released the B-side
of his international release "Lido Shuffle
" issued in both the US and the UK in April 1977. In March 1977 C&W
singer LaCosta
had a single release of "We're All Alone" in both the US - where it charted at #75 C&W
- and also the UK where the track was the B-side of a remake of "I Second That Emotion
".
In a 1976 interview with Creem
magazine Scaggs stated that Michael Jackson
had cut versions of "We're All Alone" and another Silk Degrees cut "What Can I Say" but if so these tracks have never been released.
Coolidge would recall: "When I was with A&M Records
, it was like a family. I would visit Herb Alpert
and Jerry Moss
, and it was a very open, communicative group of people. One day I was in Jerry Moss' office and he said that the Boz Scaggs album Silk Degrees was in a million homes and there was a song on it that was perfect for a woman to sing. He said, 'It's called "We're All Alone" and as he's not doing it as a single, I think you ought to record it.'"
Although the first single off the US release of Anytime...Anywhere was "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher", "We're All Alone" was the first single taken off the album in the UK where it reached #6 in August 1977 when "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher" was moving up the US Top 10; that same month "We're All Alone" reached #6 in Ireland
. In September Coolidge's version of "We're All Alone" entered the Dutch charts where it would peak at #15 (in August the Walker Brothers' version had reached #22 on the Dutch charts).
The second single from Anytime...Anywhere in the US, "We're All Alone" there ascended to #7 that September: the track also received enough airplay in the C&W
market to reach #68 on the C&W chart.
"We're All Alone" was the first of Coolidge's two Adult Contemporary
#1 hits - the second would be "All Time High
" - and after "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher" was her second single to be certified gold
for US sales of 1,000,000.
In December 1977, "We're All Alone" entered the charts in Australia to remain for 16 weeks with a #32 peak; the track also reached the Top 40 in New Zealand in February 1978 at #37.
Coolidge remade "We're All Alone" for her 2005 jazz
release And So Is Love: Elysa Gardner of USA Today
opined that Coolidge "brings a new wistfulness and knowing to her own hit of yore...proving that good interpretive singers, like fine wine, improve with age."
, Petula Clark
("On est tout seul"), Anne Cochran
, Linda Eder
, Monica Forsberg
, Engelbert Humperdinck
, Arja Koriseva ("Me Kaksi Vain"), Liesbeth List ("Vetrouwd Gevoel"), Johnny Mathis
, Reba McEntire
with Jose e Durval, Natalia, Mary O'Hara
, Natalia Oreiro
and also Manolo Otero ("Estamos Todos Solos"), Päivi ("Kun Luonain Oot"), Patty Pravo ("Da Soli Noi"), Kurt Ravn, Doreen Shaffer
, Yulia
and Pieces of a Dream
.
The 1997 release California Dreamin, a project comprising a cappella
versions of soft rock
classics credited to the West Coast All Stars, featured "We're All Alone" with a lead vocal by Bill Champlin
: the other members of the West Coast All Stars were Jason Scheff
, Bobby Kimball
and Joseph Williams.
In 2005 bilingual singer Angela Aki
of Japanese
and Italian-American descent released a version of "We're All Alone" with her own Japanese
lyrics retaining one verse in the original English
.
Boz Scaggs
William Royce "Boz" Scaggs is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He gained fame in the 1970s with several Top 20 hit singles in the United States, along with the #2 album, Silk Degrees. Scaggs continues to write, record music and tour.-Early life and career:Scaggs was born in Canton,...
, who introduced it on his 1976 album Silk Degrees
Silk Degrees
Silk Degrees is the seventh album by Boz Scaggs, released on the Columbia Records label in 1976. The album reached #2 on the U.S. pop albums chart.-Reception:The album marked Scaggs' commercial zenith, mainly spearheaded by the R&B/Soul hit "Lowdown"...
; in 1977, "We're All Alone" was a top-ten hit for Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge is a multiple Grammy Award-winning American vocalist. During the 1970s and 1980s, she charted hits on Billboard's Pop, Country, Adult Contemporary and Jazz charts.-Career:...
in the US and the UK.
Early versions
A heartfelt ballad which closed Silk Degrees, "We're All Alone" garnered attention soon after the album's March 1976 release. Frankie ValliFrankie Valli
Frankie Valli is an American musician, most famous as frontman of The Four Seasons. He is well-known for his unusually powerful falsetto singing voice...
had a single version which reached #78 in August 1976 and in the spring of 1977 a version by Bruce Murray was an airplay item in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
; Murray stated in 1979 he'd been told by Boz Scaggs that Murray's version of the song was Scaggs' personal favorite.
The Walker Brothers
The Walker Brothers
The Walker Brothers were an American 1960s and 1970s pop group, comprising Scott Engel , John Walker , and Gary Leeds...
- one of Scagg's formative influences
- cut "We're All Alone" for their Lines
Lines (The Walker Brothers album)
-Personnel:* Backing Vocals - Bones, The Charles Young Choral* Electric Bass - Alan Jones* Conductor - Steve Grey* Drums - Barry Morgan, Brian Bennett, Simon Phillips* Acoustic, Electric, Mandolin, High Strung Guitar, and Slide Guitar - Alan Parker...
album; the track had an October 1976 single release in the UK where the Frankie Valli version had a single release that July; the Walker Brothers' version did reach #22 in the Netherlands in August 1977 a month before the Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge is a multiple Grammy Award-winning American vocalist. During the 1970s and 1980s, she charted hits on Billboard's Pop, Country, Adult Contemporary and Jazz charts.-Career:...
version reached the Dutch charts. In March 1977 the version by the Three Degrees
The Three Degrees
The Three Degrees are an American female vocal group. Formed in 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,, the group has always been a trio though there have been a number of personnel changes and a total of fourteen women have represented the group so far. The original members were Fayette Pinkney,...
- recorded for the album Standing Up For Love - was a UK single release meaning that the Rita Coolidge version of "We're All Alone" which reached UK #7 that summer was the fourth UK single release to feature the song as an A-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
. Scaggs' own version of "We're All Alone" was released the B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
of his international release "Lido Shuffle
Lido Shuffle
Lido Shuffle is a song by Boz Scaggs from the 1976 album Silk Degrees. The single reached #11 on the pop chart and #13 in the UK singles chart...
" issued in both the US and the UK in April 1977. In March 1977 C&W
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer LaCosta
LaCosta Tucker
-In Geography:*La Costa Resort and Spa, a famously expensive spa in California.*La Costa, California, the residential area surrounding it.*La Costa Partido, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina....
had a single release of "We're All Alone" in both the US - where it charted at #75 C&W
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
- and also the UK where the track was the B-side of a remake of "I Second That Emotion
I Second That Emotion
"I Second That Emotion" is a 1967 song primarily composed by Smokey Robinson and originally released as a single from his band Smokey Robinson & the Miracles for the Motown label. The song peaked for three weeks in the United States at #4 on the Billboard pop singles chart in December 1967...
".
In a 1976 interview with Creem
Creem
Creem , "America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine," was a monthly rock 'n' roll publication first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. It suspended production in 1989 but received a short-lived renaissance in the early 1990s as a glossy tabloid...
magazine Scaggs stated that Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
had cut versions of "We're All Alone" and another Silk Degrees cut "What Can I Say" but if so these tracks have never been released.
Rita Coolidge version
The Rita Coolidge version of "We're All Alone" was featured on the album Anytime...Anywhere released in March 1977.Coolidge would recall: "When I was with A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
, it was like a family. I would visit Herb Alpert
Herb Alpert
Herbert "Herb" Alpert is an American musician most associated with the group variously known as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, or TJB. He is also a recording industry executive — he is the "A" of A&M Records...
and Jerry Moss
Jerry Moss
Jerome S. "Jerry" Moss is an American recording executive, best known for being the co-founder of A&M Records, along with trumpeter and bandleader Herb Alpert....
, and it was a very open, communicative group of people. One day I was in Jerry Moss' office and he said that the Boz Scaggs album Silk Degrees was in a million homes and there was a song on it that was perfect for a woman to sing. He said, 'It's called "We're All Alone" and as he's not doing it as a single, I think you ought to record it.'"
Although the first single off the US release of Anytime...Anywhere was "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher", "We're All Alone" was the first single taken off the album in the UK where it reached #6 in August 1977 when "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher" was moving up the US Top 10; that same month "We're All Alone" reached #6 in Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. In September Coolidge's version of "We're All Alone" entered the Dutch charts where it would peak at #15 (in August the Walker Brothers' version had reached #22 on the Dutch charts).
The second single from Anytime...Anywhere in the US, "We're All Alone" there ascended to #7 that September: the track also received enough airplay in the C&W
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
market to reach #68 on the C&W chart.
"We're All Alone" was the first of Coolidge's two Adult Contemporary
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
#1 hits - the second would be "All Time High
All Time High
"All Time High" is a 1983 single release by Rita Coolidge introduced as the theme song for the James Bond film Octopussy.-Background:"All Time High" marked the return of regular James Bond theme composer John Barry after his absence from the For Your Eyes Only soundtrack...
" - and after "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher" was her second single to be certified gold
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
for US sales of 1,000,000.
In December 1977, "We're All Alone" entered the charts in Australia to remain for 16 weeks with a #32 peak; the track also reached the Top 40 in New Zealand in February 1978 at #37.
Coolidge remade "We're All Alone" for her 2005 jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
release And So Is Love: Elysa Gardner of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
opined that Coolidge "brings a new wistfulness and knowing to her own hit of yore...proving that good interpretive singers, like fine wine, improve with age."
Other versions
Other versions of "We're All Alone" have been recorded by Maj Britt ("Alene Her"), Cecilio & KaponoCecilio & Kapono
Cecilio & Kapono are a Hawaiian music duo formed in 1973, comprising Henry Kapono Ka’aihue and Cecilio David Rodriguez, who have released 14 albums to date...
, Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
("On est tout seul"), Anne Cochran
Anne Cochran
Anne Cochran is an American musician. Before working as a musical artist, she recorded several commercials and toured with Jim Brickman, also charting in the Top Ten on the Adult Contemporary format with the duet "After All These Years"...
, Linda Eder
Linda Eder
Linda Eder is an American singer and actress. She made her Broadway debut in the musical Jekyll & Hyde, for which she received 1997 Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Nominations, as well as the Theatre World Award for Best Actress in a Musical...
, Monica Forsberg
Monica Forsberg
Monica Yvonne Forsberg is a Swedish singer, songwriter and actress. She was a member in the group Ritz, which competed in Melodifestivalen in 1983 and 1985...
, Engelbert Humperdinck
Engelbert Humperdinck
Engelbert Humperdinck was a German composer, best known for his opera, Hänsel und Gretel. Humperdinck was born at Siegburg in the Rhine Province; at the age of 67 he died in Neustrelitz, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.-Life:After receiving piano lessons, Humperdinck produced his first composition...
, Arja Koriseva ("Me Kaksi Vain"), Liesbeth List ("Vetrouwd Gevoel"), Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
, Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire
Reba Nell McEntire is an American country music artist and actress. She began her career in the music industry as a high school student singing in the Kiowa High School band , on local radio shows with her siblings, and at rodeos. As a solo act, she was invited to perform at a rodeo in Oklahoma...
with Jose e Durval, Natalia, Mary O'Hara
Mary O'Hara
Mary O'Hara is an Irish soprano and harpist from County Sligo. O'Hara achieved fame on both sides of the Atlantic in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Her recordings of that period influenced a generation of Irish female singers who credit O'Hara with influencing their style, among them Carmel...
, Natalia Oreiro
Natalia Oreiro
Natalia Marisa Oreiro Iglesias is a Latin Grammy-nominated Uruguayan singer, actress and fashion designer of Galician ancestry, who developed most of her career in Argentina. Oreiro began her career in soap operas. Since 2008 she has switched to work primarily in films...
and also Manolo Otero ("Estamos Todos Solos"), Päivi ("Kun Luonain Oot"), Patty Pravo ("Da Soli Noi"), Kurt Ravn, Doreen Shaffer
The Skatalites
The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including "Guns of Navarone". They also played on records by Prince Buster and backed many other Jamaican artists who recorded during that period...
, Yulia
Yulia Townsend
Yulia is a Russian-born New Zealand classical crossover singer. Her first solo album Into The West went platinum in its first week of sales in New Zealand. She won two NZ Music Awards; 'Best Female Solo Artist' and 42 Below 'Best Selling Album in New Zealand'. She has supported Amici Forever and...
and Pieces of a Dream
Pieces of a Dream (band)
Pieces of a Dream is an American R&B/jazz group from Philadelphia. The group was formed in 1976 by bassist Cedric Napoleon, drummer Curtis Harmon, and keyboardist James Lloyd. At the time, the three were all teenagers...
.
The 1997 release California Dreamin, a project comprising a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
versions of soft rock
Soft rock
Soft rock is a style of music which uses the techniques of rock music to compose a softer, more toned-down sound. Soft rock songs generally tend to focus on themes like love, everyday life and relationships. The genre tends to make heavy use of acoustic guitars, pianos, synthesizers and sometimes...
classics credited to the West Coast All Stars, featured "We're All Alone" with a lead vocal by Bill Champlin
Bill Champlin
William Bradford "Bill" Champlin is an American singer, guitarist, keyboard player, arranger, producer, and songwriter. His performance work is principally associated with the bands Chicago and the Sons of Champlin...
: the other members of the West Coast All Stars were Jason Scheff
Jason Scheff
Jason Randolph Scheff is an American bassist, singer and songwriter. Since 1985 he has been the bassist and singer for the veteran pop-rock band Chicago. He is the oldest son of well-known session bassist Jerry Scheff, who toured for several years with Elvis Presley...
, Bobby Kimball
Bobby Kimball
Robert Troy "Bobby" Kimball is an American singer, best known as the longtime frontman of the rock band Toto.- Early life:...
and Joseph Williams.
In 2005 bilingual singer Angela Aki
Angela Aki
, born Kiyomi Angela Aki on September 15, 1977, is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist from Itano, Tokushima, Japan.-Early life:...
of Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
and Italian-American descent released a version of "We're All Alone" with her own Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
lyrics retaining one verse in the original English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
- The original lyrics of "We're All Alone" feature the line: "Close your eyes ami and you can be with me". Coolidge sings the line as: "Close your eyes and dream and you can be with me".
- Reportedly the concurrent availability of both the Boz ScaggsBoz ScaggsWilliam Royce "Boz" Scaggs is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He gained fame in the 1970s with several Top 20 hit singles in the United States, along with the #2 album, Silk Degrees. Scaggs continues to write, record music and tour.-Early life and career:Scaggs was born in Canton,...
original and the Coolidge version of "We're All Alone" at radio stations moved some disc jockeys to splice together the two tracks into one unofficial duet - perhaps the earliest instance of that phenomenon.