You're My World

"You're My World" is a ballad originally recorded in 1963 as "Il Mio Mondo" ("My World") by Umberto Bindi, who co-wrote the Italian-language version with Gino Paoli. Rendered with English lyrics by Carl Sigman as "You're My World", the song has reached No. 1 in Australia (twice), Belgium, Mexico, Netherlands, South Africa and United Kingdom via recordings by Cilla Black, Daryl Braithwaite, Guys 'n' Dolls and Helen Reddy. (Black's and Reddy's versions reached the US Top 40 in 1964 and 1977, respectively.) The song also went to No. 1 in France and Spain via the respective translations "Ce monde" and "Mi Mundo", both sung by Richard Anthony.

1960s hit versions

"You're My World"
Single by Cilla Black
B-side	"Suffer Now I Must"
Released	1964
Format	7" single
Genre	Easy listening
Length	2:58
Label	Parlophone
Writer(s)	Umberto Bindi, Gino Paoli, Carl Sigman
Producer	George Martin
Cilla Black singles chronology
"Anyone Who Had a Heart" (1964) "You're My World" (1964) "It's for You" (1964)

Although the original Italian version by composer Umberto Bindi was not a hit, even in Italy, the song came to the attention of UK record producer George Martin, who commissioned an English version to be recorded by his protégée Cilla Black.

Black cut the song — translated as "You're My World" — at Abbey Road Studios with Johnny Pearson conducting his orchestra and The Breakaways providing background vocals; Black has said that her manager and future husband Bobby Willis also sang on the track. Big Jim Sullivan was the lead guitarist on the session.[2]

"You're My World" reached #1 in Britain on the chart dated 30 May 1964 and remained there for a total of four weeks, one week more than Black's preceding single "Anyone Who Had a Heart". [3] Although Black would return to the UK Top Ten eight times, "You're My World" would be her final #1.

Black's "You're My World" was also #1 in Australia for two weeks that July when it also spent three weeks at #2 in New Zealand while in South Africa the disc was the second biggest hit for the year 1964 [4] despite a cover version by Ray Walter which rose as high as #2 on South Africa's weekly hit parade. A Top Twenty hit in Denmark[5], the track also reached #12 in Canada[6], #2 in Ireland[7], #8 in Norway[8] and #7 in Sweden.[9]

"You're My World" was the first track by Black to be released in the US, where the singer was signed to Capitol Records. Peaking at #26 in August 1964, "You're My World" would become Black's only Top 40 hit in the United States.

An alternate take from the recording sessions which yielded the Cilla Black hit vesion of "You're My World" was later issued, with the opening notes being likened to be the sound of musicians tuning up. Both the 1964 versions, however, remain faithful to Bindi's strong vocal delivery and the instrumentation of his original recording in Italian.

Black remade "You're My World" in 1985 for her Surprisingly Cilla album and then again in 1993 for her Through the Years album; both tracks attempted to capture the original's orchestral quality via synthesizers.

Subsequent to the success of Cilla Black's "You're My World" in the English speaking world, Richard Anthony recorded a translation for release in France as "Ce Monde", which was #1 for six weeks in the summer of 1964 and that autumn reached #3 in Belgium (Wallonia). Anthony also made the song a hit in its original Italian format, taking "Il Mio Mondo" into the Italian charts for the first time with a #20 peak in 1964/5. Anthony, who recorded the English rendition under the title "You Are My World", also reached #1 in Spain in January 1965 with the rendering "Mi Mundo".

Preceded by "Juliet" by The Four Pennies	UK #1 single "You're My World" by Cilla Black	Succeeded by "It's Over" by Roy Orbison
Preceded by "Requests" EP: "Long Tall Sally"/"Boys"/"I Call Your Name" by The Beatles	Australian Kent Music Report #1 single "You're My World" by Cilla Black July 12, 1964 - July 18, 1964	Succeeded by "A Hard Day's Night"/ "Things We Said Today" by the Beatles
Preceded by "J'y Pense et Puis J'oublie" by Claude François	France #1 single "Ce monde" by Richard Anthony August 15, 1964 - September 19, 1964	Succeeded by "Vous Permettez Monsieur?" by Salvatore Adamo
Preceded by "The House of the Rising Sun" by the Animals	Spain #1 single "Mi Mundo" by Richard Anthony January 30, 1965	Succeeded by "Vamos a la cama" by Los Chavalitos

1970s hit versions

"You're My World"
Single by Helen Reddy
from the album Ear Candy
B-side	"Thank You"
Released	1977
Format	7" single
Genre	Easy listening
Length	2:41
Label	Capitol
Writer(s)	Umberto Bindi, Gino Paoli, Carl Sigman
Producer	Kim Fowley
Helen Reddy singles chronology
"Gladiola" (1976) "You're My World" (1977) "The Happy Girls" (1977)

Daryl Braithwaite of Sherbet remade "You're My World" as his first solo recording; released in October 1974 the track was #1 in Australia for the first three weeks in January 1975.

It was Braithwaite's version that inspired a young Tina Arena who heard her sister's copy of Braithwaite's single; Arena's impromptu performance of "You're My World" at a wedding led to her launching her performing career at age 7 on the TV show "Young Talent Time". However Arena has never recorded "You're My World".

A remake of "You're My World" by the British group Guys 'n' Dolls with vocalist Paul Griggs on lead was overlooked in the UK but reached #1 in the Netherlands for four weeks in May and June 1977: the track also reached #1 in Belgium and was a minor hit in Germany (#48).^[1]

1977 also saw an American-produced remake of "You're My World" when Helen Reddy recorded the song for her Ear Candy album helmed by veteran producer Kim Fowley with the assistance of Earle Mankey.

"You're My World" was a more melodramatic number than was usually associated with Reddy for whom the song represented a considerable comeback: its Billboard Hot 100 peak of #18 in July 1977 (when Cash Box ranked it #16) made "You're My World" Reddy's highest charting single since "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady" almost two years previously besting the #29 peak of "I Can't Hear You No More" the lead single off Reddy's precedent Music, Music album. However "You're My World" would prove to be Reddy's last major hit.

"You're My World" did give Reddy a #1 hit in Mexico, spending six months in the Top Ten from October 1977 to March 1978. (In 1976 Grupo Yndio had had hit in Mexico with a Spanish language version of "You're My World" entitled "Eres Mi Mundo".)

Preceded by "Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas	Australian Kent Music Report #1 single "You're My World" by Daryl Braithwaite January 6, 1975 - January 20, 1975	Succeeded by "I Can Help" by Billy Swan
Preceded by "Non Stop Dance" by Gibson Brothers	Dutch Top 40 #1 single "You're My World" by Guys 'n' Dolls May 14, 1977 - June 4, 1977	Succeeded by "Ma Baker" by Boney M

Other versions

"You're My World" has been covered by Jade Adams, Britt Bergström (in Swedish as "Du är min"), Mary Byrne (Mine & Yours), Patrizio Buanne (Forever Begins Tonight), Heidi Bruhl (in German as "Wie Ein Traum"), Glen Campbell (Gentle on My Mind), Howard Carpendale, Kikki Danielsson (with Wizex on the 1974 album Skratte & le ["Du är hela min värld"] ^[2] & on her 1991 solo album Vägen hem till dej),^[3] Garry Hagger, Vince Hill (arranged by Johnny Pearson on Hill's 1966 You're My World album), Johnny (in Finnish as "Olet Kaikki"), Tom Jones, Birthe Kjær (in Danish as "Du' mit liv"), Joe Longthorne, Jane McDonald (from her 1998 self-titled album recorded at Abbey Road Studios; Almighty Records also released a disco remix of the track), Terry Rice-Milton (single CBS S-501 - 07/1970), Morgan ("Il Mio Mondo"), Tracy Nelson, Lisa Nilsson, Kirsti Sparboe (in Norwegian as "Du er alt"), Anita Traversi (in German as "Meine welt bist du"), Ornella Vanoni ("Il Mio Mondo"), Elvira Voća (in Croatian as "Moj svijet"), Wizex (as "Du är hela min värld", Swedish lyrics by Kikki Danielsson), Shirley Zwerus and Dionne Warwick (Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls). Natasha Hamilton (featuring Kush) recorded "You're My World" for the 2008 Liverpool - The Number Ones Album Project. Daryl Braithwaite - who had a 1974 Australian No. 1 hit with "You're My World", remade the song for his 2008 acoustic album The Lemon Tree.

Also

A thirty-three second outtake from an Abbey Road Studios session by the Beatles dated 3 June 1964 is said to be a snippet of "You're My World": presumably still in the Abbey Road vaults, this track has yet to be released or bootlegged.[10]

Elvis Presley kept a copy of the Cilla Black single of "You're My World" in his personal jukebox. [11] When the Beatles visited Presley at his Belair home on 27 August 1965 the group jammed with Presley in a impromptu rendition of "You're My World".^[4]

Miss America 1986 Susan Akin - Miss Mississippi 1985 - sang "You're My World" in the talent competition of the Miss America Pageant broadcast on NBC 14 September 1985 from Convention Hall in Atlantic City.^[5]

References

1. ^ http://www.dollarsite.co.uk/disc/gnddisc.html Guys 'n' Dolls singles and chart positions
2. ^ Information at Svensk mediedatabas
3. ^ Information at Svensk mediedatabas
4. ^ [1]
5. ^ Milwaukee Journal 15 September 1985 p.2