Release Me (Eddie Miller song)

"Release Me" (sometimes rendered as "Release Me (and Let Me Love Again)") is a popular song written by Eddie Miller and Robert Yount in 1949. Four years later it was recorded by Jimmy Heap & the Melody Masters (in 1953), and with even better success by Patti Page (1954), Ray Price (1954), and Kitty Wells (1954). Jivin' Gene [Bourgeois] & the Jokers recorded the tune in 1960, and that version served as an inspiration for Little Esther Phillips, who reached number one on the R&B chart and number eight on the pop chart with her big-selling cover.^[1] The Everly Brothers followed in 1963, along with Lucille Starr including a translation in French (1964), Jerry Wallace (1966), Dean Martin (1967), Engelbert Humperdinck (1967), whose version reached number one on the UK Singles Chart.^[2]

Humperdinck’s version of “Release Me” has the distinction of holding the number one slot in the UK for six weeks during March and April 1967, preventing the Beatles' "Penny Lane" / "Strawberry Fields Forever" double A-sided single from reaching the top spot. Humperdinck's "Release Me" was also the highest selling single of 1967 in the UK, recording over one million in sales. Actual sales stand at 1.38 million copies.^[3]