Everly Brothers – All I Have To Do Is Dream

This is a gorgeous song. The harmonies that the brothers had were close to perfect.

The song was written by Boudleaux Bryant and released by the Brothers in 1958. This song predates the Hot 100 launch but it was #1 in the Country and R&B Charts.

I checked the Billboard Charts and found this note… Note that because their career predates the Hot 100’s 1958 launch, some of their best-known earlier hits aren’t on the list, including 1957’s “Bye Bye Love” and “Wake Up Little Susie” and 1958’s “All I Have to Do Is Dream.”)

Phil Everly: “I remember hearing ‘All I Have To Do Is Dream’ on acetate with Boudleaux’s version on it, and I said, at the time, they could have put Boudleaux’s out and it would have been a hit. It’s just a great, great song. It’s beautiful. Boudleaux was the main man who wrote all the great songs for us, and we love him.”

Boudleaux wrote sometimes by himself but other times he wrote with his wife Felice Bryant…they formed a very successful songwriting team. They wrote successful songs for the Everly Brothers and other artists, including “Bye, Bye Love,” “Wake Up Little Susie,” “Bird Dog,” “Devoted to You,” and many more…

 

 

From Songfacts

This song, which sold over a million copies, was written by Boudleaux Bryant, who was half of the world famous husband-and-wife songwriting team, Boudleaux and Felice Bryant. Together, this talented couple penned many huge hits for the Everly Brothers and other artists, including “Bye, Bye Love,” “Wake Up Little Susie,” “Bird Dog,” “Devoted to You,” “Hey Joe,” “Love Hurts,” “Raining In My Heart,” and “Rocky Top.”

Chet Atkins played tremolo-style guitar chords on the song, providing an interesting musical backing to the Everly Brothers’ unique vocal harmonies.

Boudleaux Bryant said regarding the phrase “Only trouble is, gee whiz”: “I can’t explain why I put that in there. It was just a lucky rhyme fall.”

The song reached the US charts in four straight decades: 
The Everly Brothers took it to #1 in 1958.
Richard Chamberlain’s version went to #4 in 1963.
Glen Campbell and Bobby Gentry reached #27 with it in 1970 and The Nitty Gritty Band landed at #66 in 1975.
Andy Gibb and Victoria Principal peaked at #51 in 1981.

According to Billboard magazine, the song took just 15 minutes to write.

Boudleaux was literally the man of Felice’s dreams. When she first met him, Boudleaux was playing a gig with his jazz band at the Sherwood Hotel in Milwaukee, where Felice was working as an elevator operator. But she saw him years earlier – in a dream when she was 8 years old. She told Country Music People in 1981: “When I was eight years old, I dreamt of this man. He and I were dancing to ‘our song,’ and I remembered this man’s face. So when I saw Boudleaux I recognized him! I don’t know if you can call it love at first sight or ‘My god, you friend, I was wondering when you’d come along.’ But I just clung on to him. He didn’t know who the hell I was, but somehow I knew who he was.”

All I Have To Do Is Dream

Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
When I want you in my arms
When I want you and all your charms
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream

When I feel blue in the night
And I need you to hold me tight
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam

I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine
Anytime night or day
Only trouble is, gee whiz
I’m dreamin’ my life away

I need you so that I could die
I love you so and that is why
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam

I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine
Anytime night or day
Only trouble is, gee whiz
I’m dreamin’ my life away

I need you so that I could die
I love you so and that is why
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream

Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

32 thoughts on “Everly Brothers – All I Have To Do Is Dream”

  1. My memory of this song is playing it in jr. high band. Can you imagine how bad that sounded? It’s a pretty song, so it’s too bad that I remember it that way. I didn’t know the billboard charts weren’t that old. Too bad they weren’t around for those huge hits.

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    1. First of all you started my day off right… when I read “Can you imagine how bad that sounded?” I laughed right away. You are right…it’s not exactly Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

      They….or Billboard took some of Elvis’s number 1’s away. I don’t think it’s right…It was confusing. I read in Wiki that it was number 1 and I then went to Billboard and they don’t list it in their charts.

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      1. That seems a bit like rewriting history. Not cool. Somewhere I read that they didn’t track album sales until sometime in the 70s, so albums like Sgt Pepper and Days of Future Passed have no accurate sales data either. There’s no way to go back and recapture those true numbers, which must be huge.

        Re the jr. high band, it probably sounded a little too much like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!

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      2. The record companies used that to their advantage…claiming lower sales. That is rewriting history…I was wondering why a lot of the 50s artists I looked at were missing their big hits.

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  2. It is a truly great song. Well crafted lyrics and a wonderful melody. The Everly Brothers brought their best to their performance of it, producing a stellar recording. Great write up about it, too, badfinger20! I love the quote/story from Felice! Thanks for posting.

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  3. It’s such a gorgeous song. Even in that live version they sound brilliant. That’s impressive fact that the song reached the US charts in four straight decades. Also how Felice dreamt of Boudleaux when she was eight gives this song that extra romantic buzz. Wonderful post Bad!

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  8. One of my favorite songs. So lush, so gorgeous. The line “…Only trouble is, gee whiz, I’m dreaming my life away.” It just doesn’t get in better than that. Didn’t know Chet Atkins played the guitar. No wonder a love it so.

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