"Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday" | ||||
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Single by Stevie Wonder | ||||
from the album My Cherie Amour | ||||
B-side | "I'd Be a Fool Right Now" | |||
Released | September 30, 1969 | |||
Recorded | 1967 | |||
Genre | Pop, R&B, soul | |||
Length | 3:06 | |||
Label | Motown | |||
Songwriter(s) | Ron Miller, Bryan Wells | |||
Producer(s) | Harvey Fuqua, Johnny Bristol | |||
Stevie Wonder singles chronology | ||||
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Official audio | ||||
"Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday" on YouTube |
"Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday" is a 1969 soul song written by Ron Miller and Bryan Wells, released by American Motown singer-songwriter-musician Stevie Wonder on the album My Cherie Amour (1969). The song continued Wonder's success on the pop charts. It reached number 7 on the pop singles chart and become Wonder's ninth Top 10 single of the 1960s. The single fared even better on the UK singles chart where it reached number 2 in November 1969, and at that time, it was Wonder's biggest UK hit.
Stevie recorded also an Italian version with the title "Solo te, solo me, solo noi" (Only you, only me, only us), translated by Peter Ricci.[1] The song was later reworked into an unusual, electronic version by Jennifer Rush on her 1985 Movin' album.[2]
Background
The song had been first recorded, in 1966, by blue-eyed Motown soul singer Chris Clark.[3]
At the time the song was released, Wonder was going through some vocal problems and was required to wait before recording a song. Due to this, instead of making Wonder record new ones, they decided to release songs that he had recorded years earlier, and this song was one of them (it was recorded two years earlier). The song's main theme is nostalgia[4] for a loved one.
Cash Box called it a "sparkling easy-blues-beat ballad" with "interesting lyric, performance and production."[5]
Personnel
- Lead vocals by Stevie Wonder
- Background vocals by The Originals (Freddie Gorman, Walter Gaines, Hank Dixon, C.P. Spencer) and The Andantes (Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps)
- Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers[6]
Chart performance
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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References
- ^ "Solo Te Solo Me Solo Noi (Yester Me, Yester You, Yesterday)". Retrieved 20 May 2023 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ "Jennifer Rush - Movin' Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic". Retrieved 20 May 2023 – via www.allmusic.com.
- ^ "Stevie Wonder Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday". whosampled.com. 2013. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
- ^ Browne, Ray Broadus; Ambrosetti, Ronald J. (20 May 1993). Continuities in Popular Culture: The Present in the Past & the Past in the Present and Future. Popular Press. ISBN 9780879725938. Retrieved 20 May 2023 – via Google Books.
- ^ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. October 18, 1969. p. 34. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
- ^ "Wonder, Stevie / Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday | Tamla T-54188 | Single, 7" Vinyl | September 1969". Yoursongscollectibles.ecwid.com. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
- ^ Steffen Hung. "Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on June 2, 2016. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
- ^ RPM Adult Contemporary, January 10, 1970.
- ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
- ^ "flavour of new zealand - search listener". www.flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved September 5, 2018.
- ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
- ^ "Stevie Wonder". officialcharts.com. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
- ^ a b "1969: The Top 100 Soul/R&B Singles". Rate Your Music. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 261.
- ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.
External links
- List of cover versions of "Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday" at SecondHandSongs.com