“Delilah” Single by Tom Jones from the album Delilah
B-side “Smile”
Released February 1, 1968
Studio Decca, London
Label Decca (UK/Ireland), Parrot (North America)
Songwriters Les Reed, Barry Mason
Producer Peter Sullivan
Charted No.15 in US, No.2 in UK, No.1 in West Germany, No.1 in Belgium, No.5 in Canada, No.1 in Netherlands, No.11 in Italy, No. 2 in Spain, No.1 in France, No.1 in Switzerland.
This song is about a crime of passion: A man discovers that Delilah has been cheating on him, so when her lover leaves, he shows up at her door and stabs her to death. The lyric is mollified by a lilting rhythm and a catchy chorus that lends itself to singalong, leading to many situations where (often inebriated) crowds find themselves singing, “My my my Delilah…”
Is there a real Delilah? Depends who you ask. The official writer credits for this song go to the English team of Les Reed and Barry Mason, whose other credits include “Here It Comes Again” by The Fortunes, “The Last Waltz” by Engelbert Humperdinck, and “Kiss Me Goodbye” by Petula Clark (which also hit #15 US in 1968).
A little known fact about this recording is that sang on it, Elton John. According to Philip Norman’s biography Sir Elton, times were hard for the then-aspiring superstar, and he took whatever session work he could get, becoming in this case an indistinguishable voice in the chorus behind the melodramatic Tom Jones #2 smash hit single “Delilah.”
Tom Jones’ recording reached No. 1 in the charts of several countries, including Germany and Switzerland. It reached No 2 in the British charts in March 1968 and was the sixth-best selling single of that year. The US Billboard chart records its highest position as 15.
