Delilah – Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, April 21, 1968. “Delilah” – Single by Tom Jones from the album Delilah
B-side “Smile”
Released February 1968
Label Decca (UK/Ireland) / Parrot (North America)
Songwriters Les Reed and Barry Mason
Producer Peter Sullivan
Charted No.1 in UK (Melody Maker); No.15 in US; No.1 in West Germany; No.3 in Australia; No.1 in Belgium; No.5 in Canada; No.1 in France; No.1 in Netherlands; No.2 in Spain.
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).
However, Sylvan Mason, who was married to Barry when these songs were written, claims that she is a co-writer. We verified her claims when she showed us court records from her divorce settlement that prove her authorship. She has also been vetted by major newspapers that acknowledge her as a co-writer, and Tom Jones mentions her as a lyricist on the track in his autobiography.
Tom Jones went on to be knighted. A little known fact about this recording is that another future knight of the realm 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.”
