‘The Letter’ is a song written by Wayne Carson that was first recorded by the American rock band the Box Tops in 1967. It was the group's first and most successful single, reaching number one on the record charts in the United States and Canada. It was also an international success and placed in the top ten in several other countries. Rolling Stone magazine included the Box Tops original at number 372 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame added it to the list of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". In 2011, the single was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
English singer, Joe Cocker was in the middle of rehearsals for the tour that would help define his early career, Mad Dogs and Englishmen, when he went into a studio in Los Angeles in March 1970. There, he cut his distinctive version of the Box Tops’ 1967 US No.1 ‘The Letter.’ As he’d already proved several times, the Sheffield singer’s inimitable powers of interpretation could reinvent a song. Produced by Denny Cordell and the man who became tour MD, Leon Russell, the single was soon on its way. A&M Records released it as a single, with ‘Space Captain’ as the B-side. It appeared in Billboard's Hot 100 in April 1970 and eventually reached number seven. ‘The Letter’ became Cocker's first top ten single in the US. In the UK, the single reached number 39.
Cocker cut the song with many of the musicians he would soon be on the road with. They included Russell, pianist Chris Stainton, singers such as Rita Coolidge, horn players Bobby Keys and Jim Price (who were to become the Rolling Stones’ horn section) and Carl Radle and Jim Gordon. The pair would soon be better known as members of Eric Clapton’s Derek and the Dominos.
Released in the US in April, Cocker’s version of ‘The Letter’ was spending the last of three weeks at its No.7 peak on the Billboard Hot 100 when it was issued in the UK. With the delay that was commonplace in those days, it came out there on Friday, June 12. It brought about another example of the peculiar phenomenon by which Cocker’s big US hits all seemed to flop in the UK, and vice versa. Cocker performed it (and ‘Space Captain’) during his 1970 performance at the Fillmore East auditorium in New York City. Recordings of both songs are included on the live Mad Dogs & Englishmen album, which was released in August 1970 and was a best seller.
Label – A&M
Songwriter – Wayne Carson
Producers – Denny Cordell, Leon Russell
SONG LYRICS
Gimme a ticket for an aeroplaneAin't got time to take a fast train
Lonely days are gone
I'm a-goin' home
My baby just a-wrote me a letter
I don't care how much money I gotta spend
Got to get back to my baby again
Lonely days are gone
I'm a-goin' home
My baby just a-wrote me a letter
Well, she wrote me a letter, said she couldn't live without me no more
Listen to me mister, don't you hear me ravin' for my baby once more?
Anyway, yeah
Gimme a ticket for an aeroplane
Ain't got time to take a fast train
Lonely days are gone
I'm a-goin' home
My baby just a-wrote me a letter
Well, she wrote me a letter, said she couldn't live without me no more
Listen mister, can't you see I got to get back to my baby once more?
Anyway, yeah
Gimme a ticket for an aeroplane
Ain't got time to take a fast train
Lonely days are gone
I'm a-goin' home
My baby just a-wrote me a letter
My baby just a-wrote me a letter