Show and Tell (song)

Last updated
"Show And Tell"
Show And Tell - Al Wilson.jpg
Single by Al Wilson
from the album Show and Tell
B-side "Listen to Me"
ReleasedAugust 1973 [1]
Recorded1973
Genre
Length3:30
Label Rocky Road
Songwriter(s) Jerry Fuller
Al Wilson singles chronology
"Lodi"
(1969)
"Show And Tell"
(1973)
"Touch and Go"
(1974)

"Show and Tell" is a popular song written by Jerry Fuller and first recorded by Johnny Mathis in 1972. This original version made it to #36 on the Easy Listening chart. [4]

Contents

Al Wilson version

A 1973 recording of the song by Al Wilson reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of January 19, 1974. [5] It sold over two million copies and was named a Cash Box #1 Single of the Year. Billboard ranked it as the #15 song for 1974. [6] Wilson's version also made #10 on the Hot Soul Singles chart.

For this version of the song, songwriter Jerry Fuller credits bassist Dennis Parker for the bassline. [7] [8] [a]

Chart history

Other cover versions

Notes

  1. For the Al Wilson version of the song AllMusic credits the bass performance to bassist James Jamerson; [18] however other sources, including the songwriter Jerry Fuller, credit bassist Dennis Parker. [7] [8]

References

  1. "Al Wilson - Show And Tell". 45cat.com. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  2. Breithaupt, Don; Breithaupt, Jeff (October 15, 1999). "Shafts: Macho Soul". Precious and Few - Pop Music in the Early '70s. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 98. ISBN   031214704X.
  3. 1 2 Breihan, Tom (May 3, 2019). "The Number Ones: Al Wilson's "Show And Tell"". Stereogum . Retrieved June 19, 2023. Sugary pop ballads like "Show And Tell" were nothing new...And Wilson sounds good on the song, giving a thoroughly professional soul-singer performance.
  4. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 161.
  5. Al Wilson, Billboard Hot 100 Billboard.com. Retrieved January 24, 2025.
  6. Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1974
  7. Adam White; Fred Bronson (1993). The Billboard Book of Number One Rhythm & Blues Hits. Billboard Books. p. 447. ISBN   9780823082858 . Retrieved February 23, 2025.
  8. Per Elias Drabløs (2016). The Quest for the Melodic Electric Bass. Routledge. p. 204. ISBN   9781317018377 . Retrieved February 23, 2025.
  9. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 340. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  10. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1974-02-02. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
  11. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1974-02-16. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
  12. 1 2 "1974: The Top 100 Soul/Funk/Disco Singles - RYM/Sonemic". Rate Your Music. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  13. "Top 100 1974-01-26". Cashbox Magazine . Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  14. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  15. Top 50 Adult Contemporary Hits of 1974
  16. "Top 100 Year End Charts: 1974". Cashbox Magazine . Archived from the original on 2012-07-25. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  17. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 90.
  18. Ed Hogan. "Allmusic: James Jamerson – biography". AllMusic. Archived from the original on July 19, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2025.