I'll Be Home

{{Short description|1955 song written by Stan Lewis}}

{{About||the Meghan Trainor song|I'll Be Home (Meghan Trainor song)|the Randy Newman song|Randy Newman Live}}

{{Infobox song

| name = I'll Be Home

| cover =

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = The Flamingos

| album =

| B-side = Need Your Love

| released = January 1956

| format =

| recorded = October 1955

| studio = Chess (Chicago){{cite book |last1=Cohodas |first1=Nadine |title=Spinning Blues Into Gold: The Chess Brothers and the Legendary Chess Records |date=2000 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=9780312284947 |page=129}}

| venue =

| genre =

| length =

| label = Checker 830

| writer = Ferdinand Washington, Stanley Lewis

| producer =

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"I'll Be Home" is a 1955 song that was written by Ferdinand Washington and songwriter, Stan Lewis.{{cite book

| first= Jo

| last= Rice

| year= 1982

| title= The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits

| edition= 1st

| publisher= Guinness Superlatives Ltd

| location= Enfield, Middlesex

| page= 25

| isbn= 0-85112-250-7}}

Both the Flamingos and the Pat Boone versions feature a spoken recitation of the Bridge section.

Flamingos version

The Flamingos first recorded the song in October 1955 at Chess' rudimentary office studio at 4750 South Cottage Grove using just two microphones and a tape recorder, then later at Universal Recording Corporation. Leonard Chess chose to release the less-polished version, recorded at Chess. The song was released on Chess' Checker Records subsidiary in January 1956, with The Flamingos version going to No. 5 on Billboard's R&B chart,{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=207}} its sales greatly overshadowed by the Pat Boone version released the same month.{{cite web |last1=Goldberg |first1=Marv |title=The Flamingos |url=http://www.uncamarvy.com/Flamingos/flamingos.html |website=Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks |publisher=Marv Goldberg |access-date=29 September 2021}}

Pat Boone version

{{Infobox song

| name = I'll Be Home

| cover =

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Pat Boone

| album = Pat Boone

| B-side = Tutti Frutti

| released = January 1956

| format =

| recorded = December 1955

| studio =

| venue =

| genre =

| length =

| label = Dot

| writer = Ferdinand Washington, Stanley Lewis

| producer = Randy Wood

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

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}}

Pat Boone recorded the song in December 1955 with producer Randy Wood for Dot Records. Boone's version was released as a single with "Tutti Frutti" as the B-side in January 1956. Boone's version peaked at No. 5 on the US Billboard chart.{{cite book |title= The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=75}} Overseas, it was a number one hit in the UK Singles Chart, spending five weeks at No. 1,{{cite book

| first= David

| last= Roberts

| year= 2006

| title= British Hit Singles & Albums

| edition= 19th

| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited

| location= London

| isbn= 1-904994-10-5

| pages= 59–60}} and 24 weeks on the charts altogether. It was the best-selling single of 1956 in the United Kingdom.

Other versions

Slim Whitman featured a version on his hit 1977 album Home on the Range.

References