Show and Tell (song)

{{About|the 1972 popular song|other songs with the same title|Show and tell (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Show And Tell

| cover = Show_And_Tell_-_Al_Wilson.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Al Wilson

| album = Show and Tell

| B-side = Listen to Me

| released = August 1973{{Cite web|url=http://www.45cat.com/record/30073|title=Al Wilson - Show And Tell|access-date=23 April 2021|website=45cat.com}}

| recorded = 1973

| studio =

| venue =

| genre =

  • Soul{{cite book|title= Precious and Few - Pop Music in the Early '70s|first1=Don|last1=Breithaupt|first2= Jeff|last2= Breithaupt|date= October 15, 1999|chapter= Shafts: Macho Soul|page= 98|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|isbn=031214704X|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RMPCAwAAQBAJ}}{{cite web|first= Tom |last= Breihan |title= The Number Ones: Al Wilson's "Show And Tell"|website= Stereogum |date= May 3, 2019 |url= https://www.stereogum.com/2042220/the-number-ones-al-wilsons-show-and-tell/columns/the-number-ones/|quote= Sugary pop ballads like “Show And Tell” were nothing new...And Wilson sounds good on the song, giving a thoroughly professional soul-singer performance.|accessdate= June 19, 2023}}
  • pop

| length = 3:30

| label = Rocky Road

| writer = Jerry Fuller

| producer =

| prev_title = Lodi

| prev_year = 1969

| next_title = Touch and Go

| next_year = 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. {{cite book |title= Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=2002 |publisher=Record Research |page=161}}

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.[https://www.billboard.com/artist/al-wilson/chart-history/hsi/ Al Wilson, Billboard Hot 100 – Billboard.com.] Retrieved January 24, 2025. 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.Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1974 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 bass line.{{efn|name=james jamerson}} Parker reported that bandleader-arranger H. B. Barnum devised the bass line for the song's introduction.

=Chart history=

{{col-begin|width=69%}}

{{col-2}}

==Weekly charts==

class="wikitable sortable"

!Chart (1973-1974)

!Peak
position

Australia (Kent Music Report){{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|authorlink=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=340}}

|align="center"|57

Canada RPM Top Singles{{cite web|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.4977a&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.4982a.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.4982a|title=Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date=1974-02-02 |accessdate=2024-08-04}}

| style="text-align:center;"|7

Canada RPM Adult Contemporary{{cite web|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.4960&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.4960.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.5007|title=Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date=1974-02-16 |accessdate=2024-08-04}}

| style="text-align:center;"|21

U.S. Billboard Hot 100

| style="text-align:center;"|1

U.S. Billboard Easy Listening

| style="text-align:center;"|3

U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles{{Cite web|url=https://rateyourmusic.com/list/goldwax317/1974__the_top_100_soul_funk_disco_singles/|title=1974: The Top 100 Soul/Funk/Disco Singles - RYM/Sonemic|website=Rate Your Music|access-date=23 April 2021}}

| style="text-align:center;"|10

U.S. Cash Box Top 100{{cite web|url=http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/70s_files/19740126.html |title=Top 100 1974-01-26 |work=Cashbox Magazine |access-date=2016-07-27 }}

| style="text-align:center;"|1

{{col-2}}

==Year-end charts==

class="wikitable sortable"
Chart (1974)

!Position

Canada{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.3893a&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=mhe12pta2k83e08udtq66ot062 |title=Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date= |access-date=2016-10-08}}

| style="text-align:center;"|58

U.S. Billboard Hot 100

| style="text-align:center;"|15

U.S. Billboard Easy Listening[http://www.45cat.com/45_list_view_record.php?li=2168 Top 50 Adult Contemporary Hits of 1974]

| style="text-align:center;"|28

U.S. Billboard R&B

| style="text-align:center;"|84

U.S. Cash Box {{cite web |url=http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/70s_files/1974YESP.html |title=Top 100 Year End Charts: 1974 |work=Cashbox Magazine |access-date=2015-07-16 |archive-date=2012-07-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725004901/http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/70s_files/1974YESP.html |url-status=dead }}

| style="text-align:center;"|1

{{col-end}}

Other cover versions

  • Engelbert Humperdinck in 1974 on his album My Love.
  • Peabo Bryson had a #1 R&B hit with it in 1989. Bryson's rendition did not chart on the Hot 100.{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=90}}
  • American singer/actress Vanessa Williams for her 2005 studio album Everlasting Love.

Notes

{{notelist|refs=

{{efn|name=james jamerson|For the Al Wilson version of the song AllMusic credits the bass performance to bassist James Jamerson; however other sources, including the songwriter Jerry Fuller, credit bassist Dennis Parker.}}

}}

References

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite book|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Billboard_Book_of_Number_One_Rhythm/w0xLAAAAYAAJ|title=The Billboard Book of Number One Rhythm & Blues Hits|author1=Adam White|author2=Fred Bronson|publisher=Billboard Books|year=1993|access-date=February 23, 2025|isbn=9780823082858|pages=447}}

{{cite book|ref={{harvid|Drabløs|2016}}|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ODKrCwAAQBAJ|title=The Quest for the Melodic Electric Bass|author=Per Elias Drabløs|publisher=Routledge|year=2016|access-date=February 23, 2025|isbn=9781317018377|pages=204}}

{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/james-jamerson-mn0000123578/biography|title=Allmusic: James Jamerson – biography|author=Ed Hogan|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=February 23, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719024832/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/james-jamerson-mn0000123578/biography|archive-date=July 19, 2018|url-status=live}}

}}