The Letter

E1002436

"The Letter" is a classic soul song, most famously recorded by The Box Tops in 1967, that became a major hit and enduring standard in popular music.

Jump to: Statements Referenced by

Statements (45)

Predicate Object
instanceOf single
song
associatedAct The Box Tops NERFINISHED
awardedByCertificationUS RIAA NERFINISHED
Bside Happy Times NERFINISHED
certificationUS gold record
chartPositionAustralia 1
chartPositionCanadaRPM 1
chartPositionIreland 1
chartPositionUKSinglesChart 5
chartPositionUSBillboardHot100 1
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
duration about 1 minute 58 seconds
genre blue-eyed soul
pop rock
soul
hasLyricsOpeningLine Gimme a ticket for an aeroplane
hasMusicalFeature gritty lead vocal
prominent organ part
short runtime under two minutes
hasNotableCoverVersionBy Al Green NERFINISHED
Bobby Darin NERFINISHED
Dwight Yoakam NERFINISHED
Eva Cassidy NERFINISHED
Joe Cocker NERFINISHED
King Curtis NERFINISHED
The Arbors NERFINISHED
hasNotableLiveVersionBy Joe Cocker and Leon Russell NERFINISHED
includedOnAlbum The Letter/Neon Rainbow NERFINISHED
influencedArtist Alex Chilton NERFINISHED
isStandardIn blue-eyed soul repertoire
popular music repertoire
language English
leadVocalist Alex Chilton NERFINISHED
mentionsModeOfTransport aeroplane
performer The Box Tops NERFINISHED
producer Dan Penn NERFINISHED
rankedInList Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (various editions) NERFINISHED
recordingDate 1967
recordLabel Mala Records NERFINISHED
releaseDate 1967-08
soldCopiesWorldwide over 4 million
theme longing to return to a loved one
writer Wayne Carson NERFINISHED
yearEndChartUSBillboardHot100_1967 4

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Avant notableAlbum The Letter
Wayne Carson notableWork The Letter
Wayne Carson wroteSong The Letter