“I Only Have Eyes for You” by The Flamingos, Wednesday, January 31, 2024
In 1934, Harry Warren and Al Dubin wrote “I Only Have Eyes for You” for the musical comedy Dames. The song became a standard, covered by Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald among other artists. In 1959, Doo Wop group The Flamingos recorded what is now considered the definitive version of the song. The group had just had a crossover pop hit with the song “Lovers Never Say Goodbye,” and were hoping to follow up the song with another crossover. Billboard’s Rhythm & Blues Chart began in 1949 as a way to track the sales and impact of African American music. Following the re-titling of Harlem Hit Parade and the vague title of “Race Records,” Billboard settled with the title Rhythm & Blues, which now exists as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Meanwhile, the Billboard 100 was considered the singles’ pop chart, composed mostly of white artists with a few “crossover hits” by artists of color.
ARE THE STARS OUT TONIGHT? The Flamingos formed in 1953 as a vocal group, founded on tight harmonies. Several members changed throughout the early years. The group was most often a quintet, but at one point they had six members. To follow up the group’s success with “Lovers Never Say Goodbye,” they worked with producer George Goldner who believed that the group could see their next era of success covering classic songs by George Gershwin. But it was the 1934 musical number from Dames that would become The Flamingos’ biggest hit. At first, the recording sessions for “I Only Have Eyes for You” were not going well. The group’s high tenor, Terry “Buzzy” Johnson also arranged the songs for The Flamingos. On an episode of BBC’s Soul Music, Johnson tells the story about how the song finally worked. Johnson had been trying to find a unique angle for the song, even trying to make it sound “Russian” like “The Volga Boatman.” Working late on the arrangement, he fell asleep, and around 4 a.m. he claims to have heard the finished song in a dream. He claims that the song came from God.
MY LOVE MUST BE A KIND OF BLIND LOVE. The otherworldly sound of “I Only Have Eyes for You” works both as a period piece of late ‘50s Doo Wop and as an ageless love song. The Flamingos’ version has appeared in many movies and television shows, often to establish a setting in the late ‘50s or early ‘60s. But if we listen to the song with fresh ears, forgetting the cultural context, the song is pure production. After a few strummed chords on the electric guitar, the piano and brush drums build a slow, almost lunar ambience. I may say that because of the references to heavenly bodies, but the lyrics of the song are quite simple. But while the song’s lyrics are brief, the music makes them linger. The musical depth is not the instrumentation, but the harmonies of the vocal group who deepen the atmosphere of the song. The song is a rich dessert for the ears. Did the song come from God? It’s funny how our brains work when we sleep. When we sleep on a problem, we may wake up refreshed sometimes with the solution pieced together. Is that a God thing? Maybe.
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