The song tells the tragic story from a witness' perspective of a young man named Tommy who is in love with Laura and wants to marry her, so he enters a stock car race, despite being the youngest and most inexperienced driver, hoping to win and use the prize money to buy Laura a wedding ring. The second verse tells how his car overturns and bursts into flames, although nobody knows what had happened. Tommy is fatally injured and his last words are "Tell Laura I love her... My love for her will never die". In the final verse, Laura prays inside the chapel, where a church organ is heard, and where she can still hear Tommy's voice intoning the title one more time, before it fades out.
The lyrics of "Tell Laura I Love Her" originally concerned a rodeo, not an automobile race, as composer Jeff Barry was an aficionado of cowboy culture.[3] However, at RCA's instigation, Barry rewrote the song, in order to more closely resemble the No. 1 hit "Teen Angel". The personnel on the original recording included Al Chernet, Charles Macy, and Sebastian Mure on guitars: Lloyd Trotman on bass; Andrew Ackers on organ; Bob Burns on sax; and Bunny Shawker on drums.[4]Decca Records in England decided not to release Ray Peterson's 1960 recording on the grounds that it was "too tasteless and vulgar" and destroyed about twenty-five thousand copies that had already been pressed.[5] A cover by Ricky Valance, released by EMI on the Columbia label, was No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks.[6][7] Valance's version was initially banned by the BBC; it was considered to be in "bad taste" and expressed concern for copycat activity.[8][9]
The Peterson single was re-released in 1962, following the success of Valance's recording.[10]
In the U.S. a recording by Johnny T. Angel (a.k.a. Bill Gilliland) on Bell Records peaked at No. 94 on June 22, 1974.[16]
In 1973, Dutch singer Albert West released his 7" version which reached No. 8 on the Dutch Top 40[18] and No. 1 in Austria.[19]
In 1973, New Zealand band Creation released a rendering which peaked at No. 3 on the New Zealand charts and at No. 20 in the Australian charts the following year.[20][21]
The story of the song was adapted for stage and turned into Tell Laura I Love Her (The Musical) in 2007 by Richard C. Hague.[22]
Spanish versions were recorded ("Dile a Laura que la quiero") by Chilean singer Ray Palaviccino in 1962,[23] by Mexican singer César Costa ("Dile que la quiero" / "La historia de Tommy"),[24] and Spanish group Los HH in 1963.[25]
There were also versions in Czech ("Když dozrálo víno", by Petr Spálený, in 1967), Serbian ("Lora, ja te volim", by Miodrag Jevremović), Danish ("Hils Lillian kærligt", by Heaven and "Si' til Lis hun er min tøs", by Dick Kaysø and Peter Thorup), Dutch ("Ik blijf van Laura houden", by Charles Tuinenburg and The Melody Strings), Finnish ("Laura (sua kauheesti kaipaan)" by Hector), French ("Dis à Laura", by Richard Anthony), German ("Das Ende der Liebe", by Rex Gildo), Italian ("Dite a Laura che l'amo", by Michele), Swedish ("Jag Älskar Min Laura", by Carli Tornehave), Mandarin ("告訴羅娜我愛她") and Vietnamese ("Trưng Vương Khung Cửa Mùa Thu", by Nam Lộc).[26]
^"Tell Laura I Love Her". Chicken soup for the soul : the story behind the song : the exclusive personal stories behind 101 of your favorite songs. Canfield, Jack, 1944–, Hansen, Mark Victor., Geffen, Jo-Ann. Cos Cob, CT: Chicken Soup for the Soul Pub. 2009. ISBN978-1-935096-40-5. OCLC317470308. Archived from the original on June 21, 2020.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
