I have listened to this group since I was 8 years old. I am 72 and still enjoy listening to them. The music puts me back in time when life was much easier to enjoy.
I'm 80 and they have been my favorite since "Only You" in 1955 or so. I saw them in rehearsal in NY City when I was 16 in 1957 and have some autographed pictures, both professional and ones I and my friend took. One is with Tony Williams and is inscribed "To Murry, Be cool always, Tony". Is anyone interested in buying these pictures? I have individual shots of my friend and me with Paul, David, and Herb. One is of these entire group singing that I took. One is the professional shot of all five, autographed by each. Let me know.
I'm 80 and they have been my favorite since "Only You" in 1955 or so. I saw them in rehearsal in NY City when I was 16 in 1957 and have some autographed pictures, both professional and ones I and my friend took. One is with Tony Williams and is inscribed "To Murry, Be cool always, Tony". Is anyone interested in buying these pictures? I have individual shots of my friend and me with Paul, David, and Herb. One is of these entire group singing that I took. One is the professional shot of all five, autographed by each. Let me know.
My earliest memory is my dad playing this song on a cassette, so every time I hear it I can remember that moment perfectly. It's a really intense mix of feelings.
One of my father’s favorites - unfortunately, we lost him unexpectedly on Veteran’s Day of last year. I distinctly remember driving around, listening to this, and many other songs from this era when I was just a child. Thinking of you, and the many amazing memories you gave me - I miss you, Pops.
Not denying that Freddie's voice was great - the original version of this song is divine either. And since it's The Platters video we have to give some credit to this great band for making such an amazing masterpiece.
I love this song. My mother introduced me to amazing music as a child. We would crank it up and do housework together. The music keeps these beautiful memories intact
Me too, listening this music when I was 9, influenced with my elder, it was his favored, now I‘m 73. My brother passed away, everytime I heard this music it remind me with tears.
I asked my my mom to pick any song and she picked this one. When I played this she just sat back, closed her eyes, and sang along, even though it's probably been a long time since she's heard it. Thanks for posting!
@@gaminglegend He doesn't have tk be mentioned at all! He's an artist as well... Today's everything is very superficial. This may be a boomer opinion but it's kind of true...
@@KositarFilm The supposed "ok boomer" is just a poor way to supress an opinion without debating. And usually comes from someone that doesn't want to see the sad reality of today's media.
I'm 23 years old now but this kind of music makes my soul dance with joy. What a great song indeed. Very calm, playing this song reminds me of my childhood.
Crazy how I came across this band just 2 years ago but it somehow reminds me of my childhood even though I have no recollection of listening to any of their songs. The way they can make us feel nostalgic without a reason is just insane.
I took request at night on wyde radio. This was one of the most requested groups. They still sound great oh I was 17 then I am 83 now good music remains good music🎉
This was one of my dad's all time favorite songs. I played it at his service. Puts a smile on my face when I hear it, as I can still see his face as he sang every word and danced like he wasn't even touching the floor. I miss you so much Daddy! ❤ You're still around!
Its something..when you see a group, decked out to the 9's, smooth as silk, singing songs based on what would describe a ballad. Over 50 years since this song came out and it still hits home with its message. Its okay to be depressed when you use your depression to reach the deepest depths within your soul and come up with something like this. Great poets cannot become great unless they experience the depths which they use as stanzas in their poems. This song is a great poem...makes me look back over the years which I can see so vividly. I wonder how people can pass on and leave such a legacy behind..."The Great Pretender", a legacy of poetry, love, depression and HOPE. He put his soul into this song, the rest of the group exclaimed it..........Great...
Buck Ram was responsible for their sound. I'm 80 and they have been my favorite since "Only You" in 1955 or so. I saw them in rehearsal in NY City when I was 16 in 1957 and have some autographed pictures, both professional and ones I and my friend took. One is with Tony Williams and is inscribed "To Murry, Be cool always, Tony". Is anyone interested in buying these pictures? I have individual shots of my friend and me with Paul, David, and Herb. One is of these entire group singing that I took. One is the professional shot of all five, autographed by each. Let me know.
I would say it would have been their God given talent, family and friends, their desire to sing, their ambition to share their musicianship and their love of music. As well as other artists of their time who would have encouraged them. I wouldn’t be surprised if they all grew up listening to gospel music from where the lived. It seems to me that people who grow up with a challenging lifestyle have a certain amount of substance and resilience that gives them the capacity to draw on that inner strength to shine their light on the world. E.g: Nat King Cole, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, The Drifters, Percy Sledge, Otis Redding The Supremes, etc, etc.
This was written by "Buck" Ram and sung with such incredible feeling by Tony Williams as the lead singer of the Platters. Ram wrote many of the songs recorded by the Platters with the major exceptions of "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," which was written by Jerome Kern, a legendary American composer, for a 1933 Broadway musical and "My Prayer," which was written in 1939 by a Russian violinist. This kind of beautiful, sentimental and sophisticated music has vanished from American popular music - obviously!
I loved this song as a young child. It holds the same today as yesteryear. Yes, I'm the great pretender. I seem to be what I'm not, you see. I'm wearing my heart like a crown. Pretending that you're still around. What a classic song. Thanks for sharing.
So in love with this song. Absolutely love it! I'm a huge oldirs fan. There's just something about these songs that just make you feel good and it's just so peaceful.. even if its a song about heartbreak it still makes you feel good. The harmony, the melody, the pitch, the music its just Beautiful. My goodness I love this music💜 I've always loved this song since my mom has shown me it
What a lovely song! People that days still knew what was good. Something different compared to some of the terrible stuff played nowadays. I think the artists aspeccially from the 50s and 60s did an exellent job and they where just a pleasure to listen to.
I’m an old soul who collects a lot of cassette tapes where I can find them, and I found one with this song, and have absolutely fell in love with this song. One of my favorites from the tapes I’ve so far collected
My husband loves singing and i found this lovely song and asked him to learn and sing it to me. I love it so much. So he is learning it so fast, first attempt went so well. So proud of you Mark. Love you. Xx
On this day in 1957 {October 27th} the Platters performed "The Great Pretender" on the CBS-TV Sunday night program 'The Ed Sullivan Show'... Just under two years earlier on December 1st, 1955 the song entered Billboard's Top 100 chart at position #41; nine weeks later on February 2nd, 1956 it peaked at #1 {for 2 weeks} and it spent almost a half-year on the Top 100 {24 weeks}... And on December 22nd, 1955 it reached #1 {for 11 weeks} on Billboard's R&B Singles chart; and for 7 of those 11 weeks Little Richard's "Tutti-Frutti" was the record in the #2 spot... Between 1955 and 1967 the Los Angeles-based quintet had thirty-nine Top 100 records; seven made the Top 10 with four reaching #1, their three other #1 records were "My Prayer" for 5 weeks in 1956, "Twilight time" for 1 week in 1958, and "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" for 3 weeks in 1959... They just missed having nine Top 10 records when both "You'll Never Never Know" {1956} and "I'm Sorry" {1957} peaked at #2 on the Top 100... Sadly, all five original members of the group have passed away; the last being bassist Herb Reed on June 4th, 2012 at the age of 83... May they all R.I.P.
Love the comment... my mom called me the great pretender today.. decided to look it up. I was born in 1985.. funny thing is that after seeing your comment I can now tell my mom this song went to #1 on Dec 22... which happens to be my birthday ♡. Both my mother & I are "seers" with OCD about numbers so you just made this fun ;)
This is the greatest song in the countless years of music, this is my favorite. The piano, the harmony, the words, This, Only You, and My Prayer brought black music to the forefront. Just where it belonged I should add!!!
I wouldn't say Black Music per se, but rather Black singers following in the footsteps of The Mills Brothers and The Ink Spots, rather than the do-wop tradition of The Penguins and the Cleftones. I'm 80 and they have been my favorite since "Only You" in 1955 or so. I saw them in rehearsal in NY City when I was 16 in 1957 and have some autographed pictures, both professional and ones I and my friend took. One is with Tony Williams and is inscribed "To Murry, Be cool always, Tony". Is anyone interested in buying these pictures? I have individual shots of my friend and me with Paul, David, and Herb. One is of these entire group singing that I took. One is the professional shot of all five, autographed by each. Let me know.
They DID have an incredible sound, both Tony as soloist, and as a group with great harmonies. They lost Tony early on, and were never the same with his replacements. Paul was also a wonderful soloist, as was Zola, doing George Gershwin, for example. David did few solos, and Herb, although a fabulous bass, sometimes sang of key. I'm 80 and they have been my favorite since "Only You" in 1955 or so. I saw them in rehearsal in NY City when I was 16 in 1957 and have some autographed pictures, both professional and ones I and my friend took. One is with Tony Williams and is inscribed "To Murry, Be cool always, Tony". Is anyone interested in buying these pictures? I have individual shots of my friend and me with Paul, David, and Herb. One is of these entire group singing that I took. One is the professional shot of all five, autographed by each. Now they are all deceased, but I saw Tony as a soloist in the '70's at The Rainbow Room in NY City. I also saw them as a group at Ben Maxik's Town and Country Club in Brooklyn, NY, in the 1950's. Let me know.
same here. I don't need some movie to discover good music although its help to the younger generation cause they have no idea what reall music sounds like
ayelet sunset U gotta consider that its hard to learn about music from so many decades ago without it coming from a game or something. I learned about this song from a movie and i love it
ayelet sunset clearly, that is very subjective, For generations parents have always hated the music their children listen to. Someone who grew up in this era of music, probably didn’t care much of the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, the Doors, etc... The key is to introduce them to different genres of music and not insult them by saying “they don’t know what real music is”, it’s all music!
I was ten when this was released, I have heard thousands of songs over my many years, and this one is without a doubt my favorite, nothing outranks it. My Prayer, the Platters though comes close. 1955 56 and 57,Elvis and the Platters ruled music totally!!! This, My Prayer, Only You, and Heartbreak Hotel, Hound Dog, All Shook Up, and Don't be Cruel, seven musical gems from the mid 50's!!!!
I was 15 when it came out. Now I'm 80 and they have been my favorite since "Only You" in 1955 or so. I saw them in rehearsal in NY City when I was 16 in 1957 and have some autographed pictures, both professional and ones I and my friend took. One is with Tony Williams and is inscribed "To Murry, Be cool always, Tony". Is anyone interested in buying these pictures? I have individual shots of my friend and me with Paul, David, and Herb. One is of these entire group singing that I took. One is the professional shot of all five, autographed by each. Let me know.
Omg this song takes me back to when my older sister was with us living in Britain. Every Sunday she would call me and she would play this song and i knew she was missing our dad who had passed away. She has now passed and whenever I'm feeling blue i play this song. God bless these guys wherever they are today.❤❤❤💋💋💋
this is the kind of supreme musical talent that Black people hold in potential that they could easily carry out into reality if only they are willing to do so
My parents, especially my Dad, passed his love of The Platters down to me. I am blessed to have them with such incredible taste and we're blessed that music like this existed. It's hard to put this greatness of The Platters in words. I like to call this music magic!
One of the best of The Platter's song...the song reminds us not to be practicing ghis kind of attitude to avoid a lot of sorrows and prblems as well,having an honest nd true Godly lifestyle will bring you more peace,satisfactions nd happiness in life
This is one hell of a song that I love these days. It strikes me.. literally breaks my heart, as it is not easy to be me. The life I am in is difficult. Truly, there are things that money can not buy. And every time I listened to this song, it made me think that I must be fooling myself that God is still around.
We are all pretenders. Thank you platters for this song. Can't download it from youtube but I keeping it saved in my personal playlist. "Yes I'm the great pretender" 😢😢😭😭 "Ou ou"😔😞😒😞😏😊
l agree with everyone,l think of my sister and brothers,all the time l here ballads of the days past.l miss my brother and sister so much,gongie and Maria sanchez,hey remember Kelly st.the Bronx,intervale avenue.what an interesting past,obtainable only in my memories ,little gongiejunnior,,Hector
With this song in 1955 I learned to dance. Taught me a little blond girl that I I liked so much, her name was Sandra. To day who knows where she is....
A recent TV programme reminded me of this song. This sounds like the original release, and so emotionally direct and unaffected in it's musicality that later versions sound, with the notable exception of Roy Orbison, contrived by comparison. I listen mainly to classical music, but there are great pop songs and this must be right up there with the best ever.
This IS the original release by the original Platters: Tony Williams, Herb Reed, Zola Taylor, David Lynch, and Paul Robi. I'm 80 and they have been my favorite since "Only You" in 1955 or so. I saw them in rehearsal in NY City when I was 16 in 1957 and have some autographed pictures, both professional and ones I and my friend took. One is with Tony Williams and is inscribed "To Murry, Be cool always, Tony". Is anyone interested in buying these pictures? I have individual shots of my friend and me with Paul, David, and Herb. One is of these entire group singing that I took. One is the professional shot of all five, autographed by each. Let me know.
I love this song, and "smoke gets in your eyes". 2 of my all time favorite songs from that era of awesome music! When I hear this music it just makes me feel good and at the same time a little sad as I long for days gone by!
I'm 80 and they have been my favorite since "Only You" in 1955 or so. I saw them in rehearsal in NY City when I was 16 in 1957 and have some autographed pictures, both professional and ones I and my friend took. One is with Tony Williams and is inscribed "To Murry, Be cool always, Tony". Is anyone interested in buying these pictures? I have individual shots of my friend and me with Paul, David, and Herb. One is of these entire group singing that I took. One is the professional shot of all five, autographed by each. Let me know.
My great grandmother really enjoyed growing up with music from The Platters when she was young. Those were the days in the old days back when the world wasn't dangerous at all. 👍🏻 if you agree and downloaded this song from this artist to your 📱s.
This is an amazing song , Freddie Mercury related his life to. In his career and personal life. This time I believe he new he's had Aids already. Fought 4 years and few months for his life. And last music video was THESE ARE THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES. Love you Freddie :'(
After Only You, I think this is the most beatifull song of The Platters. I was nine years old when listened it the first time in 1956, and now, sixty six years after, my feeling is the same. I enjoy The Platerrs's songs with my parents many times.
Lyrics: Oh yes, I'm the great pretender Pretending that I'm doing well My need is such; I pretend too much I'm lonely but no one can tell. Oh yes, I'm the great pretender A drift in a world of my own I play the game; but to my real shame You've let me to dream all alone. Too real is this feeling of make believe Too real when I feel what my heart can't conceal. Oh yes I'm the great pretender Just laughing and gay like a clown I seem to be what I'm not; you see I'm wearing my heart like a crown Pretending that you're still around. Too real is this feeling of make believe Too real when I feel what my heart can't conceal Yes I'm the great pretender Just laughing and gay like a clown I seem to be what I'm not you see I'm wearing my heart like a crown Pretending that you're still around
Excuse me while I show my age, but this is the kind of music I grew up listening too. And it just feels so good to go back every now and then and listen to this stuff.
Que bom que temos essa musicas de boa qualidade para escutar na internet. Sinto saudades de uma época que não vivi, mas... Que gostaria ter vivido. É LOUCO ISSSO!!
