All I Have to Do Is Dream

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All I Have to Do Is Dream
Written by Boudleaux Bryant, 1958

“All I Have to Do Is Dream” came from the pen of Boudleaux Bryant, one half of the husband-and-wife team of Felice and Boudleaux Bryant. The two of them wrote many of the Everly Brothers’ best-loved records, including “Bye Bye Love” and “Wake Up Little Susie,” and the story goes that this one took only about fifteen minutes to write. The Everly Brothers recorded it in Nashville on March 6, 1958, in just two takes, with the great Chet Atkins adding that gentle, shimmering guitar.

The sweetest part of the story belongs to Felice. She liked to tell people that when she was eight years old, she dreamed of a man’s face and never forgot it. Years later, working as an elevator operator at a hotel in Milwaukee, she saw Boudleaux playing there with his band and recognized him as the man from her dream. They eloped within days of meeting and stayed together, writing songs side by side, for the rest of their lives. So a song about dreaming of the one you love was written by a man who, as his wife told it, had first appeared to her in a dream.

The record was a tremendous success. On June 2, 1958, it held the #1 spot on every one of Billboard’s singles charts at once, including pop, country, and rhythm and blues. It is still the only single ever to do that. It also spent six weeks at #1 in Britain. Rolling Stone later ranked it among the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004.