Comments: 9

• Coy from TexasI meant to say McCall's family sued Yount later. Four Star went out of business and Acuff-Rose bought the song. They had started paying Yount again, but McCall's son sued and won in court twice! This stopped Yount from receiving royalties on the song. It happened because Yount had signed his publishing rights over to McCall in the late 1950s. It was a mess. The fellow (McCall) who never wrote a word, made thousands off the song for decades.
• Coy from Palestine,texasOn the comments on the songwriting by Larry and Faruna--Bill McCall and W.S. Stevenson were one and the same person. Stevenson was a pseudonym McCall used when he added his name to songs he published. He owned Four Star Publishing. He was notorious for adding "W.S. Stevenson" to songs he bought and published. He wasn't a songwriter. He cheated many people out of royalties, including Robert Yount, who Eddie Miller never denied helped him write the song--Miller couldn't read music. Yount sold out to McCall in the late 1950s and then received a songwriter royalty after Acuff-Rose bought the catalog. The Miller family sued and later bumped Yount out of his money. Bill McCall/Stevenson was just like many of the old time publishers who put their names on songs they didn't write for money. A famous one is Norman Petty who put his name on many Buddy Holly songs which were written years before Holly recorded at Petty's studio in Clovis, New Mexico.
• Ian Spencer from Solihull, UkHave a listen to Take The Chains From My Heart by Hank Williams, then ask where the inspiration for the arrangement of Release Me came from. These two songs appear to be close cousins, though which came first, given the writing history here, who knows?
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn March 31st 1967, Englebert Humperdinck performed at the Finsbury Park's Astoria Theater* in London, England...
  Two days later in the U.S.A. on April 2nd, 1967 his "Release Me (and Let Me love Again)" would entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at #99; seven weeks later on May 21st, 1967 it would peak at #4 {for 4 weeks} and spent 14 weeks on the Top 100...
  As mentioned above it reach #1 in the United Kingdom, and also #1 in Ireland and the Netherlands...
  Between 1967 and 1983 he had twenty-three Top 100 records, with two making the Top 10, his other Top 10 record was "After the Lovin'", it peaked at #8 {for 1 week} on January 16th, 1977...
  * Another act on the bill that night was Jimi Hendrix, it was his first United Kingdom concert & also the first he set his guitar on fire.
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn December 16th, 1962 "Release Me" by 'Little Esther' Phillips peaked at #8 (for 2 weeks) on Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; it had entered the chart on October 21st and spent 14 weeks on the Top 100...
  On December 8th, 1962 it reached #1 (for 3 non-consecutive weeks) on Billboard's Hot R&B Singles chart...
  Five years later on March 2nd, 1967 Engelbert Humperdinck's covered version peaked at #1 (for 6 weeks) on the U.K. Singles chart (#4 on the Top 100)...
  R.I.P. Ms. Phillips (1935 - 1984).
• Larry from La Habra, CaTHE DEFINITIVE ANSWER ON WRITING CREDITS: The words & music were written by Eddie Miller. When Eddie wanted to cut the song, he didn't have the money. McCall, Pebworth and Yount gave Eddie the money to go in to the studio. In return, Eddie gave them writing credit. Those three, later sold their rights to WS Stevenson, who shares in the writing credit to this day. Also, the 3rd verse was written especially for Humperdink's version by Eddie Miller.
  Larry, La Habra, Ca
• Victor from San Diego, CaThis was also a major hit for Esther Phillips in 1962, reaching number one on the R&B charts and Top Ten on the Pop Charts.
• Faruna from Shanghai, ChinaWritten by E. Miller - WS Stevenson
• Pete from Nowra, Australiahas a voice like "liquid silk"

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