“You Send Me” is a song written and originally recorded by American singer Sam Cooke, released as a single in 1957 by Keen Records. Produced by Bumps Blackwell and arranged and conducted by Rene Hall. The song, Cooke’s debut single, was a massive commercial success, becoming a No. 1 hit on both Billboard’s Rhythm & Blues Records chart and the Billboard Hot 100. Cooke wrote “You Send Me” but gave the writing credit to his younger brother L.C. (who used the original family spelling “Cook”) because he did not want his own publisher to profit from the song. He had also hoped L.C. would record the song himself.
As was common practice in the 1950s when it was unusual for hits in the black R&B market to crossover to the Pop charts, a cover version of “You Send Me” aimed at the Pop charts was cut by the white singer Teresa Brewer and released in October 1957. Symptomatic of the changing music scene, Cooke’s original was able to repeat its No. 1 R&B chart performance in the pop field, eclipsing Brewer’s version. Brewer’s version of “You Send Me” reached as high as No. 8 on the Hot 100, her first and only top 10 hit since “Mutual Admiration Society” the year before, and her final Top 20 hit.
Ponderosa Twins Plus One was an American soul voal group formed in 1970 in Cleveland, Ohio. The group featured two sets of identical twins, Alfred and Alvin Pelham, and Keith and Kirk Gardner, along with Ricky Spicer. The group’s first single, “You Send Me” became their best-selling single, peaking at number 23 at Billboard’s Best Selling Soul Singles. Following the success of the single, the group toured with artists such as The Moments and Lonnie Youngblood.
“You Send Me” was covered in 1985 by popular American group The Manhattans, whose version was recorded for the album Too Hot to Stop It, released the same year. This new version of the song was also released as a single and charted on the major music charts of the US, Canada and New Zealand. The Manhattans version peaked No. 8 on the US Billboard and No. 11 on the US Cash Box Black Singles, as well as in the RPM Adult Contemporary chart in Canada.
Since its release, the song has become a landmark record of the soul genre, which Cooke helped create. It was named as one of the 500 most important rock and roll recordings by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2005, the song was voted No. 115 by representatives of the music industry and press in Rolling Stone magazine’s The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 1998, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
