“Love Letters” is a 1945 popular song with lyrics by Edward Heyman and music by Victor Young. The song appeared, without lyrics, in the movie of the same name performed by Dick Haymes, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1945 but lost out to “It Might as Well Be Spring”. The song has since been covered by a number of artists.
In 1962, Era Records released Kitty Lester’s version of “Love Letters”. Lester’s recording of “Love Letters”, which featured Lincoln Mayorga’s sparse piano arrangement and Earl Palmer on drums, reached No. 5 on the Billboard in early 1962. The record also reached No. 2 on the R&B chart and No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart, selling over 1 million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. In 1991, it was ranked 176th in the RIAA-compiled list of Songs of the Century. This version appeared on the soundtrack of the David Lynch film Blue Velvet (1986)
Elvis Presley recorded his version of “Love Letters” in May 1966. Just over a week later RCA released the song as a single with the Jordanaires. “Love Letters” peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard in July 1966. It was on the chart for just 7 weeks. Musicians on the original recording included Scotty Moore on electric guitar, Chip Young on acoustic guitar, Floyd Cramer on piano, Rufus Long on saxophone, and Pete Drake on pedal steel guitar. Elvis Presley re-recorded the song in 1970 and subsequently released the new version on the album Love Letters from Elvis in 1971.
In 1987, Alison Moyet released her own version of the song as a non-album single. It reached No. 4 in the UK and remained in the charts for twelve weeks. A music video was filmed to promote the single and featured Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. Speaking to The Quietus in 2013, Moyet revealed she recorded “Love Letters” as she knew it would be a hit. She also told the BBC in 2004: “After my versions of “Love Letters” and “That Ole Devil Called Love” did well, there was definite pressure for me to become some sort of jazz diva. Upon release, Music & Media described Moyet’s version as “moody” and “sparsely-backed”.
