Please Send Me Someone to Love

"Please Send Me Someone to Love" is a blues ballad, written and recorded by American blues and soul singer Percy Mayfield in 1950, for Art Rupe's Specialty Records. It was on the Billboard's R&B chart for 27 weeks and reached the number-one position for two weeks; it was Mayfield's most successful song.

Song background
It has been called a "multilayered universal lament". Mayfield sang it in a soft ballad style. Its appeal lay in the sensitivity of its lyrics in juxtaposing an awareness of a world in conflict with a personal expression of the need for love. Sung in Mayfield's gentle, suave vocal style, the lyrics were a combination of a romantic love ballad and a social message against discrimination.

Track listing
US 7"Vinyl
 * 1) "Please Send Me Someone to Love" (2:50)
 * 2) "Strange Things Happening" (2:49)

Johnny Diesel and the Injectors version
In 1989, the Australian ARIA award-winning rock band Johnny Diesel and the Injectors recorded the song for the soundtrack of the film The Delinquents. It was released as a single and peaked at number 11 on the Australian ARIA chart and was the 87th biggest-selling single in 1990.

Track listing

 * 1) "Please Send Me Someone to Love" (4:17)
 * 2) "Who's for Better" (3:40)
 * 3) "Thang 1" (3:15)
 * Tracks 2 and 3 recorded live at the Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, Australia, August 16, 1989

Other versions

 * Dinah Washington released a cover of the song in 1951.
 * The Moonglows had a hit with their cover version in 1957.
 * In 1967, Fred Neil covered the song for his album Sessions.
 * In 1968, Toni Williams covered the song. It was the B-side of his single "Sad, Lonely and Blue", released by Zodiac Records.
 * In 1969, Ruth Brown covered the song for her album Black Is Brown and Brown Is Beautiful.
 * Freddie King recorded his version during his years with Shelter Records.
 * Paul Butterfield's Better Days covered the song on their 1973 album Paul Butterfield's Better Days
 * In 1977, The Animals covered the song on their reunion album, Before We Were So Rudely Interrupted.
 * James Booker covered the song on his album King Of New Orleans Keyboard. In 2003, Leigh Harris and Larry Sieberth covered it on the album Patchwork: A Tribute to James Booker.
 * In 1997, B.B. King and Mick Hucknall covered the song on the album Deuces Wild.
 * In 1993, Sade released a cover of the song for the soundtrack of the movie Philadelphia.
 * In 1994, Grover Washington Jr. recorded the song for his album All My Tomorrows.
 * In 1998, Fiona Apple released a cover of the song for the soundtrack of the movie Pleasantville.
 * In 2011, John Oates released a cover of the song for his solo album Mississippi Mile.