"I Can't Hear You" | ||||
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Single by Betty Everett | ||||
B-side | "Can I Get to Know You" | |||
Released | 1964 | |||
Format | 7" single | |||
Genre | R&B | |||
Length | 2:36 | |||
Label | Vee-Jay | |||
Writer(s) | Gerry Goffin, Carole King | |||
Betty Everett singles chronology | ||||
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"I Can't Hear You No More" | ||||
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Single by Helen Reddy | ||||
from the album Music, Music | ||||
B-side | "Music Is My Life" | |||
Released | 1976 | |||
Format | 7" single | |||
Genre | Easy listening | |||
Length | 2:49 | |||
Label | Capitol | |||
Writer(s) | Gerry Goffin, Carole King | |||
Producer(s) | Joe Wissert | |||
Helen Reddy singles chronology | ||||
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"I Can't Hear You No More" is a composition written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. It was originally recorded as "I Can't Hear You" in 1964 by Betty Everett. The most successful version was the 1976 Top 40 single by Helen Reddy.
The Betty Everett version was released in the summer of 1964 as the follow-up to her Top Ten smash "The Shoop Shoop Song". Robert Pruter in his book Chicago Soul describes "I Can't Hear You" as a "surprisingly weak [song] for Goffin-King that did not give the Vee Jay [Records] staff [musicians] much to work with" and dismisses Everett's single with its number 39 R&B chart (as reported in Cash Box magazine) as "essentially a non-hit." "I Can't Hear You" appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 with a peak of number 66 (number 85 on the Cash Box Pop 100).
In the UK Lulu recorded "I Can't Hear You" as the followup to her breakthrough hit "Shout"; produced by Peter Sullivan and released as "Can't Hear You No More" 28 August 1964 the single fell short of the UK Top 50.
Dusty Springfield's version of "I Can't Hear You" appears on her Ev'rything's Coming Up Dusty UK album release and on its US equivalent You Don't Have to Say You Love Me. Having premiered her version of "I Can't Hear You" on the 28 April 1965 Ready Steady Go! Sound of Motown broadcast with Martha and the Vandellas providing background vocals, Springfield recorded "I Can't Hear You" in a 2 July 1965 session at Philips Studios in Marble Arch with Philips owner Johnny Franz credited as producer (Springfield has stated she herself produced all her mid-60s recordings). The session, conducted by Ivor Raymonde and featuring Madeline Bell and Doris Troy on background vocals, is a rare instance of Springfield recording with her touring band the Echoes.