"The Story of My Life" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It was published in 1957. It was recorded by Marty Robbins and reached number one on Billboard's country chart in 1958, and it became a number one hit song for Michael Holliday in the UK.

Background

"The Story of My Life" was the first successful collaboration between Hal David and Burt Bacharach. Although they did not set out to write a country song, their song was recorded by American country music singer Marty Robbins. Robbins was accompanied in the recording by the whistling of the Ray Conniff Singers and a small-scale guitar. The song was released in November 1957 and peaked at number one on two US country charts (C&W Best Sellers in Stores and Most Played C&W by Jockeys), staying for four weeks on Best Sellers in early 1958. It also crossed over to the pop chart, reaching number fifteen. It reached number two on the Australian Singles Chart.

Charts

Michael Holliday version

In the United Kingdom, Michael Holliday recorded a cover version on 10 December 1957 at the Abbey Road Studio. Holliday was backed by the Mike Sammes Singers, with Sammes singing the deep-voiced "bom-boms". The sound engineer created an echo effect with a second tape head, producing a fuller sound for Holliday's voice. Although Holliday was dissatisfied with the record, it became his first No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1958. The song was replaced as No. 1 by Perry Como's "Magic Moments", also written by Bacharach and David, the first time any songwriters had consecutive No. 1s on the British chart. In addition to Michael Holliday's No. 1 single (Columbia 45-DB-4058), three other versions of "The Story of My Life" were released in the UK around the same time in 1958: Gary Miller recorded a version that reached No. 14 in the UK; a version by Alma Cogan reached No. 25; and a single by Dave King reached No. 20.

Other versions