“All Alone Am I” is the title of a song from 1962 popularized by the American singer Brenda Lee. The music was originally composed by the Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis and recorded by Tzeni Karezi for the soundtrack of the film To nisi ton genneon (The Island of the Brave). Later, a new version of the song was produced by Owen Bradley and appeared as the title track on one of Lee’s albums.
In 1960, the Greek film Never on Sunday was released to considerable acclaim, earning multiple Academy Award nominations in the US. The film’s star, Melina Mercouri, was nominated for Best Actress, while the title song from the film won the Oscar for Best Original Song for Greek musician Manos Hadjidakis, who had composed the music used in the film. A melody that appeared in both Never on Sunday and The Island of the Brave was sent to Lee’s management as a tune to be considered for the singer to record, and after being translated into English by Arthur Altman, became “All Alone Am I”.
“All Alone Am I” became a top 10 pop hit in both the US and the UK. The song peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in November 1962 and number seven on the UK Singles Chart in February 1963. The song also spent five weeks atop the US Billboard easy listening chart in November and December 1962, Lee’s only song to do so. The B-side to the single, “Save All Your Lovin’ For Me”, reached number 53 on the US pop chart.
Lee was asked in an interview what she thought of the film Never on Sunday and stated “I didn’t see it till later on in life”, since she felt the risqué subject matter (Mercouri portrays a prostitute in the film) was inappropriate for a teenager to see at the time.

By Brenda Lee