"Near You" is a popular song written by Francis Craig with
lyrics by Kermit Goell. The song was published in 1947.
The recording by Francis Craig (the song's composer) was
released by Bullet Records as catalog number 1001. It first
reached the Best Sellers chart on August 30, 1947, and lasted
21 weeks on the chart, peaking at number one. On the "Most
Played By Jockeys" chart, the song spent 17 consecutive weeks
at number one, setting a record for both the song and the
artist with most consecutive weeks in the number-one position
on a music chart. In 2009, hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas
surpassed Craig's record for artist with most consecutive weeks
in the number-one position with the songs "Boom Boom Pow" and
"I Gotta Feeling".
Other recordings of the song that charted on the
Billboardbest seller in 1947 include:
Roger Williams recorded the song in 1958, and it charted on
the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, peaking at number ten.
Jerry Lee Lewis recorded an instrumental version of the song in
1959. It has also been recorded by Marlene Dietrich.
In 1977, it was a numbber-one country hit for the duo of
George Jones and Tammy Wynette. The Jones-Wynette version, was
recorded on December 12, 1974 — one day before Jones walked out
on Wynette.