Save the Last Dance for Me is a 1960 pop and soul tune written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, first recorded by the Drifters with Ben E. King on lead vocals. It appears on the album Save the Last Dance for Me, released by Atlantic and produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The Drifters’ version topped the US pop chart for three non-consecutive weeks and reached No 2 in the UK. The lyrics tell a lover to enjoy the evening but to save the last dance for the narrator, a sentiment tied to Pomus’s wedding day. The song has been covered by Dolly Parton in 1983 on The Great Pretender, The DeFranco Family in 1974, and Michael Bublé in 2006 on It’s Time, among others, with each version often crossing into country or pop and sometimes featuring new remixes or arrangements. Buck Owens also released a country version in 1962.
