You and I (Eddie Rabbitt & Crystal Gayle song)

Infobox Single
Name = You and I


Caption =
Artist = Eddie Rabbitt & Crystal Gayle
from Album = Radio Romance
A-side =
B-side =
Released = 1982
Format =
Recorded = 1982
Genre =
Length =
Label =
Writer = Frank J. Myers
Producer = David Malloy
Certification =
Last single =
This single =
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Misc = "You and I" was a duet by Eddie Rabbitt and Crystal Gayle that became a big hit in 1982.

Before 1982, both Eddie Rabbitt and Crystal Gayle had separate solo career in country music. Eddie was known for his country pop songs such as "Drivin' My Life Away," and "I Love a Rainy Night". Gayle, too, was known for country pop crossover hits, such as the worldwide 1977 single "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue". In 1982, the two singers joined together to record the song "You and I". When released to the public in 1982, the song became a big country pop crossover hit for both singers, reaching #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the Country chart, showing to the public they could be just as successful singing duets as they are capable of singing solo too. Both singers, too, gained equal respect for the song.

Although Rabbitt and Gayle had gained equal respect for "You and I," as mentioned above, a story later circulated that the song was initially never intended to be a duet. According to "Big John" Howell, a country music disc jockey based in Chicago, Illinois, David Malloy, who produced the record, heard a demo of the song and thought that it would make a great duet and already had two names in mind that he felt would make the song's perfect duet pair - Eddie Rabbitt and Crystal Gayle. Malloy first pitched the song to Rabbitt, who initially passed on it. After Malloy's many attempts, he finally convinced Rabbitt into recording the song, though Malloy kept quiet about turning it into a duet and left Rabbitt to believe that it was a solo effort. After Rabbitt recorded his vocal track, Malloy then played the song for Crystal Gayle, apparently singing it in the harmony Gayle would eventually sing in the recording. Gayle also passed on the song, but Malloy finally convinced her into recording it by evidently muting Rabbitt's vocals temporarily and leaving Gayle to also believe that it was a solo effort. After Gayle recorded "her" vocal track, Malloy then mixed both Rabbitt and Gayle's vocals together into the final master recording.

When Rabbitt and Gayle first heard the final mix, they were both supposedly angry by the results, feeling that Malloy had secretly arranged a duet between the two behind their backs on a song that neither of them had wanted part of in the first place. However, no action was ever taken by either of them against Malloy. The song was then released as a single and became a hit. Then, at the height of the song's popularity, both Rabbitt and Gayle were scheduled to sing their unplanned duet together during a concert at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. The two singers had never sung the song together onstage before and were both nervous about how well the performance would go. The performance apparently went smoothly and was well-received by the audience.

In the years since its initial release, "You and I" was named as one of the greatest wedding songs of all time.

In addition, "You and I" was one of 17 number-one hits recorded by Crystal Gayle, and one of 26 number-one hits recorded by Eddie Rabbitt.

In 2005, the song ranked #7 on CMT's "100 Greatest Duets in Country Music." Gayle performed the duet with Raul Malo of The Mavericks since Rabbitt had died of lung cancer seven years earlier.