Need Your Love So Bad

"Need Your Love So Bad", sometimes known as "I Need Your Love So Bad", is a song first recorded by Little Willie John in 1955. Called a "unique amalgam of gospel, blues and rhythm & blues",[1] it was John's second single as well as his second record to reach the U.S. charts.

"Need Your Love So Bad"
Single by Little Willie John
B-side"Home at Last"
Released1955 (1955)
RecordedNew York City, September 28, 1955
GenreBlues, rhythm & blues
Length2:14
LabelKing
Songwriter(s)
  • William Edward John a.k.a. Little Willie John
  • Mertis John Jr.

The song is one of his best known and appears on various compilation albums. In 1968, Fleetwood Mac recorded a version of the song, which reached the singles charts in the U.K. and the Netherlands.

Composition and recording

"Need Your Love So Bad" follows an AABA form and a harmonic layout typical for the R&B ballad.[2] However, it has been described as "A tightly wound and intense plea for love ... quite different from the usual R&B ballad fare".[3]

John recorded the song in New York City on September 20, 1955.[3] He provides the vocal, accompanied by Robert "Bubber" Johnson on piano, Mickey Baker on guitar, Milton Hinton on bass, Calvin Shields on drums, Willis Jackson and David Van Dyke on tenor saxes, and Reuben Phillips on baritone sax.[3]

Songwriting credits and releases

There are differing accounts of the songwriting credits. The original King Records release lists the writer as "Willie John" as do the original Blues Horizon and CBS Records singles by Fleetwood Mac. However, some compilations show the writer as Mertis John, Willie's brother.[4][5] A 2001 biography of Little Willie John includes:

Mertis Jr wrote much of the song in Korea, and brought it to Willie, who worked on it and eventually finished it off. Clearly, Willie's indelible stamp is on that tune, and Mertis restored Willie's name as co-writer in 2008.[1]

The American performing rights organization BMI attributes the song to both William Edward John and Mertis John Jr. (Little Willie's and his brother's legal names).[6]

King Records released John's single, which reached No. 5 on the Billboard R&B in 1956[7] and the B-side "Home at Last" reached No. 6 in the same chart.[7] As one of John's most popular tunes, it has been included on various compilation albums, such as Fever: The Best of Little Willie John (Rhino Records 1993)[8] and The Very Best of Little Willie John (Collectables Records 2001).[9]

Recordings by other artists

In 1968, Fleetwood Mac recorded "Need Your Love So Bad" for release as a single, backed with "Stop Messin' Round".[5] Their rendition reached No. 31 on the UK Singles Chart in August 1968,[10] and No. 7 in the Netherlands.[11] In 1973, the song was reissued in the U.K. as a double A-sided single with the re-release of "Albatross". This re-release, which was part of a CBS Records series entitled "Hall of Fame Hits", peaked at No. 2 in the UK.[10]

In 1995, guitarist and singer Gary Moore recorded the song for Blues for Greeny (1995), a tribute album to Peter Green, who sang and played guitar on Fleetwood Mac's rendition. Moore's version was also released as a single in June 1995 and reached No. 48 on the UK Singles Chart.[12]

References
  1. Whitall, Susan (2011). Fever: Little Willie John. London: Titan Books. p. 60. ISBN 978-0857687968.
  2. Appen, Ralf von / Frei-Hauenschild, Markus "AABA, Refrain, Chorus, Bridge, Prechorus — Song Forms and their Historical Development". In: Samples. Online Publikationen der Gesellschaft für Popularmusikforschung/German Society for Popular Music Studies e.V. Ed. by Ralf von Appen, André Doehring and Thomas Phleps. Vol. 13 (2015), p. 31, 35.
  3. Grendysa, Peter A. (1993). Fever: The Best of Little Willie John (liner notes). Rhino Records. p. 1. R2 71511.
  4. Wynn, Ron. "Little Willie John: Fever – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  5. Tapp, Richard. "Little Willie John". Ace Records. Archived from the original on September 23, 2006. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  6. "BMI Repertoire: "Need Your Love So Bad" (BMI Work #1052543)". BMI. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  7. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 228.
  8. Wynn, Ron. "Fever: The Best of Little Willie John – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  9. Phares, Heather. "The Very Best of Little Willie John". AllMusic. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  10. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 205. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  11. Top40.nl
  12. "Gary Moore – Singles". Official Charts. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.