"Love Will Keep Us Together" | |
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Song by Neil Sedaka | |
from the album The Tra-La Days Are Over | |
Released | 1973 |
Recorded | Spring 1973 |
Studio | Strawberry Studios, Stockport, England |
Genre | Pop |
Label | MGM |
Producer(s) | Neil Sedaka, 10cc |
Official audio | |
"Love Will Keep Us Together" on YouTube |
"Love Will Keep Us Together" is a song written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. It was first recorded by Sedaka in 1973. The brother-sister duo Mac and Katie Kissoon also recorded a version in 1973. American pop duo Captain & Tennille covered it in 1975; their version became a worldwide hit. [1]
Sedaka admitted lifting the main chord progression from "Do It Again" by The Beach Boys and added a progression including augmented chords inspired by Al Green. The melody was written with Diana Ross in mind. [2] [3] Greenfield wrote the lyrics as one of the two final collaborations with Sedaka (they had decided reluctantly to break off their partnership because their songs were no longer commercially viable) along with "Our Last Song Together," before Greenfield moved to Los Angeles with his companion Tory Damon. [4]
"Love Will Keep Us Together" first appeared on Neil Sedaka's 1973 studio album The Tra-La Days Are Over which did not have a US release. [5] His version of the song made its US album debut on the 1974 compilation album Sedaka's Back . In West Germany, Sedaka's original song was also included as the B-side of his 1976 hit, "Love in the Shadows". [6]
In 2009, Neil Sedaka rerecorded a spoof of his song, renaming it "Lunch Will Keep Us Together" for his first children's CD Waking Up Is Hard to Do. [7]
Source: [8]
"Love Will Keep Us Together" had its first single release via a UK recording by the brother and sister vocal duo Mac and Katie Kissoon on September 28, 1973, but it failed to chart. This version also failed to chart in its US release in February 1974, but it did become the first hit version of "Love Will Keep Us Together" by virtue of charting in the Netherlands in the autumn of 1973, peaking at number 12 that December.
"Love Will Keep Us Together" | ||||
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Single by Captain & Tennille | ||||
from the album Love Will Keep Us Together | ||||
B-side | "Gentle Stranger" | |||
Released | April 1975 | |||
Recorded | 1975 | |||
Genre | Soft rock [9] | |||
Length | 3:24 | |||
Label | A&M | |||
Songwriter(s) | Neil Sedaka, Howard Greenfield | |||
Producer(s) | Daryl Dragon | |||
Captain & Tennille singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Captain & Tennille - Love Will Keep Us Together (1975)" on YouTube |
"Love Will Keep Us Together" was the title cut and lead single of Captain & Tennille's debut album, although "Captain" Daryl Dragon originally hoped that honor would go to the duo's rendition of "I Write the Songs". The single rose to number 1 on both the Billboard Easy Listening chart [10] and the Billboard pop chart, staying atop the latter for four weeks starting June 21, 1975. It also hit the top of the 1975 year-end chart. In the US it was the best-selling single of 1975. [11] "Love Will Keep Us Together" was certified gold by the RIAA [12] and also won the Grammy Award (1975) for Record of the Year on February 28, 1976. [13] [14]
Record World said the song "is a solid choice of material for the label to propel this duo into Carpenter-ish acceptance." “Captain” Daryl Dragon played all the instruments on this version, with the exception of drums played by Hal Blaine. [15]
Dragon and Tennille acknowledged Sedaka's authorship—as well as his mid-1970s comeback—by working the phrase "Sedaka is back" into the song's fadeout, where the applause from the studio musicians can be heard. Their version would earn Sedaka and Greenfield a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year. Twenty years later in 1995, the duo would re-record the song for their Twenty Years of Romance CD.
While "Love Will Keep Us Together" was topping the charts in the summer of 1975, Captain & Tennille released a Spanish version of the song, "Por Amor Viviremos". "Por Amor Viviremos" rose to number 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, giving Captain & Tennille a rare feat of the identical song, in different languages and released as separate singles (rather than the A-side and B-side of one single), appearing simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100. Chicago radio station WLS AM 890 used the two versions to create a Spanglish version of the song for their own broadcasting use.
"Por Amor Viviremos" would later appear on their May 1976 album Por Amor Viviremos, a Spanish track-for-track rerecording of their album Love Will Keep Us Together . It also appears on the 2002 Hip-O Records compilation album Ultimate Collection: The Complete Hits.
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Neil Sedaka is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard "Howie" Greenfield and Phil Cody.
Captain & Tennille were an American recording duo whose primary success occurred in the 1970s. The husband-and-wife team were "Captain" Daryl Dragon (1942–2019) and Toni Tennille. They have five albums certified gold or platinum and scored numerous hits on the US singles charts, the most enduring of which included "Love Will Keep Us Together", "Do That to Me One More Time", and "Muskrat Love". They hosted their own television variety series on ABC in 1976–77.
Howard Greenfield was an American lyricist and songwriter, who for several years in the 1960s worked out of the famous Brill Building. He is best known for his successful songwriting collaborations, including one with Neil Sedaka from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s, and near-simultaneous songwriting partnerships with Jack Keller and Helen Miller throughout most of the 1960s.
"Shop Around" is a song originally recorded by the Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla subsidiary label. It was written by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson and Motown Records founder Berry Gordy. It became a smash hit in 1960 when originally recorded by the Miracles, reaching number one on the Billboard R&B chart, number one on the Cashbox Top 100 Pop Chart, and number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was the Miracles' first million-selling hit record, and the first-million-selling hit for the Motown Record Corporation.
"Laughter in the Rain" is a song composed and recorded by Neil Sedaka, with lyrics by Phil Cody. It includes a 20-second saxophone solo by Jim Horn. The song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1975.
Mac and Katie Kissoon are a pop soul duo, consisting of brother and sister Mac Kissoon and Katie Kissoon.
"Solitaire" is a ballad written by Neil Sedaka and Phil Cody. Cody employs playing the card game of solitaire as a metaphor for a man "who lost his love through his indifference"—"while life goes on around him everywhere he's playing solitaire". The song is perhaps best known via its rendition by Carpenters. Another version by Andy Williams reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart in 1973.
"Lonely Night (Angel Face)" is a song written by Neil Sedaka. The song was first recorded by Sedaka and appeared as a track on his 1975 studio album, The Hungry Years. The following year the song was made popular when covered by the pop music duo Captain & Tennille, who took their version to number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The Hungry Years is an album by Neil Sedaka, the title of which is an eponymous track from the album. It was released by The Rocket Record Company in 1975.
The Tra-La Days Are Over is a 1973 album by American singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka.
Sedaka's Back is a compilation album by American singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka. The record, composed of selections from his previous three albums, which had been released only in the UK, was released on Elton John's label, The Rocket Record Company, in 1974. Three singles were released from this album: "Laughter in the Rain", "The Immigrant" and "That's When the Music Takes Me." The latter two songs were both Top 40 hits. Also included were songs that were turned into hits by other artists: "Solitaire" and "Love Will Keep Us Together". The album reached No. 23 on the US Billboard album charts and was certified Gold for shipping half a million sales.
"The Way I Want to Touch You" is a song written by Toni Tennille, which started the professional recording careers for Captain & Tennille. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of one million units. Captain & Tennille recorded a Spanish version, entitled "Como Yo Quiero Sentirte" which was released as a single in 1975. It was taken from the Spanish version of their debut album Por Amor Viviremos. The duo also re-recorded "The Way I Want to Touch You" in 1995 for their album, 20 Years of Romance.
Love Will Keep Us Together is the first release by the duo Captain & Tennille. It was released in 1975 by A&M Records. The album would peak at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 album chart, while the title song, "Love Will Keep Us Together", won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and was nominated for Song of the Year.
The Other Side of Me is the thirty-fifth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in the summer of 1975 by Columbia Records and including the 1973 recording of "Solitaire" from his album of the same name alongside 10 original recordings, four of which were also by "Solitaire" composer Neil Sedaka. After unsuccessful attempts to leave behind the formulaic album genre of easy listening covers of pop hits, The Other Side of Me offered a compromise by filling half of the sides with material that was popularized by other artists and the other half with either new or obscure selections.
Come In from the Rain is an album by Captain & Tennille. It peaked at #18 on the Billboard 200 on May 27, 1977. It spent a total of 15 weeks on the chart.
Dream is the fourth album by the duo Captain & Tennille and their final album with A&M Records.
Neil Sedaka: Now is a studio album by American songwriter and pop star Neil Sedaka. It was released in 1981 by Elektra Records, and was the last Sedaka album to be released on that label. As with other Neil Sedaka albums of that period, it was released in Europe on the Polydor label.
"Where the Boys Are" is a song written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield for, and first recorded by, Connie Francis as the title track of the 1960 movie by the same name in which she was co-starring.
"Can't Stop Dancin" is a song written by John Pritchard Jr. and Ray Stevens, which became a Top 40 hit for Captain and Tennille in early 1977. It was the first single released from their third studio album, Come In from the Rain.
"Our Last Song Together" is a 1973 song recorded by Neil Sedaka. It is a track from his LP The Tra-La Days Are Over, and was the third of four single releases from the album.