"Muskrat Candlelight" | |
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Song by Willis Alan Ramsey | |
from the album Willis Alan Ramsey | |
Released | May 1972 |
Recorded | 1972 |
Genre | Soft rock |
Length | 3:18 |
Label | Shelter |
Songwriter(s) | Willis Alan Ramsey |
Producer(s) | Denny Cordell, Willis Alan Ramsey |
Official Audio | |
"Muskrat Love (Muskrat Candlelight)" on YouTube |
"Muskrat Love" is a soft rock song written by Willis Alan Ramsey. The song depicts a romantic liaison between two anthropomorphic muskrats named Susie and Sam. It was first recorded in 1972 by Ramsey for his sole album release Willis Alan Ramsey . The song was originally titled "Muskrat Candlelight" referencing the song's opening lyric.
A 1973 cover version by the folk/rock band America—retitled "Muskrat Love" for the lyrics that close the chorus—was a minor hit reaching number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 1976, a cover by pop music duo Captain & Tennille resulted in the song's highest profile, peaking at number four on the Hot 100 chart. It also reached number two on the Cash Box chart, which ranked it as the 30th biggest hit of 1976. [1]
"Muskrat Love" | ||||
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Single by America | ||||
from the album Hat Trick | ||||
B-side | "Cornwall Blank" | |||
Released | August 1973 [2] | |||
Recorded | 1973 | |||
Studio | Record Plant, Los Angeles | |||
Genre | Folk rock | |||
Length | 3:06 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Songwriter(s) | Willis Alan Ramsey | |||
Producer(s) | Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell, Dan Peek | |||
America singles chronology | ||||
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Official Audio | ||||
"Muskrat Love" on YouTube |
America recorded "Muskrat Love" for their 1973 album Hat Trick , marking the second time America had recorded a song not written by a band member. In putting together ten songs to comprise the eventual Hat Trick album, band members Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell, and Dan Peek had agreed to each contribute three compositions, with a mutually agreeable cover song being recorded as the 10th track. David Dickey, who played bass for the band, brought Ramsey's "Muskrat Candlelight" to the group's attention; according to Beckley, "to us it sounded like a very bluesy, quirky tune. We just felt it was quirky and commercial, and we worked it up." [3]
"Muskrat Love" was issued as an advance single from Hat Trick in early August 1973, although Dan Peek would recall that America's label Warner Bros. "hated" the track and "begged us not to release it as a single...We were stupid to press the issue, but we liked the song for its easy, acoustic, harmonic beauty, not realizing that perhaps it was badly cast for us in order to retain the fairly hip image we had eked out". Peek adds that the single "easily hit the Top 40 on the strength of our past successes" [4] although "Muskrat Love" in fact marked a downturn in America's popularity with a low peak on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 67; the single did better on Cash Box, reaching 33, and the Billboard adult contemporary, chart reaching number 11. [5]
In a 2012 interview, Gerry Beckley said of "Muskrat Love": "It's a polarizing little number. After concerts, some people tell us they can't believe we didn't play it, while others go out of their way to thank us for not performing it." [6] [7]
Chart (1973) | Peak position |
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Canada RPM Top Singles [8] | 68 |
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary [9] | 30 |
US Billboard Easy Listening [10] | 11 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [11] | 67 |
US Cash Box Top 100 [12] | 33 |
US Record World [11] | 69 |
"Muskrat Love" | ||||
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Single by Captain & Tennille | ||||
from the album Song of Joy | ||||
B-side | "Honey Come Love Me" | |||
Released | September 1976 | |||
Genre | Soft rock [13] | |||
Length | 3:28 | |||
Label | A&M | |||
Songwriter(s) | Willis Alan Ramsey | |||
Producer(s) | Captain & Tennille | |||
Captain & Tennille singles chronology | ||||
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Official Audio | ||||
"Muskrat Love" on YouTube |
Captain & Tennille recorded "Muskrat Love" for their 1976 album release Song of Joy . According to Toni Tennille, who formed Captain & Tennille with her husband Daryl Dragon, the duo had added the song to their nightclub set list a few years earlier after hearing the America single on their car radio: "I said to Daryl: 'Did you hear that? I swear they're singing about muskrats.' I had to know what the lyrics were so the next day we went out and found the sheet music. I said to Daryl: 'This song is hysterical; why don’t we add it to our club-act?' And [the audience] went nuts for it."[ citation needed ] Being short one track for Song of Joy, Captain & Tennille made an impromptu decision to record "Muskrat Love", including the synthesizer generated sound effects that Dragon had created for the song's performance in their nightclub act, these sound effects meant to evoke the imagined sound of muskrats mating: the eventual 7-inch single version of Captain & Tennille's "Muskrat Love" would feature an "endless loop" of these sound effects created by having the song's end run into the locked groove of the 45.
Despite Captain & Tennille's stated disinterest in highlighting "Muskrat Love" as an item in their repertoire, it was the song they chose to sing at a July 1976 White House dinner honoring Queen Elizabeth II: the press subsequently ran a statement from a dinner guest who opined it was "in very poor taste" to sing of mating muskrats before the Queen. Toni Tennille responded to this charge saying: "only a person with a dirty mind would see something wrong. It's a gentle Disneyesque kind of song." [14]
Purportedly there were no plans to issue a third single off Song of Joy following the Top Ten success of "Lonely Night (Angel Face)" and "Shop Around"; however, A&M Records decided to issue "Muskrat Love" as a single after WISM, a Madison, Wisconsin radio station that had been airing the album cut, reported phenomenal listener response to the song in September 1976. Captain & Tennille's "Muskrat Love" reached a number 4 Hot 100 peak that December and number 2 on Cash Box. It became their biggest Easy Listening chart hit, spending four non-consecutive weeks at number 1. [15] It also reached number one on the Canadian pop singles chart. It did not chart outside North America except in Australia, where it became a minor hit (#65). [16]
Based on the Captain & Tennille version, "Muskrat Love" has become a staple on "worst song" lists, including a 2006 poll by CNN.com. [17] Gerry Beckley of America cited "Muskrat Love" as "a fine example of where the closer you go back to the original seed, the nicer it is. Ours was once removed, and the Captain & Tennille's was even more removed." [3] In a 2001 interview with Reno News & Review, Toni Tennille said of Captain & Tennille's "Muskrat Love": "I don’t know why people are so polarized about this tune. People either love it or they loathe it." [18]
The song was also featured in "The Annotated History of American Muskrat," a 2014 production of the Circuit Theatre Company in Boston, Massachusetts. [19] It appears in the 2013 film Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues .
Weekly charts
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The first cover version of "Muskrat Candlelight" was an abridged version entitled "Sun Down" recorded by Lani Hall for her 1972 album Sun Down Lady . With composition credit to Willis Alan Ramsey and "additional lyrics" credited to Lani Hall and her husband Herb Alpert, "Sun Down" reformats Ramsey's original tune as a straightforward love song, omitting the anthropomorphic rodent fantasy. It was on A&M Records, which Herb Alpert founded and ran, that "Muskrat Love" with its original lyrics would become a significant hit for Captain & Tennille in 1976.
Captain & Tennille were American recording artists 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.
"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.
"Evergreen" is the theme song from the 1976 film A Star Is Born. It was composed and performed by American singer, songwriter, actress and director Barbra Streisand with lyrics by Paul Williams, and arranged by Ian Freebairn-Smith. The song was released on the soundtrack album to A Star Is Born.
"I'll Never Fall in Love Again" is a popular song by composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David that was written for the 1968 musical Promises, Promises. Several recordings of the song were released in 1969; the most popular versions were by Dionne Warwick, who took it to number 6 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 and spent three weeks topping the magazine's list of the most popular Easy Listening songs, and Bobbie Gentry, who topped the UK chart with her recording and also peaked at number 1 in Australia and Ireland, number 3 in South Africa and number 5 in Norway.
"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin. It was originally recorded by John for his eighth studio album, Caribou (1974), and was released as a single that peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and reached number 16 on the UK Singles Chart.
"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 recorded their version in 1973. American pop duo Captain & Tennille covered it in 1975, with instrumental backing almost entirely by “Captain” Daryl Dragon, with the exception of drums played by Hal Blaine; their version became a worldwide hit.
"Wedding Song (There Is Love)" is a title of a 1971 hit single by Paul Stookey: the song—which Stookey credits to divine inspiration— has since been recorded by many singers (with versions by Petula Clark and Mary MacGregor returning it to the Billboard Hot 100)—and remains a popular choice for performance at weddings.
"Tin Man" is a 1974 song by the pop rock band America. It was written by band member Dewey Bunnell and produced by George Martin, who also plays the piano part on the recorded version. The song was included on the band's album Holiday, also from 1974.
"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.
"I'd Really Love to See You Tonight" is a song written by Parker McGee and recorded by England Dan & John Ford Coley from their 1976 album Nights Are Forever. It eventually peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks, behind Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music" and No. 1 on the Easy Listening chart. Billboard ranked it as the No. 21 song for 1976. It also reached No. 26 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Cupid" is a song by American singer Sam Cooke, released on May 16, 1961. It charted at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 20 on the Hot R&B Sides chart; the track performed best in the United Kingdom, peaking at number seven on the UK Singles Chart. The song is featured on Cooke's greatest hits album, The Best of Sam Cooke (1962). Cooke's producers had asked him to write a song for a girl they had seen on a Perry Como TV show—but once they heard her sing, they kept "Cupid" for Cooke himself.
Song of Joy is the second studio album by Captain & Tennille, released in 1976. Three out of the four singles released from the album were top-ten singles: "Muskrat Love", "Lonely Night " and "Shop Around". The title track was co-written and originally performed by their A&M Records label mate Billy Preston.
"When Will I Be Loved" is a popular song written by Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers, who had a US top-ten hit with it in 1960. Linda Ronstadt covered the song in 1975, and her version was an even bigger hit in the US, peaking at No. 2. Vince Gill also covered it in 1994 on the soundtrack of the film 8 Seconds.
"Don't Call It Love" is a song first released by American singer Kim Carnes on her 1981 album Mistaken Identity. The following year it was covered by Captain and Tennille and Dusty Springfield from their albums More Than Dancing and White Heat. There is also a cover version by Venezuelan artist Jorge Aguilar recorded in 1985 on his Siempre juntos album, called "Esto es amor" with adapted lyrics sung in spanish.
"Mr. Jaws" is a novelty song by Dickie Goodman released on Cash Records in 1975.
"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.
"I Need You" is the second single by the band America from their eponymous debut album America, released in 1972. The song was written by Gerry Beckley.
"Stand Tall" is the title of an international hit single by Burton Cummings, taken from his eponymous debut album. The song was released less than two years after "Dancin' Fool", the final hit single by the group for which Cummings had been lead singer, The Guess Who.
"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.
"I'm on My Way" is a 1978 song by Captain & Tennille. It is a track on their LP Dream. The single was released a month prior to the release of the LP. Songwriter Mark Safan first released his version of the song in 1976 on Warner Bros. Records.