With a Child's Heart

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"With a Child's Heart" is a song by the singer Stevie Wonder, from his album Up-Tight . The song was released as the b-side to the single "Nothing's Too Good for My Baby". A cover version of the song was a chart hit for Michael Jackson in 1973.

Contents

Stevie Wonder version

Stevie's original version of With a Child's Heart was released in 1966, as the "B" side to his hit, "Nothing's Too Good For My Baby". Both songs were taken from his successful album, Up-Tight . Although this version completely missed the Billboard Hot 100, it was a R&B hit, reaching the Top 10 of Billboard's R&B Chart, peaking at number 8. [1]

Michael Jackson version

"With a Child's Heart"
Mjwithachildsheart.jpg
Single by Michael Jackson
from the album Music & Me
B-side "Morning Glow"
ReleasedMay 5, 1973
Length3:34
Label Motown
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Michael Jackson singles chronology
"Ben"
(1972)
"With a Child's Heart"
(1973)
"Happy"
(1973)

The song was later covered by singer Michael Jackson and released as the first single from his 1973 album Music & Me . The song peaked at number 50 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart, number 14 on the US R&B chart, and number 23 on the US adult contemporary chart. Nearly all disc pressings of the Michael Jackson single had a track called "Morning Glow", the ninth track on the album originally written by composer Stephen Schwartz. In a 2003 interview with Martin Bashir, Jackson admitted that he no longer remembered having recorded the song, and could not recall any of the lyrics. [2]

Record World called Jackson's version a "beautiful ballad which he interprets superbly." [3]

Charts

Chart performance for "With a Child's Heart"
Chart (1973)Peak
position
Turkey Top 20 Chart 13
US Billboard Hot 100 [4] 50
US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 14

Raven-Symoné version

"With a Child's Heart"
Ravenwithachildsheart.jpg
Single by Raven-Symoné
from the album Undeniable
ReleasedFebruary 20, 1999
Recorded1998
Length3:53
Label Crash Records
Songwriter(s)
  • Ray Blaze
  • Jerome Jefferson [5]
Raven-Symoné singles chronology
"Raven Is the Flavor"
(1993)
"With a Child's Heart"
(1999)
"Grazing in the Grass"
(2004)

"With a Child's Heart" was later covered by American singer Raven-Symoné, on her second studio album, Undeniable . It was included on an original R&B single with the same name written by Ray Blaze and Jerome Jefferson which was released in 1999. The "Ballad version" was the cover and the other versions were variations of the new song. Raven toured the United States going to various schools and malls to promote the single, and even went on a tour with *NSYNC.

Three music videos were made for the song: the first one used the "uptemp version", the second used the "ballad version", and the third used a remix. Despite the music videos and heavy promotion, the single never took off and failed to dent the charts.

CD single

  1. "With a Child's Heart" (Uptempo version) – 3:53
  2. "With a Child's Heart" (Ballad version) – 5:34
  3. "With a Child's Heart" (Bonus Remix Uptempo version) – 3:38
  4. "With a Child's Heart" (International Bonus House Mix) – 4:21

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References

  1. Betts, Graham (2014). Motown Encyclopedia. AC Publishing. p. 757. ISBN   9781311441546.
  2. "Outtake #1 from "Michael Jackson: The Untold Story of Neverland"". YouTube. 2009-11-18. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  3. "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. May 5, 1973. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  4. "Michael Jackson Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. 30 September 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  5. [ dead link ]