Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever
{{short description|1966 song by the Four Tops}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever
| cover = Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever - single cover.jpg
| caption = Dutch picture sleeve
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Four Tops
| album = On Top
| B-side = I Like Everything About You
| format =
| recorded = {{Start date|1966|04|05}}
| studio =
| venue = Hitsville U.S.A., Detroit
| length =
| label = Motown
| writer = Ivy Jo Hunter, Stevie Wonder
| producer = Ivy Jo Hunter
| prev_title = Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)
| prev_year = 1966
| next_title = Reach Out I'll Be There
| next_year = 1966
}}
"Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever" is a song written by Ivy Jo Hunter and Stevie Wonder, originally released in 1966 by the Four Tops via the Motown label.{{cite web|title=Four Tops – Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever / I Like Everything About You|url=https://www.discogs.com/Four-Tops-Loving-You-Is-Sweeter-Than-Ever-I-Like-Everything-About-You/release/702304|website=Discogs|date=9 May 1966 |publisher=discogs.com|access-date=29 April 2016}} In addition to co-writing the song, Wonder also instrumentally contributed drums to the track.
Cash Box described the song as a "hard-pounding, rhythmic, pop-R&B romancer all about a lucky guy who has finally found the gal that he’s always dreamed about."{{cite magazine |title=CashBox Record Reviews |date=May 28, 1966 |page=14 |access-date=2022-01-12 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1966/CB-1966-05-28.pdf |magazine=Cash Box}} Record World described it as a "teen beat love ode."{{cite magazine|title=Singles Reviews|magazine=Record World|date=May 28, 1966|page=8|accessdate=2023-07-11|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/60s/66/Record-World-1966-05-28.pdf}}
Credits
- Lead vocals by Levi Stubbs
- Background vocals by Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson & Lawrence Payton
- Instrumentation by the Funk Brothers
- Drums by Stevie Wonder
Chart performance
The song peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart and number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100.{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=212}}
Cover versions
- Nick Kamen released a version in 1987, where it went to number 16 on the UK Singles Chart.{{cite book|author=Brown, Tony.|author2=Warwick, Neil |page=426|year=2004|title=The Complete Book of the British Charts|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=1-84449-058-0}} Lola Borg of Smash Hits panned the song she described as an "outrage" to the original version and a "shocking business", adding it was "murdered" by Kamen who "reduce[d] it to utter mush".{{cite magazine |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Smash-Hits/1987/Smash-Hits-1987-02-11.pdf |title=Singles reviewed by Lola Borg |magazine=Smash Hits |volume=9 |issue=3 |date=11–24 February 1987 |last=Borg |first=Lola |page=62 |issn=0260-3004 |via=World Radio History |access-date=20 November 2023}}
- The Band covered the song on the bonus disc of their 1972 concert album Rock of Ages.{{cn|date=September 2023}}
- Kiki Dee and Elton John did a duet cover on Dee's 1981 album Perfect Timing.{{cite web | title=Perfect Timing | website=Record Collector Magazine | date=31 May 2008 | url=https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/perfect-timing | access-date=23 September 2023}}
- Susan Tedeschi covered it on her 2005 album Hope and Desire.{{cn|date=September 2023}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.secondhandsongs.com/performance/20098 List of "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever" recordings]
{{Four Tops}}
{{Four Tops singles}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Songs written by Ivy Jo Hunter
Category:Songs written by Stevie Wonder
Category:Song recordings produced by Ivy Jo Hunter
{{1960s-R&B-song-stub}}