When I Need You#Cliff Richard version
{{Short description|1977 single by Leo Sayer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}}
{{Infobox song
| name = When I Need You
| cover = Leo-Sayer-When-I-Need-You.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| caption = Portuguese vinyl single
| artist = Leo Sayer
| album = Endless Flight
| B-side = I Think We Fell in Love Too Fast
| released = February 1977
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre = Soft rock{{cite web|url=http://www.stereogum.com/5507/40_most_softsational_softrock_songs/franchises/list/|title=VH1's 40 Most Softsational Soft-Rock Songs|date=31 May 2007|website=Stereogum|publisher=SpinMedia|access-date=31 July 2016}}{{cite book|title= Night Moves - Pop Music in the Late 70s|first1=Don|last1=Breithaupt|first2= Jeff|last2= Breithaupt|date= July 17, 2000|chapter=
The Linen: Soft Rock|page= 112|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|isbn=978-0-312-19821-3|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kh04AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT95}}
| length = 4:09
| label = {{hlist|Chrysalis (UK)|Warner Bros. (US)}}
| writer = {{hlist|Albert Hammond|Carole Bayer Sager}}
| producer = Richard Perry
| prev_title = You Make Me Feel Like Dancing
| prev_year = 1976
| next_title = How Much Love
| next_year = 1977
}}
"When I Need You" is a popular song written by Albert Hammond and Carole Bayer Sager. Its first appearance was as the title track of Hammond's 1976 album When I Need You. Leo Sayer's version, produced by Richard Perry, was a massive hit worldwide, reaching number 1 on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in February 1977 after three of his earlier singles had stalled at number 2.{{cite book| first= David| last= Roberts| year= 2006| title= British Hit Singles & Albums| edition= 19th| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London| isbn= 1-904994-10-5| pages= 336–7}} It also reached number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 for a single week in May 1977;Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of #1 Hits, 5th Edition (Billboard Publications) and the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks.Whitburn, Joel (1996). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition (Billboard Publications) Billboard ranked it as the No. 24 song of 1977. Sayer performed it on the second show of the third season of The Muppet Show.
Melody comparison
The melody of the "hook" line, or chorus of "When I Need You" is identical to the part of the Leonard Cohen song "Famous Blue Raincoat", where the lyrics are as follows: "Jane came by with a lock of your hair, she said that you gave it to her that night, that you planned to go clear". The melody of these lyrics matches the lyrics of "When I Need You" as follows: "(When I) need you, I just close my eyes and I'm with you, and all that I so want to give you, is only a heart beat away".
In a 2006 interview with The Globe and Mail Cohen said:
I once had that nicking happen with Leo Sayer. Do you remember that song 'When I Need You'?" Cohen sings the chorus of Sayer's number one hit from 1977, then segues into 'And Jane came by with a lock of your hair', a lyric from 'Famous Blue Raincoat'. 'Somebody sued them on my behalf ... and they did settle', even though, he laughs, 'they hired a musicologist, who said, that particular motif was in the public domain and, in fact, could be traced back as far as Schubert.{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060211.COHEN11/TPStory/TPEntertainment/ |title=This page is available to GlobePlus subscribers |publisher=Theglobeandmail.com |access-date=27 November 2010}}
Personnel
- Leo Sayer – vocals
- John Barnes - electric piano
- James Newton Howard – synthesizer
- Bobby Keys – saxophone3 December 2014: Leo Sayer has paid tribute to his friend Bobby Keys who died at the age of 70. Keys, the sax player for the Rolling Stones since 1969, also played on Sayer's global hit ‘When I Need You’.
In a statement Sayer said, “R.I.P. Bobby Keys. Bobby played the solo on “When I Need You”, 20 secs of tenor sax that no other player has ever been able to emulate. We toured together in the mid 70s, and Bobby was always fun to work with, a great musician everybody now knows as the sax man with the Rolling Stones. I'm so proud to have known you ‘Texas’!”{{citation needed|date=January 2016}}
- Michael Omartian – electric piano
- Dean Parks – electric guitar
- Jeff Porcaro – drums
- Willie Weeks – bass
Chart performance
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=Weekly charts=
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=Year-end charts=
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Other versions
- The song was covered in Malaysian by Black Dog Bone in 1977 as Bila Rindu.
=Julio Iglesias version=
Julio Iglesias released the song as the third and final single from his 1990 album of covers, Starry Night.{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.3210.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles - May 12, 1997}}
=Rod Stewart version=
Rod Stewart recorded the song for his 1996 ballad compilation album If We Fall in Love Tonight. This version was produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and was released as the second single from the album, and reached number 55 in Canada.{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.3210.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles - May 12, 1997}}
=Celine Dion version=
"When I Need You" is a promotional single from Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love album, released on 7 September 1998 in Brazil only.{{cite book | author=Glatzer, Jenna| title=Céline Dion: For Keeps | url=https://archive.org/details/celinedionforkee0000glat| url-access=registration| publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing| year=2005 | isbn=0-7407-5559-5}} Entertainment Weekly editor David Browne called the cover, "an obligatory remake (a precisely enunciated version of Leo Sayer's When I Need You)".{{cite web |last=Browne |first=David |url=https://ew.com/article/1997/11/21/celine-dion-and-michael-bolton-yawn/ |title=White Noise |publisher=EW.com |date=21 November 1997 |access-date=4 June 2013 |archive-date=19 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319221118/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,290337,00.html |url-status=live }} The New York Observer editor Jonathan Bernstein: "A sliver of redemption is found in the passable version of Leo Sayer's “When I Need You”".{{cite web|last=Bernstein |first=Jonathan |url=http://observer.com/1997/12/celine-dion-is-she-cool-someday-maybe-but-not-now/ |title=Celine Dion: Is She Cool? Someday, Maybe, but Not Now |date=8 December 1997 |publisher=Observer |access-date=4 June 2013}}
=Alpha Blondy version=
Alpha Blondy covered the song for his 1999 album ''Elohim.
=Randy Crawford & Joe Sample version=
Singer Randy Crawford and keyboardist Joe Sample included their version of "When I Need You" on their 2006 album Feeling Good. Personnel included fellow acclaimed jazz artists, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Steve Gadd.
=Cliff Richard version=
On 29 October 2007, Cliff Richard released "When I Need You" as a single in the UK.{{cite web |url= http://cliffrichardsongs.com/popup.php?data=WhenINeedYou20073_popupplus |title=Cliff Richard - When I Need You (Single/Album Version) |publisher=cliffrichardsongs.com |access-date=11 December 2021 }} It reached number 38 on the UK Singles Chart.{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/19899/cliff-richard/|title=Cliff Richard UK Chart History|publisher=Official Charts Company|access-date=11 December 2021}} It is one of five new recordings on his album Love... The Album.
=Tumse Milke=
The Indian music composer R.D. Burman used the music of the song for his song, "Tumse Milke", used in the 1989 movie, Parinda.
=Lani Hall version=
Lani Hall recorded a Spanish version of the song, retitled "Si me amaras (If you Loved Me)," for her 1985 album Es Fácil Amar, produced by Albert Hammond.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{YouTube|xGdaJs4akt8|Leo Sayer - When I Need You}}
- {{YouTube|iMyF6MEMNIY|Céline Dion - When I Need You (Official Audio)}}
{{Albert Hammond}}
{{Leo Sayer}}
{{Celine Dion singles}}
{{Cliff Richard singles}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Category:Cashbox number-one singles
Category:European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles
Category:Irish Singles Chart number-one singles
Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles
Category:Song recordings produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
Category:Song recordings produced by Richard Perry
Category:Songs written by Albert Hammond
Category:Songs written by Carole Bayer Sager
Category:UK singles chart number-one singles
Category:Warner Records singles
Category:Chrysalis Records singles