When I Need You

"When I Need You"
Single by Leo Sayer
from the album Endless Flight
B-side "I Think We Fell in Love Too Fast"
Released February 1977
Format 7" single
Genre Soft rock[1]
Length 4:09
Label Chrysalis (UK)
Warner Bros. (US)
Writer(s) Albert Hammond, Carole Bayer Sager
Producer(s) Richard Perry
Leo Sayer singles chronology
"You Make Me Feel Like Dancing"
(1976)		 "When I Need You"
(1977)		 "How Much Love"
(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.[2] It also reached number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 for a single week in May 1977;[3] and the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks.[4] 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 & 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.[5]

The same melody can be heard in Elton John's "Little Jeannie" in the lyrics: "Stepped into my life from a bad dream / Making the life that I had seem / Suddenly shiny and new"

Personnel

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1977) Peak
position
Australia KMR 8
Canada RPM 1
New Zealand [7] 4
UK 1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [8] 1
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 1
U.S. Cash Box Top 100 [9] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1977) Rank
Australia [10] 15
Canada [11] 7
UK 9
New Zealand [12] 16
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [13] 7

Cover versions

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, though it did not chart in the US or UK.

Celine Dion version

"When I Need You"
Single by Celine Dion
from the album Let's Talk About Love
Released 7 September 1998 (1998-09-07)
Format Promotional recording
Recorded 1997 Chartmarker Studios, Paramount Studios
Genre Pop
Length 4:12
Label Columbia, Epic
Writer(s) Albert Hammond, Carole Bayer Sager
Producer(s) David Foster
Celine Dion singles chronology
"Immortality"
(1998)		 "When I Need You"
(1998)		 "I Hate You Then I Love You"
(1998)

"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.[14]

After Dion finished her Falling into You Tour in June 1997, she began to record her next English album. Dion and her manager and husband René Angélil wanted to include few cover versions on it. David Foster came up with the idea of recording Leo Sayer's hit "When I Need You." The song, recorded at Paramount Studios and Chartmaker Studios, was produced by Foster and included on Dion's Let's Talk About Love album, released on 15 November 1997. Dion performed this song during the Let's Talk About Love avec Julie Snyder Canadian TV show in late 1997.

After a string of successful singles like "My Heart Will Go On" and "Immortality", Sony Music Entertainment decided to release "When I Need You" as a promotional single in Brazil (September 1998). Two previous singles were very successful in Brazil. However, with no music video and no promotion "When I Need You" failed to repeat the success of Dion's earlier songs.

Authors of "When I Need You" worked with Dion also on several other songs. Albert Hammond wrote "Just Walk Away", included on The Colour of My Love album (1993) and Carole Bayer Sager wrote "The Prayer", which became a part of These Are Special Times (1998).

Critical reception

EW editor David Browne wrote: "an obligatory remake (a precisely enunciated version of Leo Sayer's When I Need You)".[15] 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”".[16]

Formats and track listings

Brazilian promotional CD single

  1. "When I Need You" – 4:12

Cliff Richard version

"When I Need You"
Single by Cliff Richard
from the album Love... The Album
Released 29 October 2007 (2007-10-29)
Format CD single, music download
Recorded Sound Kitchen, Sound House and Blue Wave Studios
Genre Pop
Length 4:14
Label EMI
Writer(s) Albert Hammond, Carole Bayer Sager
Producer(s) Michael Omartian
Cliff Richard singles chronology
"21st Century Christmas/Move It"
(2006)		 "When I Need You"
(2007)		 "Thank You for a Lifetime"
(2008)

On 29 October 2007, Cliff Richard released "When I Need You" and reached number 38 on the UK Singles Chart.[17] It is also one of the five new recordings featured on his album Love... The Album.

Format and track listings

  1. "When I Need You"
  2. "My Pretty One"
  3. "Never Let Go"

Siv-Inger (Siw Inger) version

Swedish singer Siv-Inger (Siw Inger) recorded Swedish cover version in 1979. The song, called "Varför", was released on her LP Liv och kärlek. "Varför" reached the Swedish Svensktoppen Chart and stayed 10 weeks in the top ten between 30 March and 1 June 1980, peaking at number four.

Julio Iglesias version

The Spanish singer achieved one of his best performances of this song in 1994.

Luther Vandross version

In 1998, the American singer Luther Vandross covered the song as part of his I Know album. Longtime associate and smooth jazz musician Kirk Whalum performed the saxophone solo on the track.

References

  1. ↑ "VH1's 40 Most Softsational Soft-Rock Songs". Stereogum. SpinMedia. 31 May 2007. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  2. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 336–7. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  3. ↑ Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of #1 Hits, 5th Edition (Billboard Publications)
  4. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1996). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition (Billboard Publications)
  5. ↑ "This page is available to GlobePlus subscribers". Theglobeandmail.com. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
  6. ↑ 3 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’!”
  7. ↑ "NZ Top 40 Singles Chart | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. 5 June 1977. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  8. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ "Australian Chart Book". Austchartbook.com.au. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  11. ↑ http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.5502a&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.5502a.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.5502a
  12. ↑ "Top Selling Singles of 1977 | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. 31 December 1977. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  13. ↑ "Top 100 Hits of 1977/Top 100 Songs of 1977". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  14. ↑ Glatzer, Jenna (2005). Céline Dion: For Keeps. Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 0-7407-5559-5.
  15. ↑ Browne, David (21 November 1997). "White Noise". EW.com. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  16. ↑ Bernstein, Jonathan. "Celine Dion: Is She Cool? Someday, Maybe, but Not Now". Observer. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  17. ↑ "The Official Cliff Richard website: News". Cliffrichard.org. 20 April 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
Preceded by
"Don't Cry for Me Argentina" by Julie Covington		 UK Singles Chart number-one single (Leo Sayer version)
19 February 1977 (three weeks) 		Succeeded by
"Chanson D'Amour" by The Manhattan Transfer
Preceded by
"Right Time of the Night" by Jennifer Warnes		 Billboard Easy Listening Singles number-one single (Leo Sayer version)
23 April 1977 (one week) 		Succeeded by
"Hello Stranger" by Yvonne Elliman
Preceded by
"Hotel California" by The Eagles		 Billboard Hot 100 number-one single (Leo Sayer version)
14 May 1977 (one week) 		Succeeded by
"Sir Duke" by Stevie Wonder
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