Love Will Keep Us Together

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"Love Will Keep Us Together"
S140943.jpg
Single by Captain & Tennille
from the album Love Will Keep Us Together
B-side"Gentle Stranger"
ReleasedApril 1975
Recorded1975
GenreSoft rock[1]
Length3:24
LabelA&M
Songwriter(s)Neil Sedaka, Howard Greenfield
Producer(s)Daryl Dragon
Captain & Tennille singles chronology
"Love Will Keep Us Together"
(1975) 		"The Way I Want to Touch You"
(1975)

"Love Will Keep Us Together" is a song written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. It was first recorded by Sedaka in 1973. American pop duo Captain & Tennille covered the song 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.[2]

Composition[]

Sedaka admitted lifting the main chord progression from "Do It Again" by The Beach Boys and added a progression including augmented chords inspired by Al Green. The melody was written with Diana Ross in mind.[3] Greenfield wrote the lyrics as one of the two final collaborations with Sedaka (they had decided reluctantly to break off their partnership because their songs were no longer commercially viable) along with "Our Last Song Together," before Greenfield moved to Los Angeles with his companion Tory Damon.[4]

Neil Sedaka version[]

"Love Will Keep Us Together" first appeared on Neil Sedaka's 1973 studio album The Tra-La Days Are Over which did not have a US release. His version of the song made its US album debut on the 1974 compilation album Sedaka's Back. In West Germany, Sedaka's original song was also included as the B-side of his 1976 hit, "Love in the Shadows".

In 2009, Neil Sedaka rerecorded a spoof of his song, renaming it "Lunch Will Keep Us Together" for his first children's CD Waking Up Is Hard to Do.[5]

Mac and Katie Kissoon version[]

"Love Will Keep Us Together" had its first single release via a UK recording by the brother and sister vocal duo Mac and Katie Kissoon on September 28, 1973, but it failed to chart. This version also failed to chart in its US release in February 1974, but it did become the first hit version of "Love Will Keep Us Together" by virtue of charting in the Netherlands in the autumn of 1973, peaking at number 12 that December.

Captain & Tennille version[]

"Love Will Keep Us Together" was the title cut and lead single of Captain & Tennille's debut album, although "Captain" Daryl Dragon originally hoped that honor would go to the duo's rendition of "I Write the Songs". The single rose to number 1 on both the Billboard Easy Listening chart[6] and the Billboard pop chart, staying atop the latter for four weeks starting June 21, 1975. It also hit the top of the 1975 year-end chart. In the US it was the best-selling single of 1975.[7] "Love Will Keep Us Together" was certified gold by the RIAA[8] and also won the Grammy Award (1975) for Record of the Year on February 28, 1976.[9][10]

Dragon and Tennille acknowledged Sedaka's authorship—as well as his mid-1970s comeback—by working the phrase "Sedaka is back" into the song's fadeout, where the applause from the studio musicians can be heard. Their version would earn Sedaka and Greenfield a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year. Twenty years later in 1995, the duo would re-record the song for their Twenty Years of Romance CD.

Dan O'Sullivan of Jacobin credited the song, particularly with its Beach Boys ties (Sedaka having used a tune of theirs to write the melody, and the Captain & Tennille having previously been with the Beach Boys' live band), as being the breakthrough song in the yacht rock subgenre.[11]

"Por Amor Viviremos" (Spanish version)[]

While "Love Will Keep Us Together" was topping the charts in the summer of 1975, Captain & Tennille released a Spanish version of the song, "Por Amor Viviremos". "Por Amor Viviremos" rose to number 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, giving Captain & Tennille a rare feat of the identical song, in different languages and released as separate singles (rather than the A-side and B-side of one single), appearing simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100. Chicago radio station WLS AM 890 used the two versions to create a Spanglish version of the song for their own broadcasting use.

Por Amor Viviremos" would later appear on their May 1976 album Por Amor Viviremos, a Spanish track-for-track rerecording of their album Love Will Keep Us Together. It also appears on the 2002 Hip-O Records compilation album Ultimate Collection: The Complete Hits.

Personnel[]

  • Daryl Dragon – keyboards, bass, arrangements
  • Hal Blaine – drums, congas, percussion
  • Toni Tennille – Lead and backing vocals

Chart performance[]

Other notable versions[]

  • Wilson Pickett recorded "Love Will Keep Us Together" for his 1976 studio album release Chocolate Mountain from which it was issued as a single. It reached number 69 on the Billboard R&B chart.
  • In 1980 Joy Division released Love Will Tear Us Apart, an answer song.[24]

References[]

  1. ^ Kuge, Mara (7 February 2019). "14 Secretly Cruel Soft Rock Love Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock.
  2. ^ Hartman, Kent (2012). The Wrecking Crew. St. Martin’s Griffin. pp. 261–263. ISBN 978-1-250-03046-7.
  3. ^ Neil Sedaka's mini-concert, September 1, 2020 from Sedaka's official YouTube account
  4. ^ Today's Mini-Concert - 9/8/20 on YouTube from Sedaka's official YouTube channel
  5. ^ "Music: Waking Up Is Hard to Do (CD) by Neil Sedaka". Tower.com.
  6. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 45.
  7. ^ Hyatt, Wesley. The Billboard Book of Number One Adult Contemporary Hits, Billboard Books, 1999, p. 166.
  8. ^ "Captain & Tennille - Love Will Keep Us Together - RIAA Gold Certification". RIAA. July 1, 1975. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  9. ^ "Winners - 18th Annual GRAMMY Awards (1975)". The Recording Academy. 1975. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  10. ^ "Captain & Tennille Win Record Of The Year". The Recording Academy. February 28, 1976. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  11. ^ O'Sullivan, Dan (September 4, 2012). ""California Über Alles": The Empire Yachts Back". Jacobin.
  12. ^ "RPM Weekly Adult Contemporary". Library and Archives Canada. RPM (archived). June 14, 1975. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
  13. ^ "Toutes les Chansons N° 1 des Années 70" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  14. ^ "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  15. ^ "Captain & Tennille: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
  16. ^ Whitburn, Joel. Top Pop Singles 1955-2002.
  17. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 427. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  18. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca.
  19. ^ "Top Selling Singles of 1975". THE OFFICIAL NZ MUSIC CHART.
  20. ^ "Top 20 Hit Singles of 1975". Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  21. ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1975/Top 100 Songs of 1975". musicoutfitters.com.
  22. ^ Top 50 Adult Contemporary Hits of 1975
  23. ^ "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  24. ^ "Single Stories: Joy Division, "Love Will Tear Us Apart"". Rhino Records. Retrieved February 24, 2020.

External links[]

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