"Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady" is a 1974 written and first recorded by American singer-songwriter Harriet Schock. It was covered by various other artists, and saw its greatest success when it was covered by

Helen Reddy Helen Maxine Reddy (25 October 194129 September 2020) was an Australian-American singer, actress, television host, and activist. Born in Melbourne to a showbusiness family, Reddy started her career as an entertainer at age four. She sang on rad ...

, whose 1975 rendition became a top 10 hit.

Writing and early versions

An apparent farewell to a self-absorbed lover, "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady" was written by Harriet Schock, who recalled writing the song while in the process of "leaving someone for... one of the last times I left him for the last time". The song's title and first verse lyrics occurred to Schock while she was flying home from a Las Vegas vacation and she jotted them down on a napkin. The lyrics and melody were ultimately completed at Schock's Los Angeles home. Schock included the song on her 1974 album ''Hollywood Town'', and it was issued as a single in the summer of 1974. Schock recalled that a music director of a key Top 40 station in Los Angeles indicated that he would playlist the track if it had a more uptempo arrangement. A customized remix of the track was sent on a Friday to both the Los Angeles station and a San Francisco station, both of which purportedly aired the track on Monday. However, according to Schock, on Sunday the music director in Los Angeles had a fight with the station's director and left his job, and any interest that station - and also the one in San Francisco - had in Schock's single evidently departed with him. "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady" also had a single release - concurrent with that of Schock's version - as recorded by the studio group LAX, and was recorded by Vikki Carr for her 1974 album ''One Hell of a Woman''.

Helen Reddy version

Overview

recorded "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady" for her August 1975

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

album '' No Way to Treat a Lady''. According to Schock, Reddy had heard the composer's version either as inflight music or on the radio. Although the choice for advance single release (in mid-June) from ''No Way to Treat a Lady'' went to the

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and ...

composition "Bluebird" - which would swiftly ascend into the Top 40 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 - Capitol Records were moved to rush release a single release of "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady" parallel with the release of its parent album, leaving "Bluebird" to stall at #35, becoming the least successful lead single from a Helen Reddy album since "No Sad Song", from Reddy's second album ''

'', which hit #62 in 1972. "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady" afforded Reddy a sixth and final top ten hit on ''Billboard'''s Hot 100 and - on 4 October 1975 - became the seventh of her eight singles to reach #1 on the magazine's Easy Listening chart. On the Canadian hit parade as ranked by ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'', "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady" rose to #2, making it Reddy's highest charting Canadian hit after " I am Woman" and " Delta Dawn", both of which reached the #1 position on the ''RPM'' chart. ("Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady" was kept from first by " Third Rate Romance" by the Amazing Rhythm Aces and then by " I'm Sorry" by

John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, activist, and humanitarian whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singe ...

).''RPM'' 18 October 18, 1975 p.33 "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady" was also a hit (#12) in New Zealand, and became Reddy's final chart item in her native Australia at #94.

Chart performance

=Weekly charts

=Year-end charts

Harriet Schock's perspective

Composer Harriet Schock has suggested that while her intent in writing "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady" was to reference a specific personal experience, the song has come to be seen as a statement of how women are generally treated by men "because it was a hit by elen Reddy the same artist who spoke so widely for all women in ' I Am Woman'... ndapparently other women wanted to say hat Schock's song saysto someone. I received a number of calls from women telling me it was just the kick they needed to get that divorce."

Later releases

"Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady" as performed live at the London Palladium in May 1978 may be heard on the 1978 Helen Reddy concert album release '' Live in London'', the song being one of eleven performed as a

medley Medley or Medleys may refer to: Sports *Medley swimming, races requiring multiple swimming styles * Medley relay races at track meets Music *Medley (music), multiple pieces strung together People *Medley (surname), list of people with this nam ...

. In 2005, Raven Records Australia reissued the song as a two-fer with " One Way Ticket" included as a bonus track.

Other versions

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

version of "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady" was recorded by

Gonzalez Gonzalez or González may refer to: People * González (surname) Places * González, Cesar, Colombia * González Municipality, Tamaulipas, Mexico * Gonzalez, Florida, United States * González Island, Antarctica * González Anchorage, Antarctica ...

and issued as the followup to their 1979 hit "Haven't Stopped Dancin' Yet" but it was not a success. The song has also been recorded by Anita Sarawak and - in Swahili - by

Letta Mbulu Letta Mbulu (born 23 August 1942) is a South African jazz singer who has been active since the 1960s. Biography Born and raised in Soweto, South Africa, she has been active as a singer since the 1960s. While still a teenager she toured with th ...

. A Finnish rendition of the song: "Sä Tunnet Mun", was recorded by

Eija Merilä Eija is a Finnish female given name. Its nameday is the 19th of February. As of January 2013, there are more than 24,500 people registered in Finland with this name. There are also more than 1,200 people with this name in Sweden, but only twenty-ei ...

( fi) while the French rendition " Je Veux T'aimer Comme Une Femme" was recorded by Mireille Mathieu. The song also appeared on Bonnie Tyler's 2013 album "The Collection."

References

External links

* {{authority control 1974 songs 1974 singles 1975 singles Helen Reddy songs Capitol Records singles Songs with feminist themes Song recordings produced by Joe Wissert