"Love Will Keep Us Together" is a song written by

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

and

Howard Greenfield Howard Greenfield (March 15, 1936 – March 4, 1986) was an American lyricist and songwriter, who for several years in the 1960s worked out of the famous Brill Building. He is best known for his successful songwriting collaborations, including o ...

. It was first recorded by Sedaka in 1973. American pop duo

Captain & Tennille Captain & Tennille were American recording artists whose primary success occurred in the 1970s. The husband-and-wife team were "Captain" Daryl Dragon (1942–2019) and Toni Tennille (born 1940). They have five albums certified gold or platinum ...

covered the song in 1975, with instrumental backing almost entirely by “Captain”

Daryl Dragon Daryl Frank Dragon (August 27, 1942 – January 2, 2019) was an American musician, known as Captain from the pop musical duo Captain & Tennille with his then-wife, Toni Tennille. Career Born into a musical family, Dragon was the son of El ...

, with the exception of drums played by

Hal Blaine Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles. ...

; their version became a worldwide hit.

Composition

Sedaka admitted lifting the main chord progression from " Do It Again" by

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

and added a progression including

augmented chord Augment or augmentation may refer to: Language *Augment (Indo-European), a syllable added to the beginning of the word in certain Indo-European languages *Augment (Bantu languages), a morpheme that is prefixed to the noun class prefix of nouns i ...

s inspired by

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Take Me to the River", ...

. The melody was written with

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

in mind. 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 "Our Last Song Together" is a 1973 song recorded by Neil Sedaka. It is a track from his LP ''The Tra-La Days Are Over'', and was the third of four single releases from the album. The song became a Top 40 hit in the UK (#31) and Ireland (#19) for ...

," before Greenfield moved to Los Angeles with his companion Tory Damon.

Neil Sedaka version

"Love Will Keep Us Together" first appeared on

's 1973 studio album ''

The Tra-La Days Are Over ''The Tra-La Days Are Over'' is a 1973 album by American singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka. Overview The album was the second to be produced at Strawberry Studios in England in collaboration with Graham Gouldman, Lol Creme, Kevin Godley and Eric Ste ...

'' 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 ''Sedaka's Back'' is a compilation album by American singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka. The record, composed of selections from his previous three albums, which had been released only in the UK,"Q Rock Stars Encyclopedia" by Dafydd Rees and Luke Cra ...

''. In

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, Sedaka's original song was also included as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of his 1976 hit, " Love in the Shadows". In 2009,

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''.

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 Mac and Katie Kissoon are a pop soul duo, consisting of brother and sister Mac Kissoon (born Gerald Farthing, November 11, 1943, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) and Katie Kissoon (born Katherine Farthing, March 11, 1951, Port of Spain). E ...

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

's debut album, although "Captain" Daryl Dragon originally hoped that honor would go to the duo's rendition of "

I Write the Songs "I Write the Songs" is a popular song written by Bruce Johnston in 1975 and released on his album '' Going Public'' in 1977. Barry Manilow's version reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in January 1976 Bronson, Fred (2003). '' ...

". The single rose to number 1 on both the ''Billboard''

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

chart and the ''Billboard''

pop chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

, 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. "Love Will Keep Us Together" was certified gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

and also won the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

(1975) for

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

on February 28, 1976. Dragon and Tennille acknowledged Sedaka's authorship—as well as his mid-1970s

comeback Comeback, The Comeback or Come Back may refer to: General * Comeback (publicity), a return to prominence by a well-known person * Comeback (retort), a witty response to an insult or criticism * Comeback (sports), an event where an athlete or team ...

—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 The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

for Song of the Year. Twenty years later in 1995, the duo would re-record the song for their ''Twenty Years of Romance'' CD.

"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 The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of one single), appearing simultaneously on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

radio station WLS AM 890 used the two versions to create a

Spanglish Spanglish (a portmanteau of the words "Spanish" and "English") is any language variety (such as a contact dialect, hybrid language, pidgin, or creole language) that results from conversationally combining Spanish and English. The term is mos ...

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 "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� ...

''. It also appears on the 2002

Hip-O Records Hip-O Records is a record label that specializes in reissues and compilations. It is part of Universal Music Group. Established in 1996, the label has distributed releases from 'out of style' genres such as disco and early hip-hop music as wel ...

compilation album ''Ultimate Collection: The Complete Hits''.

Personnel

– keyboards, bass, arrangements *

– drums, congas, percussion *

Toni Tennille Cathryn Antoinette "Toni" Tennille (born May 8, 1940) is an American singer-songwriter and keyboardist, best known as one-half of the 1970s duo Captain & Tennille with her former husband Daryl Dragon; their signature song is "Love Will Keep Us ...

– Lead and backing vocals

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Other notable versions

Wilson Pickett Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the ''Bill ...

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 1978 the song was covered by

Timothy Dalton Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett (; born 21 March 1946) is a British actor. Beginning his career on stage, he made his film debut as Philip II of France in the 1968 historical drama ''The Lion in Winter''. He gained international prominence as ...

and

Mae West Mae West (born Mary Jane West; August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American stage and film actress, playwright, screenwriter, singer, and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned over seven decades. She was known for her breezy ...

in West's final movie

Sextette ''Sextette'' is a 1978 American musical comedy film directed by Ken Hughes and released by Crown International Pictures. It stars Mae West, alongside an ensemble cast including Timothy Dalton, Dom DeLuise, Tony Curtis, Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, Ge ...

* In 1980

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after attend ...

released "

Love Will Tear Us Apart "Love Will Tear Us Apart" is a song by English rock band Joy Division, released in June 1980 as a non-album single. Its lyrics were inspired by lead singer Ian Curtis's marital problems and struggles with epilepsy. The single was released the m ...

", the title of which "was intended as an ironic nod to the classic '70s pop song." * In 1992, Mexican trio

Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek: , derived from , ''pān'', i.e. "all" and , ''dōron'', i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hes ...

released a cover version titled "Pierdo el Control" on their album ''Ilegal''.

References

{{authority control 1973 songs 1975 debut singles Songs written by Neil Sedaka Songs with lyrics by Howard Greenfield Neil Sedaka songs Captain & Tennille songs Andy Williams songs Number-one singles in Australia Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Grammy Award for Record of the Year A&M Records singles Juno Award for Best Selling Single singles