"My Love" is a 1965 single release by

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

which, in early 1966, became an international hit, reaching No. 1 in the US: the track continued Clark's collaboration with songwriter and record producer

Tony Hatch Anthony Peter Hatch (born 30 June 1939) is an English composer for musical theatre and television. He is also a songwriter, pianist, arranger and producer. Early life and early career Hatch was born in Pinner, Middlesex. Encouraged by his mus ...

History

In November 1965, on a flight from London to Los Angeles, Tony Hatch was putting the finishing touches on his composition "The Life and Soul of the Party", which he planned to record with Clark in Los Angeles to serve as her next single. During casual conversation with the American sitting next to him, Hatch was advised that this song's title would be meaningless to the American public. Hatch then wrote lyrics for a song whose title - "My Love" - could not conceivably present any comprehension issue; the lyrics were completed during the flight and Hatch completed the music soon after landing in Los Angeles. "My Love" was recorded at Western Studios and featured the backing of the Wrecking Crew. Petula Clark would recall: "We recorded three songs on that session...I liked the two other songs quite a lot, but I really didn't like 'My Love'...I thought it was a bit ordinary. I had got so used to these wonderful songs that Tony had been writing with all these different moods and I thought 'My Love' was just a bit flat." Clark would describe how she tried to discourage Warner Bros A&R man Joe Smith from issuing "My Love" as a single: "He's a very small man physically...about the right height for me. I was able to get hold of his lapels, and I said to him, 'Joe, I don't care which f the three songsyou put out, but just don't put out "My Love".' And he said: 'Trust me, baby.'"

Reception

Smith did in fact okay the release of "My Love" as a single, and it returned Clark to the top of the US charts for the first time since "

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

", her breakthrough success. "My Love" spent 13 weeks on the '' ''Billboard'' Hot 100'', reaching No. 1 on 5 February 1966,Hot 100 - Petula Clark My Love Chart History
''Billboard.com''. Retrieved March 2, 2018. and spending two weeks at that position. This made Clark the first British female to have two US No. 1 hits. Also a No. 1 hit on Canada's "''

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 ...

'' Play Sheet",R.P.M. Play Sheet
, ''

RPM Weekly ''RPM'' ( and later ) was a Canadian music-industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. ''R ...

'', Volume 4, No. 25, February 14, 1966. Retrieved March 2, 2018. "My Love" returned Clark to the top ten on the UK's ''

Record Retailer ''Record Retailer'' was the only music trade newspaper for the UK record industry. It was founded in August 1959 as a monthly newspaper covering both labels and dealers. Its founding editor was Roy Parker (who died on 27 December 1964). The title ...

'' chart for the first time since "Downtown" two years previous, with a March 1966 peak of No. 4.Petula Clark - Full Official Chart History

Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...

. Retrieved March 2, 2018. In the UK the single earned a

Silver disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

for sales of 200,000 units.

Chart performance

Adaptations into other languages

Translated recordings by Clark also made "My Love" a hit in France, Italy, and Germany, respectively as "Mon amour" (No. 12), "L'amore è il vento" (Love is the wind) (No. 24), and "Verzeih' die dummen Tränen" (Forgive the foolish tears) (No. 21). "Mon amour" also reached No. 35 in

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

, in a tandem ranking with "My Love" and "Si tu prenais le temps".Ultratop Singles 07/05/1966

Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization ...

. Retrieved March 2, 2018.

Cover versions

* Also in the 1960s, Ed Kilbourne wrote gospel-themed lyrics to the song, retitling it "His love". *The Norwegian rendering "Det er så lett å leve livet" was recorded in 1966 by Vigdis Mostad, also the Swedish rendering "Det är så lätt att leva livet" by Gitte Haenning and the Finnish rendering "Rakkauteni" by Hannele Laaksonen. "Rakkauteni" was also recorded by

Laila Kinnunen Laura “Laila” Annikki Kinnunen (8 November 1939, Vantaa – 26 October 2000, Heinävesi) was a Finnish singer. She was one of the most popular Finnish singers of the 1950s and 1960s, and represented Finland at the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest ...

whose version appears on the 2002 compilation ''Kadonneet Helmet''. *

Mrs. Miller Elva Ruby Miller (October 5, 1907 – July 5, 1997), who recorded under the name "Mrs. Miller", was an American singer who gained some fame in the 1960s, for her series of shrill and off-tempo renditions of popular songs such as "Moon River ...

covered the song in 1966, on her debut album with Capitol Records entitled ''Mrs. Miller's Greatest Hits'' and is on the 1997 compilation CD of her work released on Capitol's Ultra-Lounge label: ''Wild, Cool & Swingin', The Artist Collection Vol. 3: Mrs. Miller''. * John Davidson covered it in 1966 for his album ''Time of My Life!''. *The 1967 album release ''Pet Project'' by the

Bob Florence Bob Florence (May 20, 1932 – May 15, 2008) was an American pianist, composer, arranger, and big band leader. Career A child prodigy, Florence began piano lessons before he was five years old and at seven gave his first recital. Although hi ...

Big Band features an instrumental version of "My Love", the album being devoted to songs associated with Petula Clark. *

Sonny James Jimmie Hugh Loden (May 1, 1928February 22, 2016), known professionally as Sonny James, was an American country music singer and songwriter best known for his 1957 hit, " Young Love", topping both of the early versions of today's ''Billboard'' ...

( C&W singer) covered "My Love" in 1970. His version reached No. 1 that May on the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart, in the midst of his then-record string of 16-straight No. 1 singles in as many releases. Also in 1970 C&W singer

Barbara Fairchild Barbara Fairchild (born November 12, 1950) is an American country and gospel singer, who is best known for her hit 1973 country song " The Teddy Bear Song" and other country hits. Biography Early life and beginnings in Nashville She was born in ...

recorded "My Love" for her debut album ''Someone Special''. * Nancy Boyd ( nl) remade "My Love" for her 1987 album of classic hit songs ''Let's Hang On'' credited to Nancy Boyd & Cappello's. *

Florence Henderson Florence Agnes Henderson (February 14, 1934 – November 24, 2016) was an American actress. With a career spanning six decades, she is best known for her starring role as Carol Brady on the ABC sitcom ''The Brady Bunch''. Henderson also appeare ...

(Actress/singer) performed the song as a serenade on the famous 1969 "Tonight Show" segment in which Tiny Tim married Miss Vicky.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:My Love (Petula Clark Song) Petula Clark songs 1965 singles Songs written by Tony Hatch Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Sonny James songs RPM Top Singles number-one singles 1965 songs Song recordings produced by Tony Hatch Pye Records singles Warner Records singles Disques Vogue singles