"The Need to Be" is a song written by American singer-songwriter

Jim Weatherly James Dexter Weatherly (March 17, 1943 – February 3, 2021) was an American singer-songwriter who wrote mostly pop and country music. He played quarterback at the University of Mississippi while also writing music with his own bands. He subseq ...

. First recorded on the Weatherly's 1974 album “The Songs of Jim Weatherly”, the single release peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart, No. 11 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streamin ...

, also reaching the Top 20 on the corresponding Canadian charts.

Chart performance

Covers

Artists who have recorded cover versions of the song include: *

Gladys Knight and The Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B, soul and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s. Starting out as simply ...

(on their 1974 album '' I Feel a Song'') * Ray Price (on his 1974 album ''

You're The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me" — also known simply as "Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me" — is a song written by Jim Weatherly, and produced by Don Law. It was first recorded in 1973 by Ray Price from his album ''You'r ...

'') *

Vikki Carr Florencia Vicenta de Casillas-Martínez Cardona (born July 19, 1940), known by her stage name Vikki Carr, is an American vocalist. She has a singing career that spans more than four decades. Born in El Paso, Texas, to Mexican parents, she has p ...

(on her 1974 album ''

One Hell Of A Woman "One Hell of a Woman" is a 1974 song (see 1974 in music) by the American singer-songwriter Mac Davis. The song was written by Davis and Mark James. Released as a single from his album '' Stop and Smell the Roses'', the song became Davis' se ...

'') * The Harold Wheeler Consort (on their 1975 album ''Black Cream'') * Esther Satterfield (on her 1976 album ''The Need To Be'') * Julie Anthony (on her 1977 album ''A Part Of Me'') * Sandra Feva (on her 1979 album ''The Need To Be'') * Dardanelle (on her 1982 album ''The Colors Of My Life'') *Gayle Marie (on her 1982 album ''Night Rainbow'') *Diana Lee (on her 1993 release ''Movin' Out Back'') *

Daniel Bernard Roumain Daniel Bernard Roumain (known by his initials, DBR; born 1970) is a classically trained composer, performer, violinist, and band-leader, whose work combines classical music with jazz, hip-hop and rock. Composer In September 2010, ''Dancers, Drea ...

and

Ryuichi Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto i ...

(on the 2008

DJ Spooky Paul Dennis Miller (born September 6, 1970), known professionally as DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, is an American electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics "illbient" or "trip hop". He is a turntabli ...

album ''Sound Unbound'')

References

1974 singles 1974 songs Buddah Records singles Song recordings produced by Jimmy Bowen Songs written by Jim Weatherly {{1970s-single-stub