"Best of My Love" is a song by American band

The Emotions ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

from their fourth studio album '' Rejoice'' (1977). It was composed by

Maurice White Maurice White (December 19, 1941 – February 4, 2016) was an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter, and producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, and served as the ...

and

Al McKay AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million reco ...

, and produced by White and Clarence McDonald. Released as the album's lead single on June 9, 1977, the song topped both the US ''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 streaming ...

and US ''Billboard'' R&B charts. It also reached the Top 5 in the UK and Canada, the Top 10 in New Zealand, and the Top 20 in Australia. "Best of My Love" won a

Grammy 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 ...

at the

20th Annual Grammy Awards The 20th Annual Grammy Awards were held February 23, 1978, and were broadcast live on American television. They were hosted by John Denver and recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1977. Award winners *Record of the Year **Bil ...

(1977) for

Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals The Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded between 1970 and 2011. From 1967 to 1969 and in 1971 the award included instrumental performances. The award had several minor name changes: *From 1967 to 1968 th ...

; it also won an

American Music Award The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Produ ...

for Favorite Soul/R&B Single.

Overview

The song was ranked at number 87 on "The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs". It was also the third biggest pop song of 1977 and the fifth biggest R&B song of 1977. "Best of My Love" has been certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

in the US 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/ ...

and

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

in the UK by the BPI. Recent reviews have been largely positive, and the song continues to appear on "Best of the '70s" lists. In 2015, ''Billboard'' ranked the song at number one on their list of the Top 40 Biggest Girl Group Songs of All Time on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. ''Billboard'' also ranked the track at number 10 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time. In 2018, "Best of My Love" was ranked at number six on

Heavy Heavy may refer to: Measures * Heavy (aeronautics), a term used by pilots and air traffic controllers to refer to aircraft capable of 300,000 lbs or more takeoff weight * Heavy, a characterization of objects with substantial weight * Heavy, ...

's list of Top 51 Best Love Songs: The Heavy Power List.

Song description

The song has an upbeat vibe, with a prominent bass line and horns accenting the drums between the verses and chorus.

Composition

"Best of My Love" was originally published in the key of

C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note val ...

with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

of 120 beats per minute. The vocals span from C₄ to A₅ (although in the outro of the song, one of the Emotions hits a C₆).

Critical reception

Craig Lytle of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

called "Best of My Love" a "rapidly paced" song. Lytle added "This spirited cut is seasoned with a fierce arrangement, in particular the horns, and incomparable vocals."

Robert Hilburn Robert Hilburn (born September 25, 1939) is an American pop music critic, author, and radio host. As critic and music editor at the '' Los Angeles Times'' from 1970 to 2005, his reviews, essays and profiles appeared in publications around the wo ...

of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' described the tune as "one of the year's most delightful singles".

Commercial performance

The single achieved huge success, remaining on top of the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart for five non-consecutive weeks and reaching number one on the R&B Singles Chart. On the disco chart, "Best of My Love" peaked at number 11. Eventually, the single received a Platinum certification from (RIAA), becoming the Emotions' biggest hit to date and their only single to receive a certification.

Personnel

* Clarence McDonald – piano,

clavinet The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds by a rubber pad striking a point on a tens ...

* Paulinho da Costa – percussion *

– guitar *

Larry Dunn Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment *Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer *Larry Boone ...

– synthesizer *

Verdine White Verdine Adams White (born July 25, 1951) is an American musician, best known as a founding member and bassist for the band Earth, Wind & Fire. White was placed at No. 19 on Rolling Stone's list of The 50 Greatest Bassists of All Time. Early l ...

– bass * Fred White – drums *Tom Tom 84 (Thomas Washington) – string and horn arrangements

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Uses in other media

The song is featured in the opening scene of the 1997 feature film, ''

Boogie Nights ''Boogie Nights'' is a 1997 American period comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It is set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley and focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic fi ...

.'' A cover version appears in a

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for

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Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1977 singles 1977 songs The Emotions songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles C. J. Lewis songs Songs written by Maurice White Songs written by Al McKay Columbia Records singles Disco songs Song recordings produced by Maurice White