"I Need to Be in Love" is a song written by Richard Carpenter,

Albert Hammond Albert Louis Hammond OBE (born 18 May 1944) is a British-Gibraltarian singer, songwriter, and record producer. A prolific songwriter, he also collaborated with other songwriters such as Mike Hazlewood, John Bettis, Diane Warren, Holly Knight ...

and

John Bettis John Gregory Bettis (born October 24, 1946) is an American lyricist. He was originally part of the band Spectrum, which also featured Richard and Karen Carpenter. He wrote the lyrics for " Top of the World", a hit for both Lynn Anderson and Th ...

. It was released as a single on May 21, 1976. It was featured on the '' A Kind of Hush'' album, which was released on June 11 of the same year.

Background

The single featured a version without the piano lead-in and starts immediately with a flute introduction by David Shostac. Richard recalled that it was Karen's favorite Carpenters song.

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

'' said that it starts with a "beautiful string introduction" and that "Karen Carpenter’s voice slips in with a sweet ballad melody."

Personnel

Karen Carpenter Karen Anne Carpenter (March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983) was an American singer and drummer, who formed half of the sibling duo the Carpenters alongside her older brother Richard. With a distinctive three-octave contralto range, she was prais ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

* Richard Carpenter -

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, Fender Rhodes electric piano,

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated ...

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

Joe Osborn Joseph Osborn (August 28, 1937 – December 14, 2018bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

* Tony Peluso -

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

* Jim Gordon -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

*Earle Dumler -

English horn The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alt ...

*Gayle Levant -

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orc ...

*David Shostac -

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedles ...

*The O.K. Chorale -

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

Chart performance

The song entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on June 12 at number 55, and peaked at number 25. It peaked at number 36 on the UK charts. In 1995, it was released as a CD single in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, after being chosen for the theme song of the drama ''Miseinen''. It was taken from the best-selling compilation ''22 Hits of the Carpenters'' (promoted as a double A-side with " Top of the World"). Richard Carpenter claims that "It became one of the biggest sellers of 1995, ultimately going quadruple platinum. In more ways than one, Karen would have loved that!" "I Need to Be in Love" was also the Carpenters' fourteenth number one on the

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, ...

chart.

Certifications

Cover versions

Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular vocalist ...

recorded this song on her 1977 album

You Take My Heart Away ''You Take My Heart Away'' is the 22nd studio album from Shirley Bassey, released in 1977 on the United Artists Records label. The album peaked at #34 in the UK album chart. The tracks recorded for this album are contemporary pop, soft rock songs ...

. * Filipino

bossa nova Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovat ...

singer Sitti recorded a cover of this song for her second album ''

My Bossa Nova ''My Bossa Nova'' is the second studio album of Philippine bossa nova singer Sitti. It was released by Warner Music Philippines in 2007. Unlike her previous studio album, '' Café Bossa'', this album focused on more recent songs and had very few " ...

''. *This song was sung by the

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

singer

Hadiqa Kiyani Hadiqa Kiani (in Punjabi and ur, ) is a Pakistani singer, Songwriter, Guitarist, composer, actress, and philanthropist. She has received numerous local and international awards and also has performed at the Royal Albert Hall and The Kennedy ...

as a tribute to

the Carpenters The Carpenters (officially known as Carpenters) were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinct, soft, musical style, combining Karen's contr ...

. *Japanese female singer

Chihiro Onitsuka (born October 30, 1980) is a Japanese singer-songwriter. In 2000, Onitsuka released her debut single "Shine" and gained recognition when its follow-up "Gekkou" became a hit. ''Insomnia'', her first studio album, released in the following yea ...

covered the song for her 2012 cover album '' Famous Microphone''. *Korean jazz duo

Winterplay Winterplay (Korean: 윈터플레이）is a pop-jazz artist from South Korea currently consisting of one member: Juhan Lee as producer, songwriter and trumpet player. Winterplay debuted in 2007 and has 4 full albums out, with the last album titled, ...

covered the song for their 2010 album ''

Touché Mon Amour ''Touché Mon Amour'' is the second studio album by a Korean jazz band, Winterplay Winterplay (Korean: 윈터플레이）is a pop-jazz artist from South Korea currently consisting of one member: Juhan Lee as producer, songwriter and trumpet playe ...

''. * In 2016,

Dami Im Dami Im ( , , ; born October 17, 1988) is a South Korean-born Australian singer and songwriter. She represented Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 held in Stockholm, Sweden with the song " Sound of Silence", placing second and ach ...

recorded a version for her album '' Classic Carpenters''. * Richard Carpenter recorded a solo piano/vocal version live on Japanese television.Archived a
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Wayback Machine
*Michael Poss recorded this song combined with "

They Say It's Wonderful "They Say It's Wonderful" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin for the musical '' Annie Get Your Gun'' (1946), where it was introduced by Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton. A film version in 1950 again featured the song when it was performed by ...

" by Irving Berlin on his 2000 album
Silver Screen Serenades
'

References

{{authority control The Carpenters songs 1976 singles 1995 singles Oricon International Singles Chart number-one singles Songs written by Albert Hammond Songs with lyrics by John Bettis Songs written by Richard Carpenter (musician) Japanese television drama theme songs 1976 songs A&M Records singles Dami Im songs