"Lovin' You" is a 1975 hit single originally performed by American singer Minnie Riperton. It became a No.1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 5, 1975. Additionally, it reached No. 2 in the UK, and No.3 on the R&B chart; in the U.S. Billboard ranked it as the No.13 song for 1975. The song is especially significant due to Riperton's singing in the very high whistle register in the bridge. It is also noteworthy for the chirping songbirds heard throughout.
Setting
It was the fourth single from the album Perfect Angel (1974). As with the rest of the album, the keyboard backing is played by Stevie Wonder (credited as "El Toro Negro", Spanish for the black bull, as Wonder is a Taurus).
"Lovin' You" was among the first of several songs to top the U.S. pop chart without the help of a percussion instrument. Prior examples of percussion-less Number Ones were Jim Croce â€" "Time in a Bottle" (1973), The Beatles â€" "Yesterday" (1965), and on the UK Singles Chart, The Beatles â€" "Eleanor Rigby" (1966).
According to the liner notes from Riperton's compilation CD Petals, the melody for "Lovin' You" was created to be a distraction for her baby daughter (Maya Rudolph) so that Minnie and her husband Richard could hang out. Maya was in the studio with her mother on the day it was recorded and Riperton can be heard singing her daughter's name at the end, but only in the unedited or album version. The song fades out early in the single edit because the disc jockeys felt that the repeated "Maya" was being overdone and that it would be misunderstood as a Mayan chant.
Chart performance
Certifications
Shanice version
Shanice's cover of the song was released in the summer of 1992 months after the success of her hit "I Love Your Smile". It only achieved minor success on the R&B chart peaking at #59; it also peaked at #54 on the UK chart. The music video for the song is set on a beach. In 2005, she re-recorded the song again for her 2006 album Every Woman Dreams.
Track listing
- Single Version
- I Love Your Smile (Driza Bone Single Remix)
- I Love Your Smile (Driza Bone Club Remix)
- Instrumental
Charts
Personnel
- Drums and programming by Narada Michael Walden
- Keyboards and programming by Louis Biancaniello
- Produced by Narada Michael Walden for Perfection Light Productions
References
External links
- Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics