"If You Really Love Me" is a song written by Stevie Wonder and

Syreeta Wright Syreeta Wright (February 28, 1946 – July 6, 2004), who recorded professionally under the single name Syreeta, was an American singer-songwriter, best known for her music during the early 1970s through the early 1980s. Wright's career heights we ...

. Wonder recorded the song and released his version as a single from his 1971 album ''

Where I'm Coming From ''Where I'm Coming From'' is the 13th album by Stevie Wonder. The album was released by Motown Records on April 9, 1971 and peaked on the Billboard Pop Albums at #62, and on the '' Billboard'' R&B Albums Chart at #7. All nine songs were writ ...

''. The single peaked in the top 10 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 (number 8), ''Billboard''′s R&B chart (number 4), and ''Billboard''′s Easy Listening chart (number 10).

Background

The song was one of the last to feature Motown's background band

the Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

. After its release, Wonder left the Hitsville USA studios to record in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, playing most of the instruments himself. Wonder played Moog bass synthesizer, drums, and piano on "If You Really Love Me", while Wright is featured in the background singing. '' Cash Box'' said of it that "Wonder, via superb use of dynamics and fine mood changes will bring this tune to national attention."

Personnel

* Stevie Wonder – lead and background vocals; arrangement, instrumentation; production *

– background vocals *

The Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

– instrumentation *

David Van De Pitte David J. Van De Pitte (October 28, 1941 – August 9, 2009) was an American music arranger and bass player. He is best known for his work at Motown Records during the 1960s and early 1970s, when he was responsible for arranging many of the be ...

– arrangement

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* Stevie Wonder songs 1971 singles Songs written by Stevie Wonder Songs written by Syreeta Wright Motown singles Tamla Records singles 1971 songs {{1970s-single-stub