"I Just Fall in Love Again" is a song written by Larry Herbstritt, with co-writers
Steve Dorff
Stephen Hartley Dorff (born April 21, 1949) is an American songwriter and composer whose work is mainly in the field of country music.
Career
Dorff has written several songs for other artists, including " Hypnotize the Moon" and " My Heart W ...
, Harry Lloyd, and Gloria Sklerov. Herbstritt had composed the melody and chords for the chorus and a chord progression for the verse, which he took to his friend Steve Dorff. Harry Lloyd and Gloria Sklerov completed the lyrics. The song was originally recorded by
the Carpenters
The Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen Carpenter, Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinctive soft musical style, combining ...
and later covered by
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was a British singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano voice, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop mus ...
, and
Anne Murray
Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian country, pop and adult contemporary music singer who has sold over 55 million album copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray has won four Grammys including the Grammy ...
, who was unaware Springfield had recorded it just 6 months prior.
The Carpenters version
The Carpenters' version was included on the duo's 1977 album '' Passage''. On the Carpenters' official website, Richard Carpenter notes that he felt the song was perfect for his sister Karen's voice and felt their version had hit-single potential. However,
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...
decided not to release it because it was considered too long for Top 40 radio stations to play at the time (just over 4 minutes) and could not be abridged.
In 2004, Richard Carpenter added a remixed "I Just Fall in Love Again" to the Carpenters' 2-disc compilation, '' Gold: 35th Anniversary Edition.''
Personnel
*
Karen Carpenter
Karen Anne Carpenter (March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983) was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and early drummer of the highly successful duo the Carpenters, formed with her older brother Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard. Wi ...
Joe Osborn
Joe Osborn (August 28, 1937 – December 14, 2018Tony Pelusoelectric guitar
*
Ron Tutt
Ronald Ellis Tutt (March 12, 1938 – October 16, 2021) was an American drummer who was the principal drummer for Elvis Presley, the Carpenters, Roy Orbison, Neil Diamond, and Jerry Garcia. He was also a session drummer who recorded with some of ...
drums
*Earle Dumleroboe
*Bill Linnanepiano
* Gregg Smith Singersbacking vocals
Dusty Springfield version
Recorded in summer 1978 and released in early 1979 on Springfield's '' Living Without Your Love'' album the same week her record label,
United Artists Records
United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B.
History Genres
In 1958 ...
, was sold, the track was subsequently never released as a single and went largely unnoticed by the listening public due to the success of Anne Murray's recording of the song, released not long after.
Anne Murray version
Canadian country singer
Anne Murray
Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian country, pop and adult contemporary music singer who has sold over 55 million album copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray has won four Grammys including the Grammy ...
was unaware
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was a British singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano voice, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop mus ...
had recorded "I Just Fall in Love Again" just 6 months prior. Springfield was one of Murray's favourite singers, and she has said "If I had known (Springfield) had released it as a single, I never would have recorded it" as Murray's version of the song largely overshadowed Springfield's. She released it in early 1979, on her platinum-selling album '' New Kind of Feeling''.
Murray released her version as a single, and it topped ''Billboard'''s
Country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
and
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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
charts for three weeks, while reaching number 11 on the ''
Cash Box
''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is 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 online ...
'' Top 100 and number 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart.
It was the first of three successive number one Country hits and four consecutive number one Adult Contemporary hits during 1979 and 1980. Though Murray loves the song, she is quoted in ''The Billboard Book of Number One Adult Contemporary Hits'' as saying she was surprised at its success on the Country charts, as she didn't feel the song sounded very "country". Nevertheless, ''Billboard'' ranked it as the number one Country hit of 1979. Murray included the song as a posthumous duet with Dusty Springfield on her own 2007 album '' Duets: Friends & Legends''.
Personnel
*Anne Murrayvocals
*Pat Riccio Jr., Brian Gattokeyboards
*Jorn Andersondrums
*Peter Cardinalibass
*Aidan Mason, Brian Russell, Bob Mannguitars
*Bob Luciersteel guitar
*Rick Wilkins & Peter Cardinalistring arrangement