"This Time I'll Be Sweeter" is a

soul ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. Curt ...

written by

Haras Fyre Haras Fyre (born January 5, 1953), also known professionally as Patrick Grant, is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. After writing songs for Sister Sledge and Ben E. King early in his career in a songwriting duo with his ...

(professionally known as Pat Grant) and

Gwen Guthrie Gwendolyn Guthrie (July 9, 1950 – February 3, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter and pianist who also sang backing vocals for Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Peter Tosh, and Madonna, among others, and who wrote songs made f ...

Early versions

The first release of "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" was as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

of the May 1975

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertain ...

single release "Love Blind" by

Martha Reeves Martha Rose Reeves (born July 18, 1941) is an American R&B and pop singer. She is the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas which scored over a dozen hit singles, including " Come and Get These Memories", "Nowhere to R ...

; both sides of Reeves' single were produced by Bert De Coteaux and

Tony Silvester The Main Ingredient was an American soul and R&B group best known for their 1972 hit song " Everybody Plays the Fool". Early history The group was formed in Harlem, New York City in 1964 as a trio called the Poets, composed of lead singer ...

who had hired composers Gwen Guthrie and Haras Fyre (pka Patrick/Pat Grant) as staff writers for the De Coteaux/Silvester company Penumbra Music in 1973. The Martha Reeves version of "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" was included on Reeves' 1976 album release ''The Rest of My Life''. De Couteaux and Silvester also produced the version by

Linda Lewis Linda Ann Fredericks (born 27 September 1950), better known as Linda Lewis, is an English vocalist, songwriter and guitarist. She is the eldest of six children, three of whom also had singing careers. She is best known for the singles "Rock-a- ...

on her album '' Not a Little Girl Anymore'' released - also on Arista - in June 1975. Lewis' version - whose chorale consisted of the song's co-writer Gwen Guthrie with

Deniece Williams Deniece Williams (born June Deniece Chandler; June 3, 1951) is an American singer. She has been described as "one of the great soul voices" by the BBC. She is best known for the songs "Free", "Silly", "It's Gonna Take a Miracle" and two ''Billb ...

- was released as the album's lead single in the US. It was later issued in the UK in September 1976 as the follow-up to the hit song " Baby I'm Yours", just missing the UK Top 50, peaking at #51. The track did afford Lewis a hit in Brazil ranking at #65 on that nation's ranking of the Top 100 singles for the year 1976. "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" was also featured on the 1976 album release by

Marlena Shaw Marlena Shaw (born Marlina Burgess, September 22, 1942) is an American jazz, blues and soul singer. Shaw began her singing career in the 1960s and is still singing today. Her music has often been sampled in hip hop music, and used in televisio ...

, ''Just a Matter of Time'', a Bert DeCoteaux/Tony Silvester production. Shaw's version of "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" has been cited by the song's co-writer Pat Grant/Haras Fyre (also the bassist on several of the song's earliest versions) as being the original version of the song, as Fyre asserts that Shaw's recording of "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" dates from 1974.

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (born February 10, 1937) is a retired American singer. She topped the ''Billboard'' charts with the No. 1 singles " The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", " Killing Me Softly with His Song", " Feel Like Makin' Love", " W ...

recorded "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" in the 1973-1974 sessions for her 1975 album release '' Feel Like Makin' Love'' with Gwen Guthrie contributing background vocals to the track, which would be held over for release on Flack's 1977 album ''

Blue Lights in the Basement ''Blue Lights in the Basement'' is the sixth studio album by American singer Roberta Flack released by Atlantic on December 13, 1977. The album was a commercial success, peaking at number eight on the US ''Billboard'' 200, becoming her third t ...

''.

Angela Bofill version

"This Time I'll Be Sweeter" had its highest profile incarnation as the debut single for

Angela Bofill Angela Tomasa Bofill (born May 2, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter of Cuban- Puerto Rican origins. A New York native, Bofill began her professional career in the mid-1970s. Bofill is most known for singles such as, " This Time I'll Be Swee ...

who recorded "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" for her '' Angie'' album. Bofill's producer

Dave Grusin Robert David "Dave" Grusin (born June 26, 1934) is an American composer, arranger, producer, jazz pianist, and band leader. He has composed many scores for feature films and television, and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record w ...

knew of the song due to his being acquainted with its composer Gwen Guthrie who he had frequently utilized as a session singer (Guthrie was a member of the chorale featured on the ''Angie'' album although the chorale is not featured on "This Time I'll Be Sweeter"). Co-released with the ''Angie'' album on 21 November 1978, Bofill's "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" single would reach #23 on the Hot Soul Singles chart: although Bofill would subsequently score higher-placing Soul chart hits, "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" would remain her only single to approach the ''Billboard'' Hot 100,

bubbling under Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

at #104. Bofill's live version of the "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" is featured on her 2006 '' Live from Manila'' concert album.

Other versions

- who with Gwen Guthrie sang back-up on the 1975 Linda Lewis version - recorded "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" for her 2007 album ''Love, Niecy Style''. Overall there are more than eighty recorded versions of "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" including those by Wendy Alleyne,

Teresa Carpio Teresa Carpio (born 30 September 1956) is a Hong Kong English- and Cantonese-language pop singer, actress, and singing teacher. Carpio was popular in Hong Kong during the 1970s and 1980s. She is the paternal cousin of actress and singer Rita Ca ...

Sharon Cuneta Sharon Gamboa Cuneta-Pangilinan ( , ; born January 6, 1966) is a Filipino actress, singer, television host, and socialite. Regarded as one of the most successful and highest-earning individuals in the Philippine entertainment industry, she has ...

Will Downing Wilfred "Will" Downing (born November 29, 1963) is an American singer and songwriter. He is married to singer Audrey Wheeler, who was a member of the R&B group Unlimited Touch. Biography Downing enrolled in Erasmus Hall High School in Brookly ...

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songw ...

, AC Kelly,

La India Linda Viera Caballero (born March 9, 1969), better known as La India, is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter of salsa, house music and Latin pop. La India has been nominated for both Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards, winning the Latin Gra ...

("Te daré dulzura"),

Melveen Leed Melveen Leed (born on Molokai island in 1943, Hawaii) is an American singer. She graduated from Radford High School in Honolulu. After winning the title of "Miss Molokai" she began singing in the mid-1960s and has released a number of records in ...

, Maysa, Kevin McCord, Tillie Moreno,

Buddy Montgomery Charles "Buddy" Montgomery (January 30, 1930 – May 14, 2009) was an American jazz vibraphonist and pianist. He was the younger brother of Wes and Monk Montgomery, a guitarist and bassist respectively. Buddy and brother Monk formed The Maste ...

Nia Peeples Virenia "Nia" Peeples (born December 10, 1961) is an American R&B and dance music singer and actress. Peeples is known for playing Nicole Chapman on the hit TV series '' Fame''; Pam Fields on the drama ''Pretty Little Liars''; Karen Taylor Win ...

Rachelle Ann Go Rachelle Ann Villalobos Go-Spies (born August 31, 1986) is a Filipina singer and actress. She began her career by participating in and winning several singing competitions, the first of which was in the long-running Philippine variety show ''E ...

, Jack Radics and ''"5AZ1"'

"This Time I'll Be Sweeter" was also covered by Filipino singer

as her carrier single from the album ''Rachelle Ann Falling in Love'', released by Viva Records. On 8 November 2017, a Filipino film entitled ''This Time I'll Be Sweeter'' was released featuring "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" - as performed by 5azi -as its title song. A duet version with Angela Bofill and Sharon Cuneta was released and performed in the 1983 movie Friends In Love.

References

{{Linda Lewis 1975 singles 1978 singles La India songs Songs written by Gwen Guthrie Songs written by Haras Fyre Angela Bofill songs 1975 songs 1970s ballads Rhythm and blues ballads Soul ballads