My Love (Petula Clark album)
Encyclopedia
My Love is an album released by Petula Clark
; her first album to feature recording done in the United States
, My Love was produced, arranged, and conducted by Tony Hatch
. In the US, it was her fourth album licensed to Warner Bros. Records
. After the single release of "A Sign of the Times
" charted, new pressings of the album were titled A Sign Of The Times/My Love.
The My Love album is widely considered to be a qualitative high point in Clark's career. "Record Collector" called it "her musical masterwork" in May of 1993. In 1990,"Goldmine" claimed that "this album encapsulates the sound of popular music in the mid 1960s."
In the USA, My Love entered the Billboard 200
9 April 1966 to chart for twelve weeks with a #68 peak. Despite being the first of Clark's Warner Bros. album releases to feature two major hits including the #1 title cut
, My Love represented a drop in popularity from the precedent I Know A Place
which has similarly charted lower than Clark's US album debut Downtown
demonstrating that Clark would be primarily successful as a singles artist. My Love did not reach the UK Top 20 Album chart. This was aside from the fact that the LP met with positive critical reaction at the time and growing esteem since.
Clark recorded the album at both Western Studios
in Los Angeles
- where the title cut was recorded - and also at Pye Studios in Marble Arch
. Clark was backed at Western Studios by the Wrecking Crew
while the session personnel at Pye Studios included drummer Bobby Graham
, guitarist Big Jim Sullivan
, and the Breakaways
vocal group.
My Love follows the formula of the Downtown
LP in that it features almost all original material; the only cover version is the Beatles
' "We Can Work It Out
". The balance of the album comprises nine Hatch compositions (with Clark a co-writer on five), the first known recording of Randy Newman
's "I Can't Remember (Ever Loving You)", and "If I Were a Bell
", allowing Clark her penchant for show tunes.
"Life and Soul of the Party" was intended to be the lead off single, but writer Tony Hatch was incorrectly told by an American that the term meant nothing in the States. Although not a single, the dramatic ballad "Just Say Goodbye" was performed by Clark on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "The Hollywood Palace". It appears on more than one of her greatest hits compilations.
Side Two
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
; her first album to feature recording done in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, My Love was produced, arranged, and conducted by Tony Hatch
Tony Hatch
Anthony Peter "Tony" Hatch is an English composer, songwriter, pianist, music arranger and producer.-Early life and early career:...
. In the US, it was her fourth album licensed to Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
. After the single release of "A Sign of the Times
A Sign of the Times
"A Sign of the Times" was the followup to Petula Clark's #1 US hit "My Love", continuing her association with writer/producer Tony Hatch though with a more percussive sound than was evident on Clark's previous singles – or would be evident on her later ones....
" charted, new pressings of the album were titled A Sign Of The Times/My Love.
The My Love album is widely considered to be a qualitative high point in Clark's career. "Record Collector" called it "her musical masterwork" in May of 1993. In 1990,"Goldmine" claimed that "this album encapsulates the sound of popular music in the mid 1960s."
In the USA, My Love entered the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
9 April 1966 to chart for twelve weeks with a #68 peak. Despite being the first of Clark's Warner Bros. album releases to feature two major hits including the #1 title cut
My Love (Petula Clark song)
"My Love" is a 1965 single release by Petula Clark which in early 1966 became an international hit, reaching #1 in the US: Clark's regular songwriter and producer Tony Hatch was responsible for "My Love"....
, My Love represented a drop in popularity from the precedent I Know A Place
I Know A Place (Petula Clark album)
I Know a Place is an album release by Petula Clark, which in the USA charted at #42. In the UK, the album was released as The New Petula Clark Album, a name which was dropped during later re-releases to prevent audiences from confusion.Arranged and produced by Tony Hatch, the album followed on the...
which has similarly charted lower than Clark's US album debut Downtown
Downtown (album)
Downtown is an album by Petula Clark following the success of her single of the same title...
demonstrating that Clark would be primarily successful as a singles artist. My Love did not reach the UK Top 20 Album chart. This was aside from the fact that the LP met with positive critical reaction at the time and growing esteem since.
Clark recorded the album at both Western Studios
United Western Recorders
United Western Recorders, often abbreviated to UWR, was a renowned recording studio complex in Hollywood, California, which became one of the most successful independent recording studios in the world in the late 1950s and 1960s....
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
- where the title cut was recorded - and also at Pye Studios in Marble Arch
Marble Arch
Marble Arch is a white Carrara marble monument that now stands on a large traffic island at the junction of Oxford Street, Park Lane, and Edgware Road, almost directly opposite Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park in London, England...
. Clark was backed at Western Studios by the Wrecking Crew
The Wrecking Crew (music)
The Wrecking Crew was a nickname coined by the drummer Hal Blaine after the fact for a group of session musicians in Los Angeles, California, who earned wide acclaim in the 1960s. They backed dozens of popular singers, and were one of the most successful "groups" of studio musicians in music history...
while the session personnel at Pye Studios included drummer Bobby Graham
Bobby Graham
Bobby Graham was an English session drummer, composer, arranger and record producer. Shel Talmy, who produced The Kinks, David Bowie and The Who, described Graham as "the greatest drummer the UK has ever produced."...
, guitarist Big Jim Sullivan
Big Jim Sullivan
Big Jim Sullivan is an English musician, whose career started in 1959. He is best known as a session guitarist. In the 1960s and 1970s, Sullivan was one of the most "in-demand" studio musicians in the UK, and performed in more than one thousand charting singles over his career...
, and the Breakaways
The Breakaways
The Breakaways were an English female vocal trio, formed in 1962. Britain's premiere session vocalists throughout the 1960s, The Breakaways also recorded a handful of little known girl group singles.-Career:...
vocal group.
My Love follows the formula of the Downtown
Downtown (album)
Downtown is an album by Petula Clark following the success of her single of the same title...
LP in that it features almost all original material; the only cover version is the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "We Can Work It Out
We Can Work It Out
"We Can Work It Out" is a song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. It was released as a "double A-sided" single with "Day Tripper", the first time both sides of a single were so designated in an initial release...
". The balance of the album comprises nine Hatch compositions (with Clark a co-writer on five), the first known recording of Randy Newman
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
's "I Can't Remember (Ever Loving You)", and "If I Were a Bell
If I Were a Bell
"If I Were a Bell" is a song composed by Frank Loesser for his 1950 musical Guys and Dolls.-Guys and Dolls:In the show Guys and Dolls, it is sung by the character Sister Sarah, originally performed by Isabel Bigley on Broadway, and memorialized on the original cast album. On a bet, Sky Masterson...
", allowing Clark her penchant for show tunes.
"Life and Soul of the Party" was intended to be the lead off single, but writer Tony Hatch was incorrectly told by an American that the term meant nothing in the States. Although not a single, the dramatic ballad "Just Say Goodbye" was performed by Clark on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "The Hollywood Palace". It appears on more than one of her greatest hits compilations.
Track listing
Side One- "My LoveMy Love (Petula Clark song)"My Love" is a 1965 single release by Petula Clark which in early 1966 became an international hit, reaching #1 in the US: Clark's regular songwriter and producer Tony Hatch was responsible for "My Love"....
" (Tony Hatch) - 2:43 - "Hold On to What You've Got" (Tony Hatch, Petula Clark, Pierre DelanoëPierre DelanoëPierre Delanoë , born Pierre Leroyer, was a French songwriter/lyricist who wrote for dozens of singers such as Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour, Petula Clark, and Johnny Hallyday....
) - 2:37 - "We Can Work It OutWe Can Work It Out"We Can Work It Out" is a song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. It was released as a "double A-sided" single with "Day Tripper", the first time both sides of a single were so designated in an initial release...
" (John LennonJohn LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, Paul McCartneyPaul McCartneySir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
) - 2:51 - "Time For Love" (Tony Hatch, Petula Clark, Vito PallaviciniVito PallaviciniVito Pallavicini was an Italian lyricist.Born in Vigevano, he wrote numerous songs, during his career for Adriano Celentano , Caterina Caselli and many others. He died at the age of 83....
) - 2:15 - "Just Say Goodbye" (Tony Hatch, Petula Clark, Pierre Delanöe) - 2:42
- "The Life and Soul of the Party" (Tony Hatch) – 2:59
Side Two
- "A Sign of the TimesA Sign of the Times"A Sign of the Times" was the followup to Petula Clark's #1 US hit "My Love", continuing her association with writer/producer Tony Hatch though with a more percussive sound than was evident on Clark's previous singles – or would be evident on her later ones....
" (Tony Hatch) - 2:55 - "The Thirty-First of June" (Tony Hatch) - 2:51
- "Where Did We Go Wrong" (Tony Hatch, Petula Clark) - 3:05
- "I Can't Remember Ever Loving You" (Randy NewmanRandy NewmanRandall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
, Janis Walner) – 2:04 - "Dance with Me" (Tony Hatch, Petula Clark, Hubert Ballay) - 2:33
- "If I Were a BellIf I Were a Bell"If I Were a Bell" is a song composed by Frank Loesser for his 1950 musical Guys and Dolls.-Guys and Dolls:In the show Guys and Dolls, it is sung by the character Sister Sarah, originally performed by Isabel Bigley on Broadway, and memorialized on the original cast album. On a bet, Sky Masterson...
" (Frank LoesserFrank LoesserFrank Henry Loesser was an American songwriter who wrote the lyrics and scores to the Broadway hits Guys and Dolls and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, among others. He won separate Tony Awards for the music and lyrics in both shows, as well as sharing the Pulitzer Prize for...
) – 2:16