"If You Need Me" is a 1963 song co-written and originally recorded by Wilson Pickett. It was made into a bigger hit by Solomon Burke, who sent the song to #2 on the R&B charts that year.
| "If You Need Me" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Solomon Burke | ||||
| from the album If You Need Me | ||||
| B-side | "You Can Make It If You Try" | |||
| Released | April 1963 | |||
| Recorded | March 15, 1963 | |||
| Genre | Soul | |||
| Length | 2:35 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Robert Bateman, Wilson Pickett, Sonny Sanders | |||
| Producer(s) | Bert Berns | |||
| Solomon Burke singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Overview
editThe song was written by Wilson Pickett with two former members of the Satintones, Robert Bateman (who had also co-written "Please Mr. Postman") and Sonny Sanders. It was recorded originally by Pickett on March 15, 1963,[1] for Lloyd Price's Detroit-based Double L Records.[2] It had been rejected by Jerry Wexler (Atlantic), who nevertheless had purchased the publishing rights. According to Burke, Pickett gave the song to him on a tour bus: "Wilson sang the song for me in a bus on a tour. I loved it so much that I got Wilson to do it. Atlantic refused to sign him at that time, so we got Wilson to release the song on the Lloyd-Logan label. We were the best of friends. As a matter of fact, I promoted his record and he promoted mine." However, Pickett claims Wexler lifted it from demo tapes he had sent Atlantic.[3] Burke recalled in 2003: "I was furious when Wexler rejected Pickett",[4] and when radio personality the Magnificent Montague started spinning Pickett's original version, Wexler rushed out Burke's, with both in Billboard 's "Singles Review" column on April 13[5] and both featured on Billboard's "Artists' Biographies" on May 4, 1963.[6] Although Burke ultimately won the chart war, Burke broke rank and supported his rival: "I would go to the radio stations and say, ‘Hi, I'm Solomon Burke, and I'm here promoting the new record “If You Need Me”…by Wilson Pickett.’"[4]
Release and reaction
editDespite his efforts, Burke's version jockeyed with Pickett's for position in the Hot 100, before "beating Pickett to the punch" because of "Solomon’s popularity and Atlantic’s distribution." Both versions had Cissy Houston singing backup vocals.[7] Despite his anger, in 1964, Pickett signed with Atlantic because he needed the "bread."[8][9] While Burke's version spent 5 weeks at #2 in the R&B charts in the American summer of 1963, kept from the number one position by Jackie Wilson's "Baby Workout" and Sam Cooke's "Another Saturday Night", Pickett's original stalled at #64 in the Pop charts and #30 on the R&B chart.[10] "If You Need Me" was "the first of several great preaching scorchers": "Can’t Nobody Love You", "You’re Good For Me", and "Goodbye Baby, Baby Goodbye", which were all arranged by Gary Sherman, the man behind many Garnet Mimms hits.
Chart performance
editSolomon Burke
edit| Chart (1963) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100[11] | 37 |
| US Billboard Hot R&B Singles[12] | 2 |
Wilson Pickett
edit| Chart (1963) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 64 |
| US Billboard Hot R&B Singles | 30 |
Cover versions
edit- The song was covered by the Rolling Stones on their album 12 x 5 released in October 1964.[13]
- It was covered by the Hep Stars in 1965 on the B-side of their third single and on their first live album Hep Stars on Stage.[14][15]
- Tom Jones recorded the song as one of the tracks of his 1965 debut album Along Came Jones.[16]
Notes
edit- ^ Gerri Hirshey, Nowhere To Run: The Story of Soul Music (Da Capo Press, 1994):86.
- ^ Cliff White, "The Solomon Burke Story" Archived 2010-05-24 at the Wayback Machine, Black Music (1975)
- ^ Dave Marsh, In The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made (Da Capo Press, 1999):472
- ^ a b Solomon Burke, in Kurt B. Reighley, "Wilson Pickett: 1941 – 2006" Archived 2012-10-01 at the Wayback Machine, Farther Along #62 (March–April 2006)
- ^ "Singles Reviews", Billboard (13 Apr 1963):34.
- ^ "Artists' Biographies", Billboard (4 May 1963):12. Note Burke's age is erroneously given as 28.
- ^ Gerri Hirshey, Nowhere To Run: The Story of Soul Music (Da Capo Press, 1994):24.
- ^ Steven Otfinoski, African Americans in the Performing Arts, 2nd ed. (Infobase Publishing, 2009):178.
- ^ David Brackett, ed., The Pop, Rock, and Soul Reader: Histories and Debates, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2009):178.
- ^ Dave Marsh, In The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made (Da Capo Press, 1999):472.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 124.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 92.
- ^ If You Need Me - The Rolling Stones | Song Info | AllMusic, retrieved 2020-10-14
- ^ "Elmar's ABBA site - The Hep Stars singles 1964 - 1966". abbastory.ee. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
- ^ On Stage - Hep Stars, AllMusic, retrieved 2024-05-23
- ^ Along Came Jones - Tom Jones, AllMusic, retrieved 2024-05-23