The Closer I Get to You

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"The Closer I Get to You"
The cover of a 45 R.P.M. single published by Atlantic Records. The song is "The Closer I Get to You" by Roberta Flack with Donny Hathaway
A-side label of U.S. vinyl single
Single by Roberta Flack with Donny Hathaway
from the album Blue Lights in the Basement
B-side"Love Is the Healing"
ReleasedFebruary 1978
Recorded1977
GenreSoul, R&B
Length4:41
LabelAtlantic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Roberta Flack singles chronology
"25th of Last December"
(1977) 		"The Closer I Get to You"
(1978) 		"If Ever I See You Again"
(1978)
Donny Hathaway singles chronology
"Come Little Children"
(1974) 		"The Closer I Get to You"
(1978) 		"You Were Meant for Me"
(1978)

"The Closer I Get to You" is a romantic ballad performed by singer-songwriter Roberta Flack and soul musician Donny Hathaway. The song was written by James Mtume and Reggie Lucas, two former members of Miles Davis's band, who were members of Flack's band at the time. Produced by Atlantic Records, the song was released on Flack's 1977 album Blue Lights in the Basement, and as a single in 1978. It became a major crossover hit, becoming Flack's biggest commercial hit after her success with her 1973 solo single, "Killing Me Softly with His Song". Originally set as a solo single, Flack's manager, David Franklin, suggested a duet with Hathaway, which resulted in the finished work.

"The Closer I Get to You" spent two weeks as number one on the

certified gold
in the United States in May 1978, and became one of their most familiar duets.

At the 21st Annual Grammy Awards given in 1979, Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway were nominated for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus with the award going to the Bee Gees for their work in the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. Flack and Hathaway had won the same award six years before for Where is the Love.

Background and composition

"The Closer I Get to You" was written by Reggie Lucas and James Mtume, who were members of Roberta Flack's touring band and played on Blue Lights in the Basement.[1] They wrote the song between tours and, during the sessions for the album, brought it to Flack's producer Joe Ferla, who played it for Flack. Ferla, Flack (as Rubina Flake) and Gene McDaniels produced the track, with Ahmet Ertegun serving as executive producer.[2] Flack and Donny Hathaway, good friends while attending Howard University, had recorded a self-titled album of duets in 1972.[3] Five years later, the duo collaborated again on "The Closer I Get to You".[4]

Roberta Flack, one of the members of the touring band in 1976

"The Closer I Get to You" was not originally written as a duet. Flack's manager David Franklin, who had worked with Hathaway in the past, decided to re-write the song to include him. Hathaway had been suffering from severe bouts of

clinical depression at the time, which often forced him to be hospitalized. The depression also caused mood swings, which adversely affected his partnership with Flack,[5] who, following Hathaway's death, would tell Jet
magazine:

I tried to reach out to Donny. That's how we managed to do the song we did last year. I felt this need because I didn't know what to do. I couldn't save him, I knew he was sick. But I knew when he sat down at that piano and sang for me it was like it was eight or nine years ago because he sang and played his ass off.[6]

In fact Hathaway's suffering had made it impossible for him to travel from Chicago to New York City to join Flack in the studio to record "The Closer I Get to You": Flack recorded her part of the song with a session singer as a stopgap duet partner, the track being sent to Chicago for Hathaway to add his vocal and then back to New York City for its final mixing.[7]

Flack announced that "The Closer I Get to You" would forever be a dedication to Hathaway, and that all money made from the song would be donated to Hathaway's widow and two children.

B-side.[9]

Reception

Critical reception and accolades

Critics described "The Closer I Get to You" as Flack at the top of her form.

Grammy Award for their duet.[20]

Chart performance

The song became the duo's second number one on the US R&B charts in 1978, and climbed to the number two spot on the

Adult Contemporary charts.[21]

Music video

A music video for "The Closer I Get to You" was shot and directed by Roberta Flack herself.[22] The video begins with Flack's singing while sitting by a piano in a candle-lit room. Hathaway had died by the time the music video was shot, so as his verse plays, the camera zooms into a picture of Hathaway located on a table behind Flack's shoulder. Flack performs the rest of the song sitting by the piano, and the camera's direction occasionally looks over a candle flame during Hathaway's verses. The video ends with Flack's mouthing some of Hathaway's lyrics as she fades into the camera's view of the room lit by a single candle. A version of Flack's performing the song live circulated as its promotional music video.[23]

Charts and certifications

Luther Vandross and Beyoncé version

"The Closer I Get to You"
Single by Luther Vandross and Beyoncé
from the album Dance with My Father and Dangerously in Love
ReleasedJune 13, 2004
Studio
Genre
Length6:25 (Dance with My Father version)
4:57 (Dangerously in Love version)
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Nat Adderley Jr.
Luther Vandross singles chronology
"Buy Me a Rose"
(2004) 		"The Closer I Get to You"
(2004) 		"Shine"
(2006)
Beyoncé singles chronology
"Naughty Girl"
(2004) 		"The Closer I Get to You"
(2004) 		"Wishing on a Star"
(2005)
Licensed audio
"The Closer I Get to You" on
YouTube

urban contemporary and urban adult contemporary radio on June 13, 2004.[33][34]

Reception

Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine called the song "dated" and wrote that it felt out of place on Dangerously in Love.[35] Erika Ramirez of Billboard magazine also noted that "While the singer holds her own alongside the legend, the quiet storm duet feels out of place considering the electrifying feel of majority of the album."[36] Neil Drumming of Entertainment Weekly said: "A remake of 'The Closer I Get to You' with Luther Vandross also sounds, sadly, a little dated."[37] Spence D. of IGN commented "By the time Beyoncé has teamed up with the granddaddy of contemporary love jams, Luthor Vandross, on 'The Closer I Get To You', her album has descended into somewhat generic terrain. Sure, her vocals are on point and the music is adequately slick."[38] Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone wrote, "While she oozes charisma and has a fine voice, Beyoncé isn't in a class with the likes of Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey as a singer, a fact that 'The Closer I Get to You', her duet with the effortlessly smooth Luther Vandross, also makes clear."[39]

Jason King of Vibe magazine wrote that Beyoncé had some "

Consequence of Sound's Chris Coplan noted that the song contained "unintentional cheesy vibe, [which] seems way more heart-wrenching now [in 2013] than it did a decade ago" and added that Beyoncé's vocals contained a "real sweetness and innocence".[42] Pamelia S. Phillips, the author of Singing for Dummies, credited Beyoncé's vocal performance on "The Closer I Get to You" as one of her best.[43] Mark Anthony Neal of PopMatters gave Beyoncé and Vandross "vocal props" for their performance in the "quiet storm", but described the overall performance as flat.[44] During the 46th Annual Grammy Awards, this version of "The Closer I Get to You" won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.[45]

Beyoncé and Vandross' cover of "The Closer I Get to You" debuted at number 76 on the US

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, "The Closer I Get to You" spent eight weeks and reached a peak of number 60.[49]

Formats and track listings
  1. "The Closer I Get to You" (radio edit) – 4:26
  2. "The Closer I Get to You" (instrumental) – 6:28
  3. "The Closer I Get to You" (call out hook) – 0:10

Credits and personnel

Credits taken from Dangerously in Love liner notes.[31]

Other versions

"The Closer I Get To You" has been covered many times. Among the more notable versions are the following:

In 1990, Toshinobu Kubota and Lynn Davis performed a live duet rendition of the song.[51]

Fourplay's cover of the song was described as an "undistinguished version" of the original song by AllMusic's Steven McDonald.[52]

In 2005,

live album Nina Live!.[53] A writer of The Philippine Star noted that Thor "matches Nina note for note on their duet".[54] Girado's version of the song won in the category for Best Duet Award at the Awit Awards in 2006.[55]

It was covered by

Versions, with lyrics separately sung by Chin Alcantara and Juris Fernandez.[56]

See also

  • List of RPM number-one singles of 1978
  • List of number-one R&B singles of 1978 (U.S.)

References

  1. ^
    Rovi Corporation. Archived
    from the original on December 11, 2011. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
  2. ^ The Closer I Get To You / Love Is The Healing (Media notes). Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway. Atlantic Records. 1977.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. ^ Easlea, Daryl (2011). "Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway Review". BBC Music. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d "The 40 Biggest Duets Of All Time". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. February 14, 2011. p. 1. Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  5. ISBN 0879307447.[page needed
    ]
  6. ^
    ISSN 0021-5996
    .
  7. ^ "Interview: Roberta Flack - 1beat.de". Archived from the original on 2018-09-18. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
  8. Sony/ATV Music Publishing
    . 6 March 2006. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  9. ASIN B000P93VQQ.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link
    )
  10. ISBN 0-8103-9177-5
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  11. ISBN 0-87930-653-X
    .
  12. ISSN 1070-4701
    .
  13. ISBN 1-57071-481-9
    .
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    .
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  18. ^ Elias, Jason. "Blue Lights in the Basement: Roberta Flack". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
  19. ^ a b "Music - Review of Beyoncé - Dangerously In Love". BBC Online. BBC. Archived from the original on November 30, 2011. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  20. ^ Michael Cheers, D. (April 1979). "The Mysterious Death of Donny Hathaway". Ebony. Vol. 34, no. 6. Johnson Publishing Company. p. 62.
  21. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 92.
  22. Country Music Television. Archived
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  23. MTV Networks. Archived
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  25. New Zealand Singles Chart. Hung Medien. Archived
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  27. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 206.
  28. ^ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Archived from the original on 2017-08-02. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  29. ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1978/Top 100 Songs of 1978". Musicoutfitters.com. Archived from the original on 2016-07-14. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  30. ^ "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1978". Archived from the original on 2018-09-29. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
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  32. ^ "The Closer I Get to You sheet music (Digital Download)". Musicnotes.com. Scarab Publishing Corporation. 14 June 2004. Archived from the original on 16 August 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  33. ^ "R&R Going for Adds: Urban". Radio & Records. June 13, 2004. Archived from the original on February 19, 2014. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  34. ^ "R&R Going for Adds: Urban". Radio & Records. June 13, 2004. Archived from the original on August 22, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  35. ^ Cinquemani, Sal (June 21, 2003). "Beyoncé Dangerously in Love". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on June 18, 2011. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
  36. ^ Ramirez, Erika (June 22, 2013). "Beyonce, 'Dangerously In Love': Classic Track-By-Track Review". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on June 26, 2013. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
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  45. ^ Joseph Patel (February 9, 2004). "Beyonce Wins Most, Outkast Shine, 50 Cent Shut Out At Grammys". MTV News (Viacom). Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
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  50. ^ "Beyonce Knowles The Closer I Get To You USA Promo CD single (CD5 / 5") (326185)". eil.com. Archived from the original on April 19, 2014. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  51. ^ "久保田利伸&Lynn Davis～THE CLOSER I GET TO YOU～". Youtube. Archived from the original on 2016-03-08. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
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  55. ^ "Something different from Nina". Manila Bulletin. Manila Bulletin Publishing Corp. June 24, 2006. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
  56. ^ Villagomez, Kaye (March 6, 2005). "MYMP shifts gear with three new CDs". Manila Bulletin. Manila Bulletin Publishing Corp. Retrieved July 8, 2012.

External links

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