I'll Be Around (The Spinners song)

Infobox Single
Name = I'll Be Around


Artist = The Spinners
from Album = Spinners
A-side = "I'll Be Around"
B-side = "How Could I Let You Get Away"
Released = August 1972
Format = 7" 45 RPM
Genre = Soul / Pop
Length =
Label = Atlantic Records
Writer = Thom Bell, Phil Hurtt
Producer = Thom Bell
Chart position = * #3 U.S. Pop

* #1 U.S. R&B
"I'll Be Around" is a song recorded by the American R&B vocal group The Spinners (known as "Detroit Spinners" in the UK). The song was co-written by Thom Bell and Phil Hurtt and produced by Bell. The lyrics of the song have the narrator, (Spinners main lead singer Bobby Smith), pledging his devotion and love to a lover that has just left him for another while at the same time holding out hope that she will return to him ("There's always a chance, a tiny spark will remain, yeah/And sparks turn into flames/And love can come burn once again..."). So, in case she changes her mind, he'll be around. The production of the song gives it a smooth, mid-tempo feel, with guitar at the forefront and punctuation from female background singers, horns, strings and congo-playing from Larry Washington. Bobbie Smith handles lead vocals on the song. The song was included on the group's 1972 self-titled album on Atlantic Records, their first album release for the label. It was initially released as the B-side of the group's first single on Atlantic, with "How Could I Let You Get Away" being the A-side. Radio deejays, however, soon opted for "I'll Be Around" which led to Atlantic flipping the single over and the song became an unexpected hit, eventually spending five weeks at number one on the U.S. R&B chart (the group's first number-one on the R&B chart) and reaching number three on the U.S. Pop chart in the fall of 1972. It also reached sales of over one million copies, The Spinners' first record ever to do so. "I'll Be Around"'s success would be the first in a series of chart successes The Spinners and Bell would have together during the 1970s.

"I'll Be Around" has been covered by many artists. Among them are What Is This?, Joan Osborne, Funk, Inc. and Hall & Oates, whose version, from the duo's 2004 release "Our Kind of Soul", reached number six on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart.

Rappin' 4-Tay version

Infobox Single
Name = I'll Be Around


Artist = Rappin' 4-Tay featuring The Spinners
from Album = Don't Fight the Feelin'
Released = 1995
Recorded = 1994
Format = CD Single, 12"
Genre = Hip Hop
Length =
Label = Chrysalis
Writer =
Producer = Cyrus Esteban , Franky J
Chart position = * #39 Pop
* #37 R&B
* #6 Hot Rap Singles
* #30 U.K.
In 1994, American rapper Rappin' 4-Tay (born Anthony Forté) recorded a semi-remake of "I'll Be Around" for inclusion on his album "Don't Fight the Feelin'". His version contained different verse lyrics (which deal with the violence and hardship 4-Tay sees in his neighborhood and that he'll 'be around' to offer advice and try to point people in the right direction) but sampled music and retained the chorus from the original. Released as a single in 1995, the song found success on the charts, peaking at number six on the Hot Rap Singles chart and cracking the top 40 on the R&B and both the U.S. and U.K. Pop charts.

ee also

*Call Me (I'll Be Around Medley), a single from the Montreal collective Bran Van 3000 which samples I'll Be Around heavily.
*R&B number-one hits of 1972 (USA)
*List of number-one R&B hits (United States)

References

1. "A House On Fire: The Rise and Fall of Philadelphia Soul" by John A. Jackson, ISBN 0195149726 (Publication: New York Oxford University Press (U.S.), 2004)
2. "I'll Be Around" song review on Allmusic website