Yearning for Your Love
Encyclopedia
"Yearning for Your Love" is a quiet storm
ballad
recorded and released by The Gap Band on Mercury Records
. The single was the third release off the Tulsa, Oklahoma
-based group's fifth album, The Gap Band III
. Four different singles, each with a different B-side, were released in 1981.
The song became a modest hit on the US and UK charts when it was released; it arose to number five on the Hot Soul Singles
chart and number sixty on the Billboard Hot 100
. Written by keyboardist Ronnie Wilson and Gap Band backing member/keyboardist Oliver Scott, it was a romantic love song dedicated to Wilson's wife at the time and was performed by Ronnie's brother Charlie Wilson
.
covered the song from his popular album "Love Season."
In 2001, keyboardist Kevin Toney
covered the song from his album "Strut." R&B group Guy
also covered the song on their 1990 album The Future (Guy album)
. The song featured Evelyn "Champagne" King on vocals.
take on the song helped the song become influential to contemporary R&B
singers such as Keith Sweat
, Johnny Gill
; R. Kelly
and Gerald Levert
.
Quiet storm
Quiet storm is a late-night radio format, featuring soulful slow jams, pioneered in the mid-1970s by then-station-intern Melvin Lindsey at WHUR-FM, in Washington, D.C. Smokey Robinson's like-titled hit single, released in 1975 as the title track to his third solo album, lent its name to the format...
ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
recorded and released by The Gap Band on Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
. The single was the third release off the Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
-based group's fifth album, The Gap Band III
The Gap Band III
The Gap Band III is an album by The Gap Band, released in 1980 on Mercury Records. Contrary to the title, the album is actually the Gap Band's fifth album.-Reception:...
. Four different singles, each with a different B-side, were released in 1981.
The song became a modest hit on the US and UK charts when it was released; it arose to number five on the Hot Soul Singles
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart and number sixty on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. Written by keyboardist Ronnie Wilson and Gap Band backing member/keyboardist Oliver Scott, it was a romantic love song dedicated to Wilson's wife at the time and was performed by Ronnie's brother Charlie Wilson
Charlie Wilson (musician)
Charles Kent "Charlie" Wilson is an American R&B singer-songwriter-producer and the former lead vocalist for the Gap Band. As a solo artist he has been nominated for four Grammy awards, received a 2009 Soul Train Icon Award, and a recipient of a BMI Icon Award in 2005...
.
Cover versions
In 1989, French pianist Alex BugnonAlex Bugnon
Alex Bugnon is a jazz pianist and composer from Montreux, Switzerland.Bugnon studied at the Paris Conservatory and the Mozart Academy in Salzburg. At age nineteen, he moved to the U.S...
covered the song from his popular album "Love Season."
In 2001, keyboardist Kevin Toney
Kevin Toney
Kevin Toney is an American pianist and composer, known as an original member of The Blackbyrds and now is a solo artist and performer.-Biography:...
covered the song from his album "Strut." R&B group Guy
Guy
Guy or guys may refer to:* Guy * Guy, an effigy burned on bonfire night...
also covered the song on their 1990 album The Future (Guy album)
The Future
The Future is a studio album from 1992 by Leonard Cohen. It has come to be recognized as his "film-score" album as nearly every one of the songs on the album has appeared in some notable form in a Hollywood film....
. The song featured Evelyn "Champagne" King on vocals.
Structure
The song was markedly different in style from the past few hits, with less emphasis on synthesizers, instead on "light slices of guitar and soft percussion". It is said Charlie's smooth baritoneBaritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
take on the song helped the song become influential to contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
singers such as Keith Sweat
Keith Sweat
Keith Sweat is an American R&B/soul, singer-songwriter, record producer, radio personality and a major contributor to the new jack swing era.-Music career:...
, Johnny Gill
Johnny Gill
Johnny Gill is an American R&B singer-songwriter. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B supergroup New Edition, and was also a member of another supergroup called LSG; with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. His signature song "My, My, My" has been included on numerous romantic...
; R. Kelly
R. Kelly
Robert Sylvester Kelly , better known by his stage name R. Kelly, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. A native of Chicago, Kelly began performing during the late 1980s and debuted in 1992 with the group Public Announcement. In 1993, Kelly went solo with the album 12 Play...
and Gerald Levert
Gerald Levert
Gerald Levert was an American R&B singer. Gerald Levert sang with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon in the R&B trio LeVert. He was also a part of LSG, an R&B supergroup comprising Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill, and Levert...
.
Releases
- Yearning For Your Love/Burn Rubber
- Yearning For Your Love/Humpin'
- Yearning For Your Love/When I Look In Your Eyes
- Yearning for Your Love/Oops Upside Your Head
Sampling
The song has been sampled several times:- "Life's a Bitch" by NasNasNasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...
feat. AZAZ (rapper)Anthony Cruz , better known as AZ is a Grammy-nominated American rapper of Dominican & African American descent. He is known for being a long time and frequent rhyme partner of Nas, and also a member of hip-hop group The Firm alongside Nas, Foxy Brown, Cormega and Nature.In a countdown of the 10...
and Olu DaraOlu DaraOlu Dara Jones is an American cornetist, guitarist and singer.-History:...
(1994) - "Outta My Life" by ParisParis (rapper)Oscar Jackson, Jr. , better known by his stage name Paris is an American rapper from San Francisco, California, known for his highly charged political and socially conscious lyrics...
(1994) - "Yes Yes Y'all" by Will SmithWill SmithWillard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
feat. Camp LoCamp LoCamp Lo is an American hip hop duo, formed in 1995, which hails from The Bronx, New York. The duo consists of rappers Sonny Cheeba and Geechi Suede , both of Muslim upbringing.-Career:...
(1997) - "Keep It Comin'" by Heavy D (1997)
- "Watcha Wanna Do" by Mia XMia XMia Young , better known by her stage name Mia X, was the first female emcee to sign with No Limit Records. In 1992, she released a single titled “Ask Them Niggas.” From 1995 to 1998, Mia X released three albums for No Limit: Good Girl Gone Bad, Unlady Like, and Mama Drama...
feat. Charlie WilsonCharlie Wilson (musician)Charles Kent "Charlie" Wilson is an American R&B singer-songwriter-producer and the former lead vocalist for the Gap Band. As a solo artist he has been nominated for four Grammy awards, received a 2009 Soul Train Icon Award, and a recipient of a BMI Icon Award in 2005...
(1998) - "I-95" by Styles PStyles PDavid Styles better known by his stage name, Styles P, is an American rapper, author, and entrepreneur. He is prominently known as a member of Hip Hop group The LOX and is also a part of the Ruff Ryders hip-hop group, and in addition has released multiple albums and mixtapes as a solo...
feat. Tre WilliamsTre WilliamsTre Williams is an American singer, formerly affiliated with Nas' label, Ill Will Records.- Biography :Williams was born and raised in the projects of Daytona Beach, Florida. He enrolled in Bethune-Cookman College, but dropped out at age 21 and moved to Yonkers, New York to further his career...
(2007) - "Love Like This" by Natasha BedingfieldNatasha BedingfieldNatasha Anne Bedingfield is a British pop singer and songwriter. Bedingfield debuted in the 1990s as a member of the Christian dance/electronic group The DNA Algorithm with her siblings Daniel Bedingfield and Nikola Rachelle...
feat. Sean KingstonSean KingstonSean Kingston is a Jamaican-American singer. He pursued a music career and debuted in 2007 with the album Sean Kingston.-Early life:...
(2008) - "Lifes a Bitch" by ElzhiElzhiJason Powers is a hip-hop artist from Detroit, Michigan. Many Underground fans know him as "Detroit's Best Kept Secret". As a former member of Slum Village he now records as a solo artist...
feat. Royce da 5'9 & Stokley WilliamsStokley WilliamsDavid Stokley Williams is an American singer and percussionist, best known as the lead singer of the band Mint Condition....
On the Eminem,Royce da 5'9,Slaughterhouse, Bad meets EvilBad Meets EvilBad Meets Evil is an American hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan that consists of rappers Royce da 5'9" and Eminem . They are best known for collaborating on a self-titled song that appeared on Eminem's major-label debut album The Slim Shady LP in 1999, their early association with Dr...
prequel mixtape (2011)
Credits
- Lead vocals by Charlie WilsonCharlie Wilson (musician)Charles Kent "Charlie" Wilson is an American R&B singer-songwriter-producer and the former lead vocalist for the Gap Band. As a solo artist he has been nominated for four Grammy awards, received a 2009 Soul Train Icon Award, and a recipient of a BMI Icon Award in 2005...
- Background vocals by Ronnie Wilson (first tenor/falsetto) and Robert Wilson (second tenor)
- Drums by Charlie Wilson
- Guitars by Fred Jenkins
- Bass by Robert Wilson
- Synthesizers by Ronnie Wilson
- Keyboards by Oliver Scott