Released September 23, 1977 Length 4:05 | Recorded 1977 Label A&M | |
Writer(s) Steve Dorff; Larry Herbstritt; Gloria Sklerov; Harry Lloyd | ||
"I Just Fall in Love Again" is a song written by Larry Herbstritt, with co-writers Steve Dorff, Harry Lloyd, and Gloria Sklerov. Herbstritt had composed the melody and chords for the chorus and a chord progression for the verse, which he took to his friend Steve Dorff. Harry Lloyd and Gloria Sklerov completed the lyrics. The song was originally recorded by The Carpenters and later covered by Dusty Springfield, whose version inspired Anne Murray to record her own cover.
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The Carpenters' version
The Carpenters' version was included on the duo's 1977 album Passage. On the Carpenters' official web site, Richard Carpenter notes that he felt the song was perfect for his sister Karen's voice and felt their version had hit-single potential. However, A&M Records decided not to release it because it was considered too long for Top 40 radio stations to play at the time (just over 4 minutes) and could not be abridged.
In 2004, Richard Carpenter added a remixed "I Just Fall in Love Again" to the Carpenters' 2-disc compilation, Gold: 35th Anniversary Edition.
Personnel
Dusty Springfield's version
Recorded in summer 1978 and released in early 1979 on Springfield's Living Without Your Love album the same week her record label, United Artists Records, was sold, the track was subsequently never released as a single and went largely unnoticed by the listening public due to lack of promotion for the album.
Anne Murray's version
When Canadian Country singer Anne Murray heard "I Just Fall in Love Again" as recorded by Dusty Springfield, her favorite female singer, she was inspired to record her own version of the song, releasing it in early 1979, on her Platinum-selling album New Kind of Feeling.
Anne released her version as a single, and it topped Billboard magazine's Country, and Adult Contemporary charts for three weeks, while reaching #11 on the Cash Box Top 100 and #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
It was the first of three successive #1 Country hits and four consecutive #1 Adult Contemporary hits during 1979 and 1980. Though Murray loves the song, she is quoted in The Billboard Book of Number One Adult Contemporary Hits as saying she was surprised at its success on the Country charts, as she didn't feel the song sounded very "country." Nevertheless, Billboard ranked it as the #1 Country hit of 1979. Anne included the song as a posthumous duet with Dusty Springfield on her own 2008 album Duets: Friends & Legends.