Released 1971, 1991 Recorded 1971 Label A&M
1940 | Format Promo CD single Genre Pop | |
Writer(s) Roger Nichols, Paul Williams | ||
"Let Me Be the One" is a song written in 1971 by Roger Nichols and Paul Williams. It first appeared on the 1971 album Carpenters by The Carpenters.
Contents
Background
"Let Me Be the One" is a relatively short song, with a run time of 2:25. Bearing something of a resemblance to "We've Only Just Begun", the song was a potential Carpenters single release in 1971 being Karen Carpenter's choice to follow "For All We Know", but Richard Carpenter doubted the hit potential of "Let Me Be the One" and the choice for single was assigned to "Rainy Days and Mondays". However the album cut "Let Me Be the One" did receive airplay on both Top 40 and MOR radio stations. Paul Williams has described "Let Me Be the One" as "one of those songs that everybody's recorded but it's never been a [major hit] single. It was used very briefly by ABC-TV in 1976: Let us be the one you turn to/ Let us be the one you turn to/ When you need someone you turn to/ Let us be the one."
The 1991 remix for "Let Me Be the One" can only be found on the From the Top box set, for which it was released as a promotional single. It starts off with Karen counting off, and Richard's piano line is very different from the original 1971 mix found on the Carpenters album. In the original 1971 mix, the song fades out; the 1991 remix continues through to the point where Karen and the rest of the musicians create a conclusion.
Personnel
Other versions
The earliest evident recording of "Let Me Be the One" was that made by Nanette Workman being one of five songs recorded with producer Tommy Cogbill recorded in late June 1970 at American Sound Studio in Memphis, with "Let Me Be the One" being afforded a UK single release in November 1970 with the singer credited mononymously as Nanette.
The song was also recorded by Anne Murray for her 1971 album Talk It Over in the Morning with the track being issued as the B-side of Murray's 1972 UK single "Destiny" which spent 4 weeks in the UK Top 50 with a #41 peak on November 4, 1972. Murray also recorded the song as a duet with Glen Campbell on the 1971 Glen Campbell/ Anne Murray album Anne Murray - Glen Campbell.
Al Wilson recorded "Let Me Be the One" for his 1974 album La La Peace Song which featured the song in medley with another Nichols/Williams composition: "I Won't Last a Day Without You",: the track: "I Won't Last a Day Without You"/"Let Me Be the One", was issued as a single in December 1974 to reach #18 on the R&B chart in Billboard magazine while crossing-over to both Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart and the mainstream Pop chart the Billboard Hot 100.
The song has also been recorded by Petula Clark (album Warm and Tender/ 1971), Clodagh Rodgers (album Rodgers and Heart/ 1971), Paul Davis (album Paul Davis/ 1972), Malcolm Roberts (album Living For Life/ 1973), Suzanne Lynch (album Friends With You/ 1973: credited to Suzanne [no surname]), the Temprees (album Love Maze/ 1973), Vikki Carr (album One Hell of a Woman/ 1974), Johnny Mathis ("Let Me Be The One /I Won't Last A Day Without You" medley on album When Will I See You Again/ 1975), Cleo Laine (album Born On A Friday/ 1976), Jack Jones (album All To Yourself (Twenty Golden Greats)/ 1977), Shirley Bassey (album Bassey: The EMI/UA Years 1959-1979/ 1994; also And I Love You So expanded edition/ 2000), and Diana Ross (album Last Time I Saw Him expanded edition/ 2007).