All This Love (song)

"All This Love" is a song written and composed by El DeBarge and recorded by the family musical group DeBarge on the Gordy label. The song was released as the second single from their second studio album of the same title.

The single would help DeBarge rise to R&B stardom.

Overview

History

In 1982, having released one album that did not go anywhere, DeBarge went into recording their follow-up with their own songs, chiefly handled by El DeBarge, who was also the main lead singer and focal point of the group, including the song, "All This Love", in which DeBarge sung in a high tenor and had written it in a year earlier in hopes then-label mate and longtime idol Marvin Gaye would record it.

Gaye had served as El's inspiration for the song, hinted in the group's harmonizing in the final part of the song, which was similar to Gaye's "I Want You" vocal style period. By the following year, Gaye had left the label and DeBarge ended up recording it themselves. Producing this song with Berry Gordy's niece Iris, the single was issued as the third release from All This Love.

Reception

Much like their first hit, "I Like It", "All This Love" was immediately embraced by the R&B community while the group gained a pop fan base. In the US, The single reached number 5 on the Billboard R&B chart, number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Adult Contemporary chart,^[1] helping its parent album of the same name reach gold status by the summer of 1983.

Gwen Guthrie recorded a cover version in 1987. It appears on the John Blake album Adventures of the Heart.

The record would be sampled by rapper AZ on the song "Problems" and covered by R&B legend Patti LaBelle for her 1994 album, Gems. LaBelle's version, produced by Teddy Riley and released as a single, peaked at #42 on the Billboard R&B chart. DeBarge and LaBelle later sung the song together in a duet live in concert.

Detroit guitarist Calvin Brooks covered the song in 1990 from the My Favorite Thing album.

Mexican-American percussionist Pete Escovedo, along with saxophonist Gerald Albright did an instrumental version of "All This Love" for Escovedo's album Flying South in 1995, which had considerable air time on smooth jazz radio stations.

The song was also covered by Boyz II Men and released on their compilations of Motown hits. R&B group Xscape also covered the song on the New York Undercover episode "Sympathy for the Devil" in 1996, and also appears on the soundtrack for the show.

Samples

In 1996, Rapper Da Brat sampled the track for "Ghetto Love" on her second album Anuthatantrum. T-Boz of TLC sung an interpolation of the first verse of the Debarge track as the opening and the same chorus. In 2004, Angie Stone sang an interpolation of the outro as the chorus to her song "I wanna Thank Ya" from her album Stone Love.

Charts

Personnel

• Lead vocals and keyboards by El DeBarge
• Background vocals by DeBarge
• Produced by El DeBarge and Iris Gordy
• Guitar solo by José Feliciano

See also

• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1983 (U.S.)

References