My Love (Petula Clark song)

"My Love" is a 1965 single release by Petula Clark which in early 1966 became an international hit, reaching #1 in the US: Clark's regular songwriter and producer Tony Hatch was responsible for "My Love".

In November 1965 Tony Hatch, on a flight from London to Los Angeles, was putting the finishing touches on his composition "The Life and Soul of the Party" which he planned to record with Clark in Los Angeles to serve as her next single. In casual conversation with the American sitting next to him Hatch was advised that this song's title would be meaningless to the American public. Hatch then proceeded to write lyrics for a song whose title - "My Love" - could not conceivably present any comprehension issue; these lyrics were completed on the plane and Hatch wrote the music for "My Love" soon after landing.

"My Love" was recorded at Western Studios^[1] and featured the backing of the Wrecking Crew.^[2]

Released in December 1965, "My Love" became Clark's second single to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1966 making Clark the first British female to have two US #1 hits. Also a #1 hit in Canada, "My Love" returned Clark to the UK Top Ten for the first time since "Downtown" two years previous with a March 1966 peak of #4. "My Love" became a certified Gold record for US sales of one million units and in the UK the single earned a Silver disc for sales of 200,000 units.

"My Love" also provided Clark with a hit in Australia (#4), New Zealand (#6), Rhodesia (#1) and South Africa (#6) and reached #13 in both the Netherlands and the Dutch speaking region of Belgium. In Germany "My Love" became a hit first in its original English version (#13) and then again when rendered in German as "Verzeih' die dummen Tränen" (Forgive the foolish tears) (#21). Translated recordings by Clark also made "My Love" a hit in France and Italy, respectively as "Mon amour" (#12) and "L'amore e il vento" (Love is the wind) (#24).

Cover versions

• Karina and Gelu both rendered the song in Spanish in 1967 as "Mi amor".
• Hannele Laaksonen rendered the song in Finnish as "Rakkauteni".
• Sonny James (C&W singer) covered "My Love" in 1970. His version reached No. 1 that May on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart, in the midst of his then-record string of 16-straight No. 1 singles in as many releases ^[3]. Also in 1970 C&W singer Barbara Fairchild recorded "My Love" for her debut album Someone Special.
• Mrs. Miller covered the song in 1966, on her debut album with Capitol Records entitled Mrs. Miller's Greatest Hits and is on the 1997 compilation CD of her work released on Capitol's Ultra-Lounge label: Wild, Cool & Swingin', The Artist Collection Vol. 3: Mrs. Miller.
• John Davidson covered it in 1966 for his album Time of My Life!.
• Florence Henderson (Actress/singer) performed the song as a serenade on the famous 1969 "Tonight Show" segment in which Tiny Tim married Miss Vicky.

References