I Was Made to Love Her (song)
| "I Was Made to Love Her" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Stevie Wonder | ||||
| from the album I Was Made to Love Her | ||||
| B-side | "Hold Me" | |||
| Released | 1967 | |||
| Recorded |
Hitsville U.S.A. (Studio A) Detroit, Michigan; 1967 | |||
| Genre | Soul | |||
| Length | 2:37 | |||
| Label | Motown | |||
| Writer(s) | Stevie Wonder, Lula Mae Hardaway, Henry Cosby, Sylvia Moy | |||
| Producer(s) | Henry Cosby | |||
| Stevie Wonder singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"I Was Made to Love Her" is a hit single recorded by American soul musician Stevie Wonder for Motown's Tamla label in 1967 (see 1967 in music). The song was written by Wonder, his mother Lula Mae Hardaway, Sylvia Moy and producer Henry Cosby; and included on Wonder's 1967 album I Was Made to Love Her. Released as a single, "I Was Made to Love Her" peaked at number-two on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in July 1967. The song was held out of the top spot by Light My Fire by The Doors and spent four non-consecutive weeks at number-one on the Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart in the United States.[1]
When asked in a 1968 interview which of his songs stood out in his mind, Wonder answered "I Was Made to Love Her because it's a true song."[2] The song features Wonder's harmonica solo in the introduction. The song also features strings following the bridge section. The song also features the use of an Electric Sitar in the opening and repeated throughout the verse. The last lyric line "You know Stevie ain't gonna leave her," ad libbed by Wonder,[2] refers to the singer himself.
The song was covered by the American band the Beach Boys on their 1967 album Wild Honey featuring Carl Wilson singing the lead vocal. Jimi Hendrix covered the song (with Stevie Wonder on drums) on the BBC Sessions album, by the Jackson 5 on Boogie, Tom Jones on the 1967 album 13 Smash Hits, and with minor changes, by American R&B singer Chaka Khan on her 1978 album Chaka under the name "I Was Made To Love Him". Whitney Houston covered "I Was Made To Love Him" on a hidden track on her 1998 album, My Love is Your Love. Houston's version was produced by Lauryn Hill and changed the opening lyric to "I was born in Newark"—a reference to the singer's New Jersey roots. Most recently, it was covered by Boyz II Men on their album Motown Hitsville USA.
Stevie's version was also heard in D-TV Disney set to the Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet segment of Make Mine Music.
Notes
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 635.
- 1 2 Stevie Wonder interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1970)
External links
| Preceded by "Respect" by Aretha Franklin "Make Me Yours" by Bettye Swann |
Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles number-one single July 15, 1967 August 5–19, 1967 |
Succeeded by "Make Me Yours" by Bettye Swann "Baby I Love You" by Aretha Franklin |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||