| "I'll Be Around" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:I%27ll_be_around_by_the_spinners_side-B_US_vinyl.png) Side B of the US single | ||||
| Single by The Spinners | ||||
| from the album Spinners | ||||
| A-side | "How Could I Let You Get Away" | |||
| Released | July 1972[1] | |||
| Studio | Sigma Sound, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | |||
| Genre | Philadelphia soul[2][3] | |||
| Length | 3:12 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Thom Bell Phil Hurtt | |||
| Producer(s) | Thom Bell | |||
| The Spinners singles chronology | ||||
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| Vinyl video | ||||
| "I'll Be Around" by The Spinners on YouTube | ||||
"I'll Be Around" is a song recorded by the American R&B vocal group The Spinners (known as "Detroit Spinners" in the UK). It was co-written by Thom Bell and Phil Hurtt and produced by Bell.
Recorded at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios, the house band MFSB provided the backing. The production of the song gives it a smooth, mid-tempo feel, with the signature guitar riff (in octaves) played by Norman Harris at the forefront and punctuation from female background singers, the MFSB horns & strings and conga-playing from Larry Washington. Bobby Smith handles lead vocals on the song.
The song was included on the group's 1973 self-titled album on Atlantic Records, their first album release for the label. It was initially released as the B-side of the group's first single on Atlantic Records, with "How Could I Let You Get Away" being the A-side. Radio deejays, however, soon opted for "I'll Be Around" which led to Atlantic flipping the single over and the song became an unexpected hit, eventually spending five weeks at No.1 on the U.S. R&B chart (the group's first No.1 on the R&B chart), and reaching No.3 on the U.S. Pop chart in the fall of 1972.[4] It also reached sales of over one million copies, The Spinners' first record ever to do so. The success of "I'll Be Around" would be the first in a series of chart successes The Spinners and Bell would have together during the 1970s.
- ^ https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-story-behind-ill-be-around-1497783606 [bare URL]
- ^ Breithaupt, Don; Breithaupt, Jeff (October 15, 1996). "The Sound of Philadelphia: Philly Soul". Precious and Few - Pop Music in the Early '70s. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 52. ISBN 031214704X.
- ^ Rolling Stone Staff (September 24, 2024). "The 101 Greatest Soundtracks of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
...the Spinners' Philly-soul standard "I'll Be Around"...
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 545.