I'm in Love (Bobby Womack song) explained

I'm in Love
Type:	single
Artist:	Aretha Franklin
Album:	Let Me in Your Life
B-Side:	Oh Baby
Released:	1974
Recorded:	1973
Genre:	Soul
Length:	2:48
Label:	Atlantic
Producer:	Aretha Franklin, Arif Mardin, Jerry Wexler
Prev Title:	Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)
Prev Year:	1973
Next Title:	Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing
Next Year:	1974

"I'm in Love" is a song written by Bobby Womack. It was first recorded by Wilson Pickett in 1967, which gave him a top-ten R&B hit on Billboard's chart in 1968, peaking at number 4 as well as peaking at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[1]

Background

"I'm in Love" was written in response to some of the criticism he had been receiving after marrying the widow of the recently deceased Sam Cooke.

Cover versions

• Womack himself recorded his version of the song in 1968 shortly after Pickett's version was released and included it on his 1969 album, Fly Me to the Moon.
• The version to achieve the most success came in 1974, when Aretha Franklin released it as a single. Her version hit number 1 on Billboard's R&B chart for two weeks and also peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[2] Wilson Pickett's version is most recently used as the back-track for Nature of the Beast's "When It's Good".
• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers covered the song in concert in the early 1980s, and a version is featured on their set The Live Anthology.
• The Temptations covered the song in 2007 in the studio album Back to Front.

Personnel

Wilson Pickett version^{[3] [4]}

• Produced by Tommy Cogbill & Tom Dowd^[5]
• Wilson Pickett - vocals
• Gene Chrisman - drums
• Tommy Cogbill - electric bass
• Bobby Emmons - organ
• Bobby Wood - piano
• Bobby Womack - lead guitar
• Reggie Young - additional guitar
• Charlie Chalmers - tenor saxophone
• King Curtis - tenor saxophone
• Gene "Bowlegs" Miller - trumpet
• Floyd Newman - baritone saxophone

Bobby Womack version^[3]

• Produced by Chips Moman^[6]
• Bobby Womack - vocals, guitar,^[7] musical arrangement
• Gene Chrisman - drums
• Bobby Emmons - organ
• Mike Leech - bass, musical arrangement
• Bobby Wood - piano
• Reggie Young - guitar

Aretha Franklin version^{[8] [3] [9]}

• Aretha Franklin - lead vocals
• Judy Clay - background vocals
• Gwen Guthrie - background vocals
• Cissy Houston - background vocals
• Deidre Tuck - background vocals
• William Eaton - orchestral arrangement
• Stan Clarke - bass
• Cornell Dupree - guitar
• Donny Hathaway - acoustic piano
• Bob James - additional keyboards
• Ralph MacDonald - percussion
• Rick Marotta - drums
• Gene Orloff - concertmaster
• David Spinozza - guitar

Notes and References

1. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 461.
2. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 215.
3. Web site: Franklin . Aretha . I'm in Love . Songfacts . 24 September 2019 .
4. Web site: Pickett. Wilson. Atlantic Recording Sessions: July 1 & 3, 1967 (Memphis, TN) . Jazz Disco . 24 September 2019 .
5. Pickett, Wilson. "I'm in Love" (Original Album Notes). Atlantic. 1968.
6. Womack, Bobby. "Fly Me to the Moon" (Original Album Notes). Minit. 1968.
7. Web site: Womack . Bobby . Fly Me to the Moon . Allmusic . January 1969 . 24 September 2019 .
8. Web site: Aretha Franklin with William Eaton Orchestra . Atlantic Recording Sessions: April 10, 1973 (NYC) . Jazz Disco . 24 September 2019 .
9. Franklin, Aretha. "Let Me in Your Life" (Original Album Notes). Atlantic. 1974.