I feel like everybody knows this song. But if you’re anything like me, you’re not sure how you know it. It certainly wasn’t from the time Nancy Wilson had her first hit with it back in 1964 because I was a tiny kid at the time.
She was considered a jazz singer until she recorded it Jimmy Williams and Larry Harrison’s song with the express intention of recording a Top 40 hit.
She succeeded, going on to win a Grammy for best R&B recording… Which surprised her as she thought of it as a pop song and while it hit no.2 on Billboard’s pop-standard singles chart, it only reached no.45 on the R&B chart.
It made Wilson a one-hit wonder for a few years, until she had a second in 1968 with Face it Girl, It’s Over, a lavishly orchestrated ballad that showcased her powerfully emotive voice.
After recording what are regarded as her best records with Cannonball Adderley, she often moved away from jazz, much to the chagrin of purists, and toured extensively with everyone from Nat King Cole and Sarah Vaughan to Ruth Brown and LaVern Baker.
She even hosted her own Emmy-winning variety series for NBC, The Nancy Wilson Show, and was a frequent guest performer on other programmes, but always maintained her connections to the jazz world.
By the 1990s, she was a favourite among the “new adult contemporary” market, her style ideally suited to the format’s penchant for lush, romantic ballads, and in the early 2000s she recorded two albums with Ramsey Lewis.
Nancy Wilson died at her home in December 2018 after a long illness.