Recorded - November 1965
Released - December 1965 (US), January 1966 (UK)
#1 for weeks of February 5 and 12, 1966.
As much as I love reviewing songs I am very familiar with, I always relish the idea of hearing overlooked songs for the first time. "My Love" by Petula Clark is one of those. Seeing as there aren't too many songs of hers I have listened to over the years, I don't have my usual personal knowledge on the song's history. However, from what I can gather, this song was actually recorded in Los Angeles using The Wrecking Crew as musicians.
I admit to being a bit harsh and even rather condescending when I was reviewing her best known hit, "Downtown". Despite me now feeling like I should approach "My Love" with a more delicate critique, apparently Petula wasn't crazy about the song. So as I settle down to give it the mandatory three listens a piece, let's see if it's really as bad as she said it was at the time, or if it's actually quite good...
Well...I'm going to have to mostly agree with Petula's initial opinions of the song, It's not among her best. I will start out with the positives: The use of The Wrecking Crew as the backup band was a great idea. Seeing how around this November 1965 time period, many of these musicians were just starting to work with Brian Wilson on Pet Sounds, there is a very full and complex musical arrangement.
I'll also admit that the use of key changes as the song progresses is a nice touch. I'll even go as far as to say the music of the vocals is catchy. However, the actual lyrics themselves are way too fluffy. The chorus of the song especially comes across as way too poppy, with some very repetitious and cliche love lyrics. Hearing the words "My Love" repeated over and over again isn't a very pleasant experience for me.
There were apparently a whole album's worth of songs recorded during these November 1965 sessions. I searched some of them up out of curiosity and found such gems like, "The Thirty-First Of June". Wow, talk about an improvement! This should have been a single as it takes everything I found decent about "My Love", improves upon it, and contains far superior lyrics.
Final Verdict - Petula Clark has put out much stronger material than "My Love". The song is heavily let down by its lyrics, which sound way too poppy for a song released in 1965/6. I certainly wouldn't consider it among the best of 1966. At least I can say that there were better songs of her's during this time period, and that some are even worth checking out.
Coming Up Next - "Lightnin' Strikes" by Lou Christie.
Until Next Time, I'm Dr. Rock, and I sleep in the subway -
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