from SOUL
Written by Kenneth Gamble & Leon Huff
“If You Don’t Know Me By Now” is a classic R&B slow jam co-written by noted songwriters and “Philly Sound” hit-makers Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff. It seemed like the song was originally written for the powerful R&B trio, Labelle. Actually, it was eventually recorded by soul act Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes.
“If You Don’t Know Me By Now” was released in September 1972 and met immediate success in both sales and radio play. This ballad, with its gorgeous melody and beautiful lyrics was sung by the fabulous Teddy Pendergrass (1950-2010). The song went to #3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and #1 on the R&B chart. Seventeen years later, in 1989, British pop-soul act Simply Red recorded a new version of “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” that gave this classic tune another impressive run of success. Simply Red’s cover, sung by the group’s leader Mick Hucknall, skyrocketed to #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and reached the top ten of the worldwide charts.
Among the more recent covers of “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” stands the one by UK superstar Seal who recorded it for his 2008 hit cd, Soul. Seal’s take of the Gamble & Huff masterpiece was produced by David Foster who was at the helm of the whole Soul project. Foster’s arrangement breathed new life into the trademark melody. Foster played some beautiful piano, thus perfectly supporting the singer’s noteworthy performance. Foster’s and Seal’s take on such a well-known composition was totally on target and would have made Teddy Pendergrass proud. In fact, this cover was a top ten Adult Contemporary hit. The song even brought the UK singing sensation a well-deserved Grammy nod as Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.
To end the review, David Foster kindly added some welcome notes about this production:
“We really took a chance with this song as it had been a hit twice already for Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes and Simply Red. I’ve always loved ‘If You Don’t Love Me By Now’ and it was a perfect song to show off Seal’s amazing vocal skills and some nice DF piano. To this day, I think it’s one of Seal’s best vocals ever. Also, it’s a fun and easy song to perform live with just piano and vocal.”
- Lead & Backing Vocals: Seal
- Acoustic Piano & Keyboards: David Foster
- Guitar: Michael Thompson
- Bass: Nathan East
- Organ & Drum Programming: Jochem van der Saag
- Produced & Arranged by David Foster
- Co-Produced by Jochem van der Saag
Lyrics
All the things
That we’ve been through
You should understand me
Like I understand you
Now girl I know the difference
Between right and wrong
I ain’t gonna do nothing
To break up our happy home
Don’t get so excited
When I come home
A little late at night
Cos we only act like children
When we argue fuss and fight
If you don’t know me by now
You will never never never know me
We’ve all got our
Own funny moods
I’ve got mine,
Woman you’ve got yours too
Just trust in me like I trust in you
As long as we’ve been together
It should be so easy to do
Just get yourself together
Or we might as well say goodbye
What good is a love affair
When you can’t see eye to eye
If you don’t know me by now
You will never
Never never know me