Yearning for Your Love

"Yearning for Your Love"
Single by The Gap Band
from the album The Gap Band III
B-side	"Oops Upside Your Head" "Burn Rubber on Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)" "Humpin'" "When I Look In Your Eyes"
Released	1981
Recorded	1980
Genre	R&B Quiet Storm Funk
Length	3:59 (single) 5:43 (album version)
Label	Mercury
Writer(s)	Oliver Scott Ronnie Wilson
The Gap Band singles chronology
"Humpin'" (1980) '"Yearning for Your Love"' (1981) "Early in the Morning" (1981)

"Yearning for Your Love" is a quiet storm ballad recorded and released by The Gap Band on Mercury Records. The single was the third release off the band's fifth album, The Gap Band III. Four different singles, each with a different B-side, were released in 1981.

The song became a modest hit on the US and UK charts when it was released; it arose to number five on the Hot Soul Singles chart and number sixty on the Billboard Hot 100. Written by Gap Band backing member/keyboardist Oliver Scott and keyboardist Ronnie Wilson, it was a romantic love song dedicated to Wilson's wife at the time and was performed by Ronnie's brother Charlie Wilson.

Cover versions

In 1989, French pianist Alex Bugnon covered the song from his popular album "Love Season."^[1]

In 1990, Guy also covered the song on their 1990 album The Future.^[2]

In 2001, keyboardist Kevin Toney covered the song from his album "Strut". The song featured Evelyn "Champagne" King on vocals.^[3]

Structure

The song was markedly different in style from the past few hits,^[4] with less emphasis on synthesizers, instead on "light slices of guitar, smooth keyboard pads and soft percussion". It is said Charlie's smooth baritone take on the song helped the song become influential to contemporary R&B singers such as Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill; and Gerald Levert.

Releases

1. Yearning For Your Love/Burn Rubber^[5]
2. Yearning For Your Love/Humpin'^[6]
3. Yearning For Your Love/When I Look In Your Eyes ^[7]
4. Yearning for Your Love/Oops Upside Your Head ^[8]

Sampling

The song has been sampled several times:

• "Life's a Bitch" by Nas feat. AZ and Olu Dara (1994)
• "Gank Move" by Big Mello (1992)
• "Outta My Life" by Paris (1994)
• "My Woman" by Coop MC (1995)
• "Sacramento Summertime" by Gangsta Dre (1996)
• "Keep Hustlin" by WC feat. E-40 and Too Short (1998)
• "Keep It Comin'" by Heavy D (1997)
• "Watcha Wanna Do" by Mia X feat. Charlie Wilson (1998)
• "I-95" by Styles P feat. Tre Williams (2007)
• "It's Going Down by Parle (2000)
• "Love Like This" by Natasha Bedingfield feat. Sean Kingston (2008)
• "Lifes a Bitch" by Elzhi feat. Royce da 5'9 & Stokley Williams (2011)
• "Real" by Common feat. Elijah Blake (2014)

Credits

• Lead vocals by Charlie Wilson
• Background vocals by Oliver Scott, Ronnie Wilson and Robert Wilson
• Drums by Ronnie Kaufman
• Guitars by Fred Jenkins, Glenn Nightingale
• Bass by Robert Wilson
• Synthesizers by Ronnie Wilson
• Keyboards by Oliver Scott

References

The Gap Band
Charlie Wilson Ronnie Wilson Robert Wilson
Studio albums	Magicians Holiday (1974) The Gap Band (1977) The Gap Band (1979) The Gap Band II (1979) The Gap Band III (1980) Gap Band IV (1982) Gap Band V: Jammin' (1983) Gap Band VI (1984) Gap Band VII (1985) Gap Band 8 (1986) Straight From The Heart (1988) Round Trip (1989) Testimony (1994) Ain't Nothin' But a Party (1995) Y2K: Funkin' Till 2000 Comz (1999)
Live albums	Live & Well (1996)
Compilation albums	The Best of The Gap Band (1995)
Songs	"Oops Up Side Your Head" "Burn Rubber on Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)" "Humpin'" "Yearning for Your Love" "Early in the Morning" "You Dropped a Bomb on Me" "Outstanding" "Party Train" "Going in Circles" "All of My Love"
Related articles	Discography Lonnie Simmons Total Experience Records
Book:The Gap Band