All in Love Is Fair

"All in Love Is Fair" is a song by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder recorded for his sixteenth studio album, "Innervisions" (1973). Written and produced by Wonder, it was released as a 7" single in Brazil in 1974. The song is a pop ballad with lyrics that describe the end of a relationship through the use of clichés. Critical reaction to the song was varied: Matthew Greenwald of AllMusic wrote that it was among Wonder's "finest ballad statements", but Robert Christgau felt that the singer's performance was "immature". Wonder has included it on several of his greatest hits albums, including the most recent, 2005's "The Complete Stevie Wonder".
American vocalist Barbra Streisand released "All in Love Is Fair" as a single in 1974 for her fifteenth studio album, "The Way We Were" (1974). Tommy LiPuma handled the production for the 7" single release by Columbia Records. Among music critics, Greenwald called her version "unforgettable", and "Rolling Stone" Stephen Holden wrote that it was "almost as interesting" as Wonder's original. Commercially, the song peaked on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in the United States at number 63, and Canada's Top Singles chart at number 60. The song has been recorded by a number of other artists, including Brook Benton, Nancy Wilson and Cleo Laine.
Release and composition.
"All in Love Is Fair" is taken from Stevie Wonder's sixteenth studio album, "Innervisions", released on August 3, 1973 by Tamla Records. Despite not being released as a commercial single in his native country of the United States, Tapecar Records and Tamla released it as a 7" single sometime in 1974, exclusively in Brazil. It was paired alongside the opener track for side one of "Innervisions", "Too High", a song about drug abuse.
The song is written in the key of D minor with Wonder's vocals ranging from C4 to A5; the vocal is accompanied by Wonder himself on Fender Rhodes, acoustic piano and drums, and by Scott Edwards on electric bass. The lyrics of the composition describe two people who are nearing the end of their relationship; Wonder purposely uses "cliché lines" to get his point across and to prove the clichés true.
A pop ballad, "All in Love Is Fair" was compared to the works of Johnny Mathis by Lenny Kaye of "Rolling Stone" and the editors at "Playboy". Lawrence Gabriel, author of "MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide", described the track as a "classic" pop song. Janine McAdams from "Billboard" found "dramatic intensity" within the lyrics, "I should have never left your side / The writer takes his pen / To write the words again / That all in love is fair". Author Herb Jordan included the track's lyrics in his book "Motown in Love: Lyrics from the Golden Era"; they were placed under the section for songs in which the lyrics detail "lessons of love".
Reception and further promotion.
AllMusic's Matthew Greenwald found "All in Love Is Fair" to be among Wonder's "finest ballad statements", which contained "one of the most graceful and memorable hooks from the era". Brian Ives of radio.com described it as a "beautiful and sad piano ballad" that he thought could have come from the Broadway stage. Robert Christgau disliked Wonder's balladry singing in "All in Love Is Fair", and considered his performance to be "immature". In contrast, author James E. Perone wrote that there was "no better example" of a "pure, autobiographical-sounding vocal showpiece for Stevie Wonder".
After its initial release in 1973, Wonder placed "All in Love Is Fair" on several of his later albums. It was included on the Motown compilation "Baddest Love Jams, Vol. 2: Fire & Desire" in 1995. Wonder's fourth box set, "At the Close of a Century" (1999), also featured the song. In that same year it was featured on "Ballad Collection", and in 2005 it was selected for inclusion on "The Complete Stevie Wonder".
Barbra Streisand version.
Background and recording.
American vocalist Barbra Streisand recorded a version of "All in Love Is Fair" for her fifteenth studio album, "The Way We Were" (1974). Shortly following the commercial success of her previous single, "The Way We Were", Columbia Records began compiling tracks for the singer's then-upcoming fifteenth studio album ("The Way We Were"). Since time was limited, the majority of the tracks were taken from material recorded by Streisand as much as seven years previously. According to the liner notes of her 1991 greatest hits album "Just for the Record", the only tracks specifically created for the album were "All in Love Is Fair", "The Way We Were", "Being at War with Each Other", and "Something So Right". "All in Love Is Fair" was recorded on December 14, 1973, at United Recorders Studios in Los Angeles. It was released in March 1974 as a 7" single through Columbia Records, and would later be paired alongside Streisand's previous single, "The Way We Were", on a 7" single released in 1975, also by Columbia, in the United States and Canada.
Reception.
The staff at "Billboard" described Streisand's cover as a "musical gem", while author Allison J. Waldman enjoyed Streisand's personal take on it. Greenwald from AllMusic liked the singer's cover and wrote of the song's hook, "Streisand's performance – particularly her phrasing of this line – is unforgettable". Stephen Holden from "Rolling Stone" compared her rendition to Wonder's version and wrote that it was "almost as interesting as the original".
Streisand's version of "All in Love Is Fair" achieved moderate commercial success in the United States and Canada. It debuted on the "Billboard" Hot 100 on March 30, 1974, at number 82, becoming the week's "Hot Shot Debut", or the publication's highest entry position for that particular listing. It climbed the chart for an additional three weeks before reaching its peak position on April 20 of the same year, at number 63. The following week, Streisand's rendition dropped to number 75, after which it left the Hot 100. On the Adult Contemporary chart, which was then titled the Easy Listening chart, "All in Love Is Fair" peaked at number 10. On Canada's official chart, compiled by "RPM", it debuted at number 99 for the week of April 6, 1974. It soared twenty places the following week, and two weeks later, on April 27, it reached its peak position at number 60. It also lasted a total of five consecutive weeks in this country.
Promotion.
"All in Love Is Fair" has been included on numerous albums released by Streisand. Its first appearance after "The Way We Were" was on "Barbra Streisand's Greatest Hits Volume 2" (1978). She also included it on "Just for the Record" (1991) and "The Essential Barbra Streisand" (2002).
References.
Works cited