I Just Want to Be Your Everything

"I Just Want to Be Your Everything" is a song recorded by Andy Gibb, initially released in April 1977 as the first single from his debut album Flowing Rivers. It reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, starting on the week ending 30 July 1977, and again for the week ending 17 September 1977. It was Gibb's first single released in the United Kingdom and United States. His previous single, "Words and Music" was only released in Australia. It is ranked number 26 on Billboard's 55th anniversary All Time Top 100.[3]

"I Just Want to Be Your Everything"
Single by Andy Gibb
from the album Flowing Rivers
B-side"In the End"
ReleasedApril 1977
RecordedOctober 1976
StudioCriteria (Miami)
Genre
Length3:47 (album version)
3:34 (single version)
LabelRSO
Songwriter(s)Barry Gibb
Producer(s)Gibb-Galuten-Richardson
Andy Gibb singles chronology
"Words and Music"
(1975)		 "I Just Want to Be Your Everything"
(1977)		 "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water"
(1977)

Writing and recording

"I Just Want to Be Your Everything" was written by Barry Gibb in Bermuda, as well as "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water" with Andy Gibb credited as co-writer on the latter.[4] It was recorded in October 1976; the sessions were produced mainly by Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson and with Barry on this track and "(Love Is) Thicker than Water"; Galuten also played keyboards and piano. Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh contributed guitar on this song.[5] The track is a fairly dramatic love song, with the singer declaring his unending passion and stating that without her, he would die.[6]

Andy reveals, "'I Just Want to Be Your Everything' was one of the most meaningful of all form, you know." He later recalls Barry Gibb's writing style:[7]

"So, once we discussed it all and got the deal together, me and Barry locked ourselves in a bedroom and Barry just started writing. When Barry writes, it is very hard to collaborate with him, because he is so quick. And before I knew it he was starting to do the chorus of ['I Just Want to Be Your Everything'], and I thought, 'Wow what a hook!'. He's an expert at his craft. Within about 20 minutes, he'd written a number one record; and then we went right into another one, ['(Love Is) Thicker than Water'.][7]

Two mixes were prepared for the song; the more popular mix was released on the album & as the single version and the earlier mix was used for promotional purposes. The promo version had an additional keyboard that at times competed with the lead vocal. The drummer's high-hat count during both breakdowns was completely mixed out and Gibb's harmony vocal is more prevalent during ad-libs.

Release and chart success

In Billboard, the song spent a cumulative four weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart. The song first reached the top of the chart on July 30 for the first of three consecutive weeks. Then, The Emotions went to No. 1 with "Best of My Love" on August 20 for the first of four straight weeks, during which time Gibb's song remained in the top three. When the Emotions fell out of the #1 spot, "I Just Want to be your Everything" shot back to #1 for an additional week, on September 17. It was replaced once again by "Best of My Love", but would spend a record 16 weeks in the top 10. That record would be surpassed in early 1978, by his brothers, Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb, performing as The Bee Gees, when their song "How Deep is Your Love" spent 17 weeks in the top 10. On Billboard's Hot 100, "I Just Want to be your Everything" ultimately enjoyed a 31-week chart run spanning from the end of April through the end of November.[8]

In Billboard's competitor magazine Cashbox, Gibb's hit stayed at #1 for three consecutive weeks, spent 12 weeks in the top 10, and 29 weeks on the Top 100.[9]

Cash Box said that "a high-pitched, boyish voice is the vehicle for this happy love song."[10] Record World said that "a sure pop touch should take this tune penned by brother Barry right up the charts."[11]

On the Top Singles Chart of Record World (another Billboard competitor), "I Just Want to be your Everything" racked up a five-week stay at #1, which, like its four-week run on Billboard, was interrupted by The Emotions' "Best of My Love". On the Record World chart, Gibb hit #1 on August 6, stayed there on August 13, then yielded to The Emotions for two weeks, before returning to #1 for two additional weeks beginning on September 3.[12] It had a record 15 weeks in Record World's top 10, from mid-July to late October, and spent of a total of 32 weeks in the top 100.[13]

"I Just Want to be Your Everything" was Andy Gibb's longest-running chart single on Billboard, Record World, and Cashbox. In terms of year-end charts, they all ranked "I Just Want to be your Everything" as the #2 song of 1977,[14][15][16] bested by Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life" (in Cashbox and Record World) and by "Tonight's the Night" by Rod Stewart (in Billboard).[17] Gibb's song also appeared on the Soul Singles chart, peaking at number 19 and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male at the 20th Grammy Awards. The song became a gold record.

Personnel
  • Harold Cowart — bass
  • Ron Ziegler — drums
  • Nelson "Flaco" Padrón — percussion

Chart performance

Connie Smith's version
"I Just Want to Be Your Everything"
Single by Connie Smith
from the album New Horizons
ReleasedOctober 1977
Recorded1977
GenreCountry, Country pop
Length3:16
LabelMonument Records
Songwriter(s)Barry Gibb
Connie Smith singles chronology
"Coming Around"
(1977)		 "I Just Want to Be Your Everything"
(1977)		 "Lovin' You Baby"
(1978)

The best-known cover version of "I Just Want to Be Your Everything" was recorded by American country music artist Connie Smith. Released in the autumn of 1977, Smith's version, according to AMG reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine, was "relatively faithful" to Gibb's version[34] and — given its disco-influenced sound — also a departure from her honky-tonk songs of the 1960s and early 1970s.[34]

"I Just Want to Be Your Everything" peaked at #14 on Billboard Magazine's Hot Country Songs chart in 1978, becoming her last significant hit, as her further hits for Monument Records, such as "Lovin' You Baby" and "They'll Never Be Another for Me," peaked in progressively lower positions on the country chart between 1978 and 1979.[34]

Chart performance
Chart (1978) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot Country Singles[35] 14
Canadian RPM Country Tracks[36] 23

References
  1. Breithaupt, Don; Breithaupt, Jeff (May 13, 2014). Night Moves: Pop Music in the Late '70s. St. Martin's Publishing Group. ISBN 9781466871380 – via Google Books.
  2. Breihan, Tom (November 15, 2019). "The Number Ones: Andy Gibb's "I Just Want To Be Your Everything"". Stereogum. Retrieved July 4, 2023. The song is the same kind of slick, ingratiating lite-funk that had become the Bee Gees' trademark.
  3. Bronson, Fred (2 August 2012). "Hot 100 55th Anniversary: The All-Time Top 100 Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  4. "Island Ignited Bee Gees' Musical "Fever"". Bernews. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  5. Brennan, Joseph. "Gibb Songs: 1976". Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  6. "Andy Gibb - I Just Want to Be Your Everything Songfacts". Songfacts. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  7. Hughes, Andrew (2009). The Bee Gees - Tales of the Brothers Gibb. ISBN 9780857120045. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  8. [Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2002]
  9. "Cash Box Top 100 11/12/77". www.tropicalglen.com. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  10. "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. April 23, 1977. p. 20. Retrieved 2021-12-26.
  11. "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. April 23, 1977. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  12. en:Record_World, oldid 887965017
  13. "American Radio History - Record World" (PDF). American Radio History. 2019-06-27. Retrieved 2019-06-27.
  14. en:Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1977, oldid 898783853
  15. "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1977". www.tropicalglen.com. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  16. "Record World 1977 Year End Pop Singles" (PDF). Record World. 35 #1590: 196 pp. December 31, 1977.
  17. Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1977
  18. David Kent (1993). Australian Charts Book 1970—1992. Australian Chart Book Pty Ltd, Turramurra, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  19. "Songs Written by the Gibb Family on the International Charts" (PDF). brothergibb.org. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  20. "CAN Charts > Andy Gibb". RPM. Archived from the original on 2013-11-13. Retrieved 2013-05-20.
  21. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1977-07-09. Retrieved 2019-10-13.
  22. "Andy Gibb - I Just Want to Be Your Everything". chart.org.nz. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  23. "Andy Gibb Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  24. "Andy Gibb - Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  25. "Andy Gibb - Chart History on the Adult Contemporary Charts". Billboard. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  26. "US Charts > Andy Gibb". Billboard. Retrieved 2013-05-20.
  27. "Cashbox Magazine: July 30, 1977". Cashbox. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  28. Steffen Hung. "Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on 2016-06-02. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  29. Canada, Library and Archives (17 July 2013). "Image : RPM Weekly". Library and Archives Canada.
  30. "Top Selling Singles of 1977 | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. 1977-12-31. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  31. "Top 100 Hits of 1977/Top 100 Songs of 1977". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  32. "Billboard Easy Listening Charts Singles". Billboard Magazine. 24 December 1977. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  33. "Hot 100 turns 60". Billboard. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  34. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas, Greatest Hits on Monument by Connie Smith, Allmusic
  35. Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. pp. 387–388. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
  36. "Search results for "Connie Smith"". RPM. Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2009-07-31.
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