Who Did It Better? I Won't Last A Day Without You

Who Did It Better? 

I Won't Last A Day Without You

Sometimes a song sure can take its sweet time finding its way up the charts. And sometimes the one who records it first turns out to be the one with the goods. That is certainly the case with today's Who Did It Better? selection, an odd example of a song taking a full two years to find its way to the top of the charts in the US, despite being sung by some true pop powerhouses.

I Won't Last a Day Without You is a song with lyrics written by Paul Williams and music composed by Roger Nichols.

In 1972, Richard Carpenter had learned of a new song by Williams and Nichols, who had already contributed We've Only Just Begun and Rainy Days and Mondays to the Carpenters hits catalog. It was  included as a track on the duo's 1972 album A Song for You. 

While it was released in the UK in September of 1972 as a double-A side with Goodbye to Love, it was not released as a single in the US until 1974. In the UK, the double-A side single reached #9, spending 14 weeks on the chart.

In the interim between the Carpenters UK and US release of the song as a single, I Won't Last a Day Without You did not go unnoticed by other artists. 

The song's lyricist, Paul Williams included it on his 1972 album Life Goes On, and issued it as a single in 1973, though it only bubbled under the Hot 100 at #106.

Maureen McGovern, flush with success after her hit The Morning After, released it as a single in 1973. Her version managed to reach #89 on Billboard's Hot 100 and #14  on the Adult Contemporary chart in the US, while in Canada, her version made it to #12 on the Adult Contemporary. chart.

Diana Ross recorded it for her 1973 album Touch Me in the Morning, but it was designated as the B-side of the album's title track - which went on to became a #1 hit.

Barbra Streisand, who'd made the move to pop music in 1972, included a version on her 1974 album, Butterfly.

By the time the Carpenters got around to finally releasing the song as a single in the US, their 1972 album, A Song For You, had already spun off five successful singles, the last of which Top Of The World, was released in September of 1973. Their belated release of I Won't Last a Day Without You as a single in March of 1974, almost seems like an after thought - but a very successful one.

 

It ended up being the Carpenters' ninth #1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart and did likewise in Canada. On the Hot 100 in the US, it managed to reach #11, while hitting #7 on Canada's pop chart. In addition, it also snagged the #1 spot in Japan. 

And that's the whole story.

Now? On to the competition!

The Song: I Won't Last A Day Without You

The Competitors: Williams vs. McGovern vs. Ross vs. Streisand vs. Carpenters

I Won't Last A Day Without You - Paul Williams

I Won't Last A Day Without You - Maureen McGovern

I Won't Last A Day Without You - Diana Ross

I Won't Last A Day Without You - Barbra Streisand

I Won't Last A Day Without You - Carpenters

Paul Williams

Very pristine acoustic guitar intro. What's not to love? Along with the skeletal acoustic piano, it helps create an atmosphere not meant to overpower the singer. Smart move. Especially when that singer is Paul Williams.

I'm not saying his elfin vocals are without charm - there's something spry and lyrical to his voice. But he's not a showstopper. He's an acquired taste. Thankfully, he's just quirky enough for me to appreciate. 

His vocals are right on top of the mix, keeping him in focus. If the powers that be are wise - they won't push it. 

Unfortunately... those strings - which should ride beneath all - come in on the chorus at a level which competes with Williams.  The then treat his vocals with a kind of reverb before doubling for the emotional punch of "I can take all the madness...". 

After that? We evolve into elevator music. Oh, dear.... a damn flute. And... by the 1:48 mark, I am done. This is variety show schlock of the highest order. 

And a damn trumpet. I don't even recognize the C-section, as they try to make it... what? Funky? Two things that exist in polar opposite dimensions? Funky and Paul Williams.

That said... it's a lovely, well-written song. Had the producers been smart, they would have kept things simple and allowed Williams to work his elfin magic. 

As is? Both singer and song are overwhelmed a bit. Like many an ABC TV Movie of The Week - this has not aged well. 

Treacly piano, over-brushed percussion, canned trumpet... and it just goes on and on.

Mr. Williams is right... there is no getting over. 

Maureen McGovern

A very sophisticated string-driven opening. But McGovern has chops... she can handle it. 

She has a lovely tone and is, technically, a fine singer... the type vocal coaches point to as hallmarks. Her articulation is exquisite - sometimes to the detriment of whatever emotional message she may be delivering. 

Her weakness is on display, almost instantly. Listen to the coned manner in which she intones "long". The carry through, vocally, is admirable, but it lacks color, it lacks emotional motivation to even do so. In pop songs? There are words, phrases even, which are meant to be thrown away. Proper emphasis on each syllable? Not necessary. This is pop... not Broadway.

That said, the bed of strings she rides upon is a lovely compliment to her overall sound. 

And she simply slips right into that chorus with the brightest sound possible, opening up those notes big time. Talented? No argument, here. That's a gift. Even saddled with this cozy Ramada Inn-style arrangement, she's spinning gold. 

I don't like what she does with the word "true". It's one syllable, dear, not two. And she oddly coddles the word 'world', in an effort to avoid singing that 'r', calling more attention to it than she should. 

Is that an oboe? Such a lovely sound. Very 'Carpenters'.

Now... I do love a singer who can play with an 's', which she handily does on "face" and "place". It's just enough of a give, that I can put up with her overly-mannered style of singing. Case in point? "Smah-iiiile." What is that? 'Smile' is also only one syllable, dear, not two. 

Okay... so I could go on and on ripping on her odd vocal tics. Fact is... she has a lovely voice. The arrangement allows her to shine. It's treacly, homogenized, and a bit mundane, but that smile in her voice, that light she brings to it, saves the day.

That said - it's a very professional reading of the piece... but rather impersonal and non-reflective.

The weird xylophone stuff during chorus #2? Meh.  

The C-section strikes me as overly busy, sort of early disco-like. 

Third verse - listen to that articulation. That is amazing. It's like Julie Andrews - and that's who she reminds me of!

A brief aside - when it came time to find a replacement for Julie Andrews in the Broadway production of Victor/Victoria - guess who they tapped on the shoulder? Hmmm!

Okay... I'm done with this. 

She's lovely. This is a nice piece of work, but not her best, but pleasant all the same. 

The disconnect here is due to a lack of emotional connection and personal reflection. She's doing a bang up job of singing a great pop song. But she hasn't digested it enough to actually interpret the words she's delivering in such a professional manner.

Maybe she simply wasn't allowed enough time with the material. 

Diana Ross

Huh. Rather upbeat and uptown. I keep expecting more cowbell. 

I like how that guitar (?) sort of snakes around her syncopated vocals. It's fun. 

Oh, I adore how she pulls notes like they are taffy. So smart. Sugar don't melt in that mouth. 

She gets a bit swamped by the arrangement, which had been playing along with the lady's coy act up until then... suddenly they are a solid unit and while Ms. Ross is up to the task, the magic that existed up until then evaporates almost immediately. Still, she acquits herself quite nicely. Love her turtle-doving the word "true". 

But then they double her vocals??? Why? It comes off so shrill. 

This lady is all about charm and that sunshine that beams when she opens her mouth. She doesn't need to be doubled in this manner in order to deliver an emotional wallop.

 There's something rathe Eastern Asian-sounding with the arrangement on the verses. I wish they'd found a way to carry it over to the chorus, because Ms. Ross knows how to toy with it perfectly. Unfortunately, they mess with the one thing that was working. We don't need heavy horns beneath. We don't need a back-up vocal echoing what she just sang. Dumb. 

Motown. Full of dumb, sometimes. Here you have a unique, marvelous talent who sparkles effortlessly - simply let her! Don't make her compete with stale musical ideas. Dumb. Just dumb. It get's so shrill. And the strings are so hackneyed and unnecessary.

I like the C-section. Could do without the backing vocals, though. She carries it just fine. She is simply so damn charming!

Oh, my... third voice. Waterworks. There is so much vulnerability on display with this performer. I get verklempt. 

I would love to strip out the arrangement and just listen to her sing. Sigh. The way she leans in to a phrase or a word. Magic. 

She's brilliant. And at the top of her game. 

The arrangement and production work? Uh-uh. 

Leave that crap at the curb.

Barbra Streisand

This is from one of Streisand's most overlooked gems of an album. She was still coming to terms with modern pop and on this album, she pretty much tried to sample a little of everything. Her take on Bowie's Life On Mars - truly must be heard to be appreciated.

I don't remember this being a highlight of the album, but I sure like that intro. Very understated and warm. 

In she wafts, effortlessly, butter melting from note one. Listen to how she caresses "long" and "strong" - pulling back just the slightest. 

So far the arrangement is a nice bed of strings shored up with a rather by-the-numbers rhythm section... which she rides on top of easily. You almost don't notice them because her voice is so focused and clean. 

The bell tones in the keyboard are nice. Everything compliments her tone. Like McGovern, strings and Streisand? A perfect match. 

And like McGovern, she knows the power of that 's'  on "face" and "place".  The big difference? The tempo. This is so much more laid back. It allows the singer the opportunity to interpret and imbue. Had McGovern adopted a similar tactic, her version would have come off much less workmanlike. 

Those strings sure come one strong. Fortunately, they've met their match. Going into chorus #2, I have to say... this is the one to beat. 

Things, unfortunately, go a bit awry with the C-section, as she falls back on what she - at the time - knew best - and that's to rely on a sort of standard presentation which is entertaining - but not musically in keeping with this particular song. Maybe she reverts to what she knows because the arrangement is suddenly competing far to much - the way a full orchestra can when doing a Broadway ballad. 

All the sincerity seems to have been sucked out of this. We move into verse three and - well, she's doing a very professional job of it. But all the emotional investment we gained in the first half has been lost.

"Rainbow-woo"? What? Stop that.

It's standard Streisand after that.

Damn.

Carpenters

So, I need to remind you... while we are listening to them last - because they didn't release the song as a single until almost two years after they'd recorded it - Carpenters got there first - as in, they were the first to sing it. 

That piano opening? I half expect Anne Murray to start singing.

A tiny bit of backing vocal and... there's Karen. No voice like it. Yep, she does something really strange with "long" and "strong" - but I don't care. After listening to the other four, with each of them frothing up the meringue just a bit higher, this is like finally being served your entrée - meat and potatoes singing, I guess.

Producers are smart enough to trust Karen to carry it. Her voice is so well-rounded, with an intimacy which comes as part of the package. That ache? Can't be replicated. 

Her articulation comes across as so natural. 

Do we need her vocals stacked from the get-go of the chorus? Meh. But I guess it's part of the Carpenter sound. 

Oh, Richard. Must you. Fluty crap and string segues. Argh. 

Huh. This is not my favorite Carpenter song by a long shot. 

I like Karen's sunny optimism. But this isn't her best work. She's doing such odd things with the tail ends of words, ones as simple as "you".  

I could also do without Richard constantly reminding us that he's part of the duo. 

The arrangement strikes me as pre-packaged, as if by formula. It was initially extremely beneficial and responsible for the Carpenter's success, however... later in their career, Richard would cling to it even as pop music evolved in a less homogenized direction.

Of the C-sections, hers is the least jarring. It's very gentle, those strings are beyond elevator music treacly. 

And that's my main issue with this. It's not cheap, but it is cheesy. 

In the end... their Disneyland sunniness sort of undermines the song itself. 

Part of the issue is Karen - in a way her undoing is also her greatest strength. For how can a singer simultaneously sound so upbeat and so sad at the same time? Yet these two opposing sounds reside in a singular voice. Because of that gift, she is never comes across as shrill. Still, she fails to communicate what this song means to her, and, thus, what it should mean to us.

We close out with a lovely piano solo courtesy of Richard. He's an incredible musician, I'll give him that. It's too bad that he became so firmly entrenched in his singular musical vision, taking his sister hostage in the process - but that's hindsight. 

At this point in their history, they were on the upswing, although, based on this recording, the cracks were already beginning to show. 

The Verdict

My word. This one is indeed difficult. But I'm not going to sleep on it. For there really is only one choice and... it's not the one I originally had in mind!

We'll dismiss Paul William's version right away. I never understood his recording career. It seemed more of a vanity project than anything with real legs. Don't get me wrong - his contribution to the American songbook? Not to be trifled with. Very legitimate. But as a performer? His recording takes the whole singer/songwriter thing a step too far for me. It's a novel notion, and little more than Variety Show fodder. 

Maureen's version? Lovely. But too rushed. And not lived in at all. Technically fine, even given her many vocal picadilloes and Broadway tendencies. The arrangement is much too Ramada Inn for my taste and it ends up doing a great disservice to the song. 

Ms. Ross had a very credible take on the song and one can't find fault with her performance - she's absolutely charming. But when it comes to the chorus the arrangement and production team cast aside what works about the verses, choosing to fill in all the space beneath her with the most hideous choices. Oddly enough, her C-section remains my favorite, but that's because of what Ms. Ross brings to the table. File this under a lost opportunity. 

I really thought the Carpenters had this in the bag. But their version feels a bit rushed. I also can't decide what Karen's intent is with the song. Muddling things even more so, we have Richard tinkering with this and that, threatening to embalm rather than bringing light and breath to the proceedings. In the end, it's simply not their best work. Nice C-section, though.

And that leaves... Barbra. She gets half of it right - so right, that she ends up winning it for me. Hers is the version I want to listen to again. The first and second verse and the first chorus are... sublime. Her voice shimmers and hangs in the air. I want to sprout fairy wings so I can fly and dance between the notes. That she falls back on old schtick? Well, she's still finding her way as a pop vocalist. It does get a bit hammy. But... what can I say?

It's Streisand.

Be sure to check out the rest of her Butterfly album, particularly her work on Life On Mars and Simple Man - both indications that she was headed in the absolute right direction. 

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And that's enough of me.

Okay, your turn. Leave your thoughts and choice in the comments section. I do love to hear a differing opinion. 

That's all for now.

Until next time...

Thanks for reading... and listening!

I Won't Last A Day Without You - Maureen McGovern