Description
Born to Be With You is an album by the American singer and songwriter Dion DiMucci of Dion & the Belmonts fame, released in October 1975 on Phil Spector International in the UK only. The album was engineered by Peter Romano, Stan Ross, and Steve Katz with Phil Spector producing, except track A3 produced by Phil Gernhard and track B2 produced by Terry Cashman and Tommy West. Arranged by Nino Tempo.
Dion had gone four years without a hit when he was paired with producer Phil Spector in 1974, for an album that all concerned were convinced would relaunch both men’s careers. Spector himself was especially bullish about the project, returning to his old stomping grounds at Gold Star Studios and recalling engineer Stan Ross to the mixing desk for the first time since they recorded the Paris Sisters together in 1962. He then assembled an enormous band of backing musicians – no fewer than 40 players lined up to accompany Dion, including a dozen guitarists, seven percussionists, and five pianists. The result was not, however, the sonic extravaganza that most people were expecting. Rather, where the Wall of Sound had exploded with joy, Born to Be With You seemed almost to close in on itself, a darkly introspective album that took its lead, in many ways, from the 1970 Dion hit single that was dropped in among the Spector productions, «Your Own Backyard». Lit throughout by the reflections of a middle-aged man acknowledging his prime was behind him, Born to Be With You comprised six new recordings, including a positively funereal rendering of «He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands», a dramatic retread of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil’s «Make the Woman Love Me», and a dour Spector/Dion collaboration, «Good Lovin’ Man». And the darkness didn’t lift once. Dion’s management was horrified, and tried hard to have the album revamped. Spector, however, maintained total control over the proceedings and, tired of the sniping, canceled plans for an American release – Born to Be With You would ultimately appear in the U.K. only, in 1975. Dion, too, was unhappy – “I don’t think we ever really finished that,” he complained in 2003. It shocked him mightily, then, to discover that names as far apart as Andrew Loog Oldham, Bobby Gillespie, Jason Pierce, and Pete Townshend have pronounced Born to Be With You one of the finest albums ever made. And they were correct. [Dave Thompson, AMG]
Born To Be With You / Streetheart, Ace Records, CD re-issue
I bought a second hand copy of ‘Born To Be With You’ on vinyl in the early ’80s in Tape and Record Exchange. It cost £1. I’d fallen in love with Dion’s ‘Inside Job‘ gospel album having once loved the Bronx maestro’s doowop/rock’n’roll. So, I reasoned, this stone flop from 1975 has to be some good. For one thing it was produced by Phil Spector whose famed Wall of Sound had been an accompaniment to my teenage years back in the ’60s. For another thing, there were enough hints on the sleeve, like a version of the gospel warhorse «He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands», to think this was a post-conversion project. But more importantly, ‘Born To Be With You’ was, to my ears, one of the most stunning albums I had ever heard. Now 20 years on seemingly the whole world agrees. That £1 purchase has become a collector’s item and people are lining up to say how cloth-eared the public was for not recognising it as a classic back in 1975. “Awesome,” commented a Daily Telegraph critic; “Absolutely beautiful,” raved Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie while Sean Rowley on Channel 4 claimed that, “This record will change your life.” This timely reissue comes from Ace (the brilliant mainstream record company who also brought you Dion’s essential gospel compilation ‘Deja Nu’). So what do you get here? Well, for a start you get one of the GREAT voices of pop, a majestic instrument that can tackle wistful folk or downtown doowop, sassy blues or soaring ballads and bring his own “live the song” identity to everything he tackles. Secondly, you get a quintessential production from the mad genius of the studio were 10 guitar players, two xylophones, three bass players, an eight piece horn section, choir, string section and four percussionists show that noisy pop didn’t begin with heavy metal. Thirdly, you get some artfully chosen songs taking in Mann and Weils’ prayer to «Make The Woman Love Me», the haunting «Only You Know» (penned by Gerry Goffin and Phil Spector), the gutbucket «Good Lovin’ Man» (complete with Elmore James-style guitar licks) and the tour-de-force title track where a 1958 Chordettes hit is transformed into an unforgettable declaration of tremulous adoration. Apparently Dion’s stunning vocal with its riveting “born-born-born-born-born to be with you” hook was a first take improvisation to fill up the gaps of the dirge-tempo track while the sax breaks are sublime. Then, as a piece de resistance there’s «He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands» which, in the words of Mojo magazine, “Sounds like a team of 100 people celebrating life, love and faith.” If ‘Born To Be With You’ wasn’t enough, this reissue also gives you a bonus track, «Baby Let’s Stick Together», great sleeve notes and, on the same CD, a revisit to the 1976 ‘Streetheart‘ (coproduced incidentally by Michael Omartian) does a nifty version of the Temps’ soul classic «The Way You Do The Things You Do», while Dion’s chilling rendition of «If I Can Just Get Through The Night» recalls his battle against the demons of drug addiction before his Christian deliverance in 1968. Utterly recommended. [Tony Cummings, Cross Rhythms, July 2001]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/born-to-be-with-you-streetheart/1706181158)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Born To Be With You”
A2. “Make The Woman Love Me”
A3. “Your Own Back Yard”
A4. “(He’s Got) The Whole World In His Hands”
Side Two
B1. “Only You Know”
B2. “New York City Song”
B3. “In And Out Of The Shadows”
B4. “Good Lovin’ Man”
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and 12-inch vinyl LP by Phil Spector International. The 2001 Ace Records CD reissue, which pairs Born to Be with You with Dion’s 1976 album Streetheart, features an additional Phil Spector-produced bonus track, “Baby, Let’s Stick Together” (3:12), a song written by Spector and Jeff Barry which had originally seen release in the UK only as a non-album single in 1976.
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