All the Man That I Need
"All the Man That I Need" is a song written by Dean Pitchford and Michael Gore. The song was first recorded as "All the Man I Need" by Linda Clifford for her album I'll Keep on Loving You and later covered around the same time by Sister Sledge. The song is better known for being recorded by American singer and actress Whitney Houston, who released it as the official second single from her third album, I'm Your Baby Tonight on Arista Records on December 4, 1990. Houston's recording was produced by Narada Michael Walden and featured American musician Kenny G on saxophone.
Upon its release, the song became a major worldwide hit single, receiving mainly positive reviews from music critics. In the US, the ballad became a multi-chart number one hit on the Billboard charts, topping the Billboard Hot 100 in late February 1991, for a two-week run, giving Houston her ninth number one single, once again tying Houston with fellow pop artist Madonna for the most solo number-one singles recorded by a female artist on the Billboard Hot 100. The song also topped the Hot R&B Singles and Hot Adult Contemporary charts, giving Houston her third "triple-crown" number-one Billboard single and her first to do so since "How Will I Know" topped the same three charts in 1986. It ranks as Houston's fourth biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
In addition, the song helped Houston become the first female solo artist to generate multiple number-one singles from three albums, with only Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson achieving this feat. The song later won Houston award nominations including the Grammy Award for Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 1992 Grammy Awards and the Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single - Female at the 1992 ceremony.
Background
In 1980, songwriting partners Dean Pitchford and Michael Gore wrote songs for the soundtrack to the movie Fame. Among the songs they wrote for the soundtrack included "Red Light", which they gave to singer Linda Clifford.Clifford's song became a modest hit on the Billboard charts after its release, going to number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 40 on the Hot Soul Singles chart and also topped the Hot Dance/Disco chart. In addition to appearing on the Fame soundtrack, the song was also featured on Clifford's album, I'm Yours.
The success of their Clifford collaboration led to the songwriters to pitch another song to Clifford titled, "All the Man I Need", which was a departure from Clifford's disco and dance recordings.
Originally written by the pair in 1981, Clifford eventually recorded the song for her 1982 release, I'll Keep on Loving You. Her version featured background vocal arrangement from singer Luther Vandross, who had also worked with Clifford in the past. However, Clifford's label at the time didn't think the sentimental pop ballad would be a hit for the artist and refused to release it as a single.
Around this time, American musical sibling group Sister Sledge was recording songs for their album, The Sisters when they were offered the song to record. The group's lead singer Kathy Sledge would end up recording the song as a vocal duet with singer David Simmons and the song would be prominently featured on the album. During the group's promotion of the record, which included their top 40 rendition of Mary Wells' "My Guy", they appeared on Soul Train where they would perform "My Guy" along with "All the Man I Need" with Kathy Sledge and Simmons performing the song. Unlike "My Guy", however, the ballad failed to become a hit, only reaching number 45 on the Hot Soul Singles chart and failing to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.
Pitchford later stated that although different versions of the song were recorded, no one was scoring a major hit with it: "I figured that it was one of those songs that was going to get cut a number of times and not ever have its day," he said. During a dinner with Arista Records president Clive Davis, the song came up and Davis asked Pitchford to send him a demo. Davis had just finished working with Whitney Houston as the executive producer of her second album, Whitney.
Although he was impressed by the song, he felt they would be unable to do anything with it at that time as Houston had only just finished recording an album, so it would be some time before she would be returning to the studio. During this period, Pitchford's publishers received several requests from other artists wishing to record the song. Finally, in 1989, Houston began recording the song with producer Narada Michael Walden as she worked on her third album, I'm Your Baby Tonight.
Composition
Houston's rendition of "All the Man That I Need" is an R&B and pop song with gospel influences. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Alfred Music Publishing, the song is written in the key of F minor with a key change to the key of F minor. The beat is set in common time, and moves at a slow tempo of 76 beats per minute. It has the sequence of Bm–Fm–E–E/D–D–Cm7 as its chord progression. Houston's vocals in the song span from the note of C4 to the note of A5, while the piano elements range from the note of B1 to the high note of F5. Stephen Holden of The New York Times, wrote that the song was an "expression of sexual hero worship." The song also features a saxophone solo by American recording artist Kenny G.Chart performance
Released on December 4, 1990, "All the Man That I Need" entered the US Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart at number 53 on December 22 as the "Hot Shot Debut" of the week. Ten weeks later, on February 23, 1991, it ascended to the top of the chart, replacing C+C Music Factory's "Gonna Make You Sweat " at the top spot and becoming Houston's ninth number-one on the chart. It stayed atop the chart for two weeks.This led to Houston to tie with singer Madonna for recording the most number-one singles by a female artist in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 at the time. It also topped the Hot 100 Singles Sales and Hot 100 Airplay charts, her first song to achieve this feat since "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" in 1988. It enjoyed a seven week run in the top ten of the chart, which was one week shorter than that of the album's lead single "I'm Your Baby Tonight."
The song made Houston the first female artist to launch multiple number one singles off three or more albums. The only other female artists to achieve this feat were Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson.
The single entered the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at number 58, the same week it debuted on the Hot 100. It later peaked at number one on the chart, the issue date of March 2, 1991, making it Houston's fifth R&B number-one hit.
On the December 22, 1990 issue of Billboard, the song entered the Hot Adult Contemporary charts at number 39, the highest debut of the week. On its sixth week on the chart for the issue dated January 26, 1991, it vaulted to the top ten at number 6. Three weeks later, it reached its pole position at the top for the week of February 16, 1991, replacing "The First Time" by Surface and starting a four-week run at the top of the charts, becoming her longest-running number one single on the chart at the time before the release of "I Will Always Love You".
When it hit the pole position of the R&B chart, the single spent its second and third week at the top of the Hot 100 and Hot Adult Contemporary charts, respectively.
As a result, it became her first single to simultaneously top all three Billboard charts — the Hot 100, Hot R&B, and Hot Adult Contemporary — and overall the third triple-crown hit, after 1985's "Saving All My Love for You" and 1986's "How Will I Know," reached the top spot on those three charts in separate weeks. The song became Houston's thirteenth consecutive top ten single on the chart, tying her with cousin Dionne Warwick for the most consecutive AC top ten hits by a female artist. It was ranked number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End chart for 1991. The single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of 500,000 copies or more on March 21, 1991; exactly eighteen years later, in March 2019, it was certified platinum for sales equivalent units of 1 million copies or more. In Canada, the song debuted at 90 on the RPM Top 100 Hit Tracks chart. Seven weeks later, it peaked at number one on the chart and stayed there for a week.
Internationally, the song experienced some success. It went to number-one in Canada. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number 27, the week ending date of December 22, 1990, and peaked at number 13 on January 19, 1991, in that country. According to The Official Charts Company, the single has sold 120,000 copies in the United Kingdom. It also reached number 16 in Ireland, 11 in Netherlands, 21 in Austria, and 28 in France. The song also peaked at number 37 in Germany, 36 in New Zealand, and 28 in Switzerland.
Accolades
"All the Man That I Need" was nominated for "Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female," Houston's fifth nomination for the category, at the 34th Grammy Awards on February 26, 1992. The song was also nominated for "Best R&B/Soul Single, Female" at the 6th Soul Train Music Awards on March 10, 1992.In its year-end lists for 1991, Billboard ranked the song the 16th best-selling single on its Top Pop Singles list, 18th in its Top R&B Singles list and was ranked the third best-selling single on its adult contemporary list. On Cash Box, the song was ranked the sixth best-selling pop single of the year.