This Time I'll Be Sweeter

"This Time I'll Be Sweeter" is a soul ballad written by Haras Fyre and Gwen Guthrie.
The first release of "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" was as the B-side of the May 1975 Arista Records single release "Love Blind" by Martha Reeves; both sides of Reeves' single were produced by Bert De Coteaux and Tony Silvester who had hired composers Gwen Guthrie and Haras Fyre as staff writers for the De Coteaux/Silvester company Penumbra Music in 1973. The Martha Reeves version of "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" was included on Reeves' 1976 album release The Rest of My Life.

Early versions

De Couteaux and Silvester also produced the version by Linda Lewis on her album Not a Little Girl Anymore released - also on Arista - in June 1975. Lewis' version - whose chorale consisted of the song's co-writer Gwen Guthrie with Deniece Williams - was released as the album's lead single in the US. It was later issued in the UK in September 1976 as the follow-up to the hit song "Baby I'm Yours", just missing the UK Top 50, peaking at #51. The track did afford Lewis a hit in Brazil ranking at #65 on that nation's ranking of the Top 100 singles for the year 1976.
"This Time I'll Be Sweeter" was also featured on the 1976 album release by Marlena Shaw, Just a Matter of Time, a Bert DeCoteaux/Tony Silvester production. Shaw's version of "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" has been cited by the song's co-writer Pat Grant/Haras Fyre as being the original version of the song, as Fyre asserts that Shaw's recording of "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" dates from 1974.
Roberta Flack recorded "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" in the 1973-1974 sessions for her 1975 album release Feel Like Makin' Love with Gwen Guthrie contributing background vocals to the track, which would be held over for release on Flack's 1977 album Blue Lights in the Basement.

Angela Bofill version

"This Time I'll Be Sweeter" had its highest profile incarnation as the debut single for Angela Bofill who recorded "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" for her Angie (Angela Bofill album) album. Bofill's producer, Dave Grusin, knew of the song due to his being acquainted with its composer Gwen Guthrie who he had frequently utilized as a session singer. Co-released with the Angie album on 21 November 1978, Bofill's "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" single reached No. 23 on the Hot Soul Singles chart and No. 104 on the Billboard Hot 100's, bubbling under chart. A duet version with Sharon Cuneta was released and performed in the 1983 film Friends in Love. A live version of "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" is featured on Bofill's 2006 Live from Manila concert album.