Love Ballad (L.T.D. song)

This article is about the L.T.D. song. For the genre, see Ballad and Love song.

"Love Ballad"
Single by L.T.D.
from the album Love To The World
B-side	"Let the Music Keep Playing"
Released	September 1976 (1976-09)
Genre	R&B Quiet storm
Length	4:35
Label	A&M
Songwriter(s)	Skip Scarborough
Producer(s)	Larry Mizell & Fonce Mizell
L.T.D. singles chronology
"Love Ballad" (1976) "Love to the World" (1976)

"Love Ballad" is a song by R&B/Funk band L.T.D. Jeffrey Osborne is the lead singer.

Released from their album Love to the World, it spent two weeks at number one on the R&B singles chart in November 1976, and peaked at number twenty on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.^[1]

Weekly charts

Chart (1976)	Peak position
Canada RPM Top Singles[2]	38
US Billboard Hot 100[3]	20
US Billboard R&B	1
US Cash Box Top 100	22

George Benson version

"Love Ballad"
Single by George Benson
from the album Livin' Inside Your Love
B-side	"You're Never Too Far From Me"
Released	February 1979 (1979-02)
Genre	R&B
Length	4:16 (single version) 5:15 (album version)
Label	Warner
Songwriter(s)	Skip Scarborough
George Benson singles chronology
"On Broadway" (1978) "Love Ballad" (1979) "Give Me the Night" (1980)

George Benson released an up-tempo rendition of "Love Ballad" in 1979. It peaked at number three on the R&B charts and number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[4] It also reached number 12 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Benson's cover is the most successful version of the song.

Weekly charts

Chart (1979)	Peak position
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary[5]	25
Canada RPM Top Singles[6]	29
Canada RPM Dance/Urban[7]	22
UK (OCC)[8]	29
US Billboard Hot 100[3]	18
US Billboard Adult Contemporary[9]	12
US Billboard R&B	3
US Cash Box Top 100[10]	14

Year-end charts

Chart (1979)	Rank
US (Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual)[11]	126

Later versions

• Tanya Blount did a well-received cover of the song on her debut album in 1993.
• K-Ci & JoJo covered this song on their 1997 album Love Always.
• Covered by Jeffrey Osborne and is on his 2001 Love Songs compilation album, as did with Osborne's then-drummer and frontman L.T.D.'s first Greatest Hits album in 1996 as well as the live version as the closing track from Osborne's 2000 studio album That's for Sure.
• J Dilla sampled this song for De La Soul in 2004 on their LP The Grind Date.
• R&B singer Ciara sampled the song on her 2004 debut album Goodies.
• Patti LaBelle covered the song on her 2005 album of covers, Classic Moments.
• Kenny Lattimore and Chanté Moore covered the song on their 2006 album Uncovered.
• The Temptations covered "Love Ballad" on their 2007 album Back to Front.
• Drum and Bass producer Netsky sampled the song on his single "Love Has Gone" from his second album 2 released in 2012.
• Osborne's longtime collaborator George Duke made a version of the song 1989 on his album Night After Night.

References

1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 364.
2. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1976-12-18. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
3. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
4. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 53.
5. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1979-05-12. Retrieved 2022-03-27.
6. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1979-05-12. Retrieved 2022-03-27.
7. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1979-05-19. Retrieved 2022-03-27.
8. "officialcharts.com". officialcharts.com. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
9. Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-1993. Record Research. p. 28.
10. Cash Box Top 100 Singles, May 7, 1979^{[permanent dead link]}
11. Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.

External links

• Song Review on the Allmusic website
• George Benson – Love Ballad on YouTube