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To Be with You

November 14, 2023

"To Be with You" is a song by American rock band Mr. Big, released in November 1991 as the second single from their second album, Lean into It (1991). The ballad reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks and topped the charts in 11 other countries, including Australia, Canada, Germany, and New Zealand.

"To Be with You"
Single by Mr. Big
from the album Lean into It
B-side"Green-Tinted Sixties Mind"
ReleasedNovember 22, 1991 (1991-11-22)
Studio
Genre
Length3:27
LabelAtlantic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Kevin Elson
Mr. Big singles chronology
"Green-Tinted Sixties Mind"
(1991) 		"To Be with You"
(1991) 		"Just Take My Heart"
(1992)
Music video
"To Be with You" on YouTube

Background and writing edit

The song was written and composed by Eric Martin during his teen years, with guitarist Paul Gilbert contributing to its melodic arrangements later on. Writing credit is also given to David Grahame, a songwriter working for the label at the time. The lyrics were inspired by a girl Martin knew when he was younger: "This girl had a lot of boyfriends who treated her like shit. I wanted to be the knight in shining armor, wanted to be with her. She wasn't having it. It never came to play."[4]

While in Gilbert's apartment at Yucca Street in L.A., he and Martin were laying out their compositions. Martin had a ballad called "To Be with You". Gilbert had his psychedelic rock song called "Green Tinted Sixties Mind". Both felt the two songs were strong enough to be included in their upcoming album, despite it being purely rock;[5] and true enough, these songs remained throughout the course of their career as a group and as solo artists.

Originally, "To Be with You" was not intended to be released as a single. But after it out of the blue started getting radio play, they had to release it. The band's Billy Sheehan told in an 1992 interview, "We never intended to release 'To Be With You'. We had another single. But some guy in Lincoln, Neb., just started playing the song, and the record started selling like crazy. It spread to Omaha and went all over the country."[6]

Critical reception edit

Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic described the song as a "campfire-singalong ballad".[7] Larry Flick from Billboard noted that "headbangers get folky on this harmonious strummer". He added that "hand-clapping, sing-along chorus entices, while front man Eric Martin's voice has rarely sounded sweeter".[8] DeVaney and Clark from Cashbox called it "an unplugged, acoustic guitar and harmony sing-along single". They also said that Martin "sounds like the quintessential rocker and is backed by some excellent non-electric guitar-picking by guitarist Paul Gilbert, managing to sound very adept without an electric drill for a pick".[9] Janiss Garza from Entertainment Weekly felt that "this simple little ballad" is by far the best song on the Lean into It album.[10] Jonathan Bernstein from Spin wrote, "In a year sadly lacking in palpable power ballads, these third-raters rode their Trojan horse to pole position with one of the always-spineless genre's most puny entries, "To Be with You"."[11]

Music video edit

The accompanying music video for the song was directed by Nancy Bennett and features the band performing in a railroad car.[12] The video changes from black and white to color around the halfway mark. Billy Sheehan told in an interview, "Even our video was done way-super-ultra-cheap. When we tell people how much we spent on the video, they can't believe it. We got this video together dirt cheap. To see it beating up Michael Jackson's million-dollar extravaganza on MTV is pretty amazing."[6]

Track listings edit

  • 7-inch single
  1. "To Be with You" (LP version) (3:27)
  2. "Green-Tinted Sixties Mind" (LP version) (3:30)
  • 12-inch maxi
  1. "To Be with You"
  2. "A Little Too Loose" (live)
  3. "The Drill Song (Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy)" (live)
  4. "Alive and Kickin'" (live)
  • CD maxi
  1. "To Be with You" (3:27)
  2. "Green-Tinted Sixties Mind" (3:30)
  3. "Alive and Kickin'" (5:28)

Personnel edit

Charts edit

Certifications edit

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[34] Platinum 70,000^
Germany (BVMI)[48] Gold 250,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[49]
Digital 		Gold 100,000*
Netherlands (NVPI)[50] Gold 50,000^
Sweden (GLF)[51] Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[52] Silver 200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[53] Gold 500,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history edit

Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United States November 22, 1991
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • cassette
 Atlantic [53]
United Kingdom February 24, 1992
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 [54]

References edit

  1. ^ McPadden July 8, 2015, Mike. "5 Hair Metal Ballads Inspired By/Ripped Off From Extreme's "More Than Words"". VH1 News. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  2. ^ McPadden September 24, 2015, Mike. "The Hair Metal 100: Ranking the '80s Greatest Glam Bands, Part 4". VH1 News. Retrieved May 30, 2021. 'To Be With You'—the group's 'More Than Words'-esque acoustic pop-metal ballad
  3. ^ Popoff, Martin (2014). The Big Book of Hair Metal. Voyageur Press. p. 202. ISBN 9781627883757.
  4. ^ "Mr. Big's Eric Martin on "To Be With You", Getting the Band Back Together, and Power Rangers". Phoenix New Times. August 1, 2011. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
  5. ^ . Archived from the original on February 11, 2009. Retrieved April 20, 2009.
  6. ^ a b Considine, J.D. (1992). The Baltimore Sun – via Las Vegas Review-Journal. (June 5, 1992).
  7. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Mr. Big – Lean Into It". AllMusic. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  8. ^ Flick, Larry (November 30, 1991). "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. p. 82. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  9. ^ DeVaney, Bryan; Clark, Randy (November 30, 1991). "Music Reviews: Singles" (PDF). Cashbox. p. 5. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  10. ^ Garza, Janiss (February 14, 1992). "Lean Into It". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  11. ^ Bernstein, Jonathan (December 1992). "The Year In Pop". Spin. p. 42. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  12. ^ Mr. Big artist videography mvdbase.com
  13. ^ "Mr. Big – To Be with You". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  14. ^ "Mr. Big – To Be with You" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  15. ^ "Mr. Big – To Be with You" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  16. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2072." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. March 7, 1992. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  17. ^ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 2097." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. April 18, 1992. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  18. ^ "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. April 25, 1992. p. 26. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  19. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. April 11, 1992. p. 22. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  20. ^ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  21. ^ "Mr. Big – To Be with You" (in French). Les classement single.
  22. ^ "Mr. Big – To Be with You" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  23. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – To Be with You". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  24. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 17, 1992" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  25. ^ "Mr. Big – To Be with You" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  26. ^ "Mr. Big – To Be with You". Top 40 Singles.
  27. ^ "Mr. Big – To Be with You". VG-lista.
  28. ^ "Mr. Big – To Be with You". Singles Top 100.
  29. ^ "Mr. Big – To Be with You". Swiss Singles Chart.
  30. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  31. ^ "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. February 29, 1992. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  32. ^ "Adult Contemporary". Billboard. March 28, 1992. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  33. ^ "Mainstream Rock Airplay". Billboard. November 9, 1991. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  34. ^ a b "ARIA Top 50 Singles for 1992". ARIA. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  35. ^ "Jahreshitparade Singles 1992" (in German). Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  36. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1992" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  37. ^ "The RPM Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1992" (PDF). RPM. Vol. 56, no. 25. December 19, 1992. p. 8. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  38. ^ "The RPM Top 100 Hit tracks of 1992". RPM. Retrieved September 25, 2019 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  39. ^ "1992 Year-End Sales Charts" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 51/52. December 19, 1992. p. 17. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  40. ^ "Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 1992" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  41. ^ "Single top 100 over 1992" (PDF) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved April 14, 2010.
  42. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1992" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  43. ^ "End of Year Charts 1992". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved May 2, 2020. Note: RMNZ erroneously lists "To Be with You" as "Remedy" by the Black Crowes on both the weekly and year-end charts.
  44. ^ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1992" (in German). Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  45. ^ "Year End Charts: Top Singles". Music Week. January 16, 1993. p. 8.
  46. ^ . Archived from the original on July 8, 2009. Retrieved July 30, 2010.
  47. ^ Mayfield, Geoff (December 25, 1999). "1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade – The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s". Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
  48. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Mr. Big; 'To Be with You')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  49. ^ "Japanese digital single certifications" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved August 24, 2022. Select 2015年6月 on the drop-down menu
  50. ^ "Dutch single certifications – Mr. Big – To Be with You" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved September 25, 2019. Enter To Be with You in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 1992 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
  51. ^ "Swedish certification, award". Paul Gilbert. from the original on June 26, 2017. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  52. ^ "British single certifications – Mr Big – To Be with You". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  53. ^ a b "American single certifications – Mr. Big – To Be with You". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  54. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. February 22, 1992. p. 23.


External links edit

  • Official Website

November 14, 2023
with, song, american, rock, band, released, november, 1991, second, single, from, their, second, album, lean, into, 1991, ballad, reached, number, billboard, three, weeks, topped, charts, other, countries, including, australia, canada, germany, zealand, single. To Be with You is a song by American rock band Mr Big released in November 1991 as the second single from their second album Lean into It 1991 The ballad reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks and topped the charts in 11 other countries including Australia Canada Germany and New Zealand To Be with You Single by Mr Bigfrom the album Lean into ItB side Green Tinted Sixties Mind ReleasedNovember 22 1991 1991 11 22 StudioRumbo Los Angeles Cherokee Hollywood GenreGlam metal 1 2 soft rock 3 Length3 27LabelAtlanticSongwriter s Eric Martin David GrahameProducer s Kevin ElsonMr Big singles chronology Green Tinted Sixties Mind 1991 To Be with You 1991 Just Take My Heart 1992 Music video To Be with You on YouTube Contents 1 Background and writing 2 Critical reception 3 Music video 4 Track listings 5 Personnel 6 Charts 6 1 Weekly charts 6 2 Year end charts 6 3 Decade end charts 7 Certifications 8 Release history 9 References 10 External linksBackground and writing editThe song was written and composed by Eric Martin during his teen years with guitarist Paul Gilbert contributing to its melodic arrangements later on Writing credit is also given to David Grahame a songwriter working for the label at the time The lyrics were inspired by a girl Martin knew when he was younger This girl had a lot of boyfriends who treated her like shit I wanted to be the knight in shining armor wanted to be with her She wasn t having it It never came to play 4 While in Gilbert s apartment at Yucca Street in L A he and Martin were laying out their compositions Martin had a ballad called To Be with You Gilbert had his psychedelic rock song called Green Tinted Sixties Mind Both felt the two songs were strong enough to be included in their upcoming album despite it being purely rock 5 and true enough these songs remained throughout the course of their career as a group and as solo artists Originally To Be with You was not intended to be released as a single But after it out of the blue started getting radio play they had to release it The band s Billy Sheehan told in an 1992 interview We never intended to release To Be With You We had another single But some guy in Lincoln Neb just started playing the song and the record started selling like crazy It spread to Omaha and went all over the country 6 Critical reception editStephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic described the song as a campfire singalong ballad 7 Larry Flick from Billboard noted that headbangers get folky on this harmonious strummer He added that hand clapping sing along chorus entices while front man Eric Martin s voice has rarely sounded sweeter 8 DeVaney and Clark from Cashbox called it an unplugged acoustic guitar and harmony sing along single They also said that Martin sounds like the quintessential rocker and is backed by some excellent non electric guitar picking by guitarist Paul Gilbert managing to sound very adept without an electric drill for a pick 9 Janiss Garza from Entertainment Weekly felt that this simple little ballad is by far the best song on the Lean into It album 10 Jonathan Bernstein from Spin wrote In a year sadly lacking in palpable power ballads these third raters rode their Trojan horse to pole position with one of the always spineless genre s most puny entries To Be with You 11 Music video editThe accompanying music video for the song was directed by Nancy Bennett and features the band performing in a railroad car 12 The video changes from black and white to color around the halfway mark Billy Sheehan told in an interview Even our video was done way super ultra cheap When we tell people how much we spent on the video they can t believe it We got this video together dirt cheap To see it beating up Michael Jackson s million dollar extravaganza on MTV is pretty amazing 6 Track listings edit7 inch single To Be with You LP version 3 27 Green Tinted Sixties Mind LP version 3 30 12 inch maxi To Be with You A Little Too Loose live The Drill Song Daddy Brother Lover Little Boy live Alive and Kickin live CD maxi To Be with You 3 27 Green Tinted Sixties Mind 3 30 Alive and Kickin 5 28 Personnel editEric Martin lead vocals Paul Gilbert acoustic guitar handclaps backing vocals Billy Sheehan bass guitar handclaps bass drum backing vocals Pat Torpey tambourine bass drum handclaps backing vocalsCharts editWeekly charts edit Chart 1991 1992 PeakpositionAustralia ARIA 13 1Austria O3 Austria Top 40 14 1Belgium Ultratop 50 Flanders 15 1Canada Top Singles RPM 16 1Canada Adult Contemporary RPM 17 4Denmark IFPI 18 1Europe Eurochart Hot 100 19 1Finland Suomen virallinen lista 20 6France SNEP 21 10Germany Official German Charts 22 1Ireland IRMA 23 2Netherlands Dutch Top 40 24 1Netherlands Single Top 100 25 1New Zealand Recorded Music NZ 26 1Norway VG lista 27 1Sweden Sverigetopplistan 28 1Switzerland Schweizer Hitparade 29 1UK Singles OCC 30 3US Billboard Hot 100 31 1US Adult Contemporary Billboard 32 11US Album Rock Tracks Billboard 33 19 Year end charts edit Chart 1992 PositionAustralia ARIA 34 4Austria O3 Austria Top 40 35 5Belgium Ultratop 36 20Canada Top Singles RPM 37 2Canada Adult Contemporary RPM 38 52Europe Eurochart Hot 100 39 4Germany Official German Charts 40 6Netherlands Dutch Top 40 41 7Netherlands Single Top 100 42 8New Zealand Recorded Music NZ 43 3Switzerland Schweizer Hitparade 44 3UK Singles OCC 45 31US Billboard Hot 100 46 12Decade end charts edit Chart 1990 1999 PositionUS Billboard Hot 100 47 90Certifications editRegion Certification Certified units salesAustralia ARIA 34 Platinum 70 000 Germany BVMI 48 Gold 250 000 Japan RIAJ 49 Digital Gold 100 000 Netherlands NVPI 50 Gold 50 000 Sweden GLF 51 Gold 25 000 United Kingdom BPI 52 Silver 200 000 United States RIAA 53 Gold 500 000 Sales figures based on certification alone Shipments figures based on certification alone Sales streaming figures based on certification alone Release history editRegion Date Format s Label s Ref United States November 22 1991 7 inch vinylcassette Atlantic 53 United Kingdom February 24 1992 7 inch vinyl12 inch vinylCDcassette 54 References edit McPadden July 8 2015 Mike 5 Hair Metal Ballads Inspired By Ripped Off From Extreme s More Than Words VH1 News Retrieved January 27 2021 McPadden September 24 2015 Mike The Hair Metal 100 Ranking the 80s Greatest Glam Bands Part 4 VH1 News Retrieved May 30 2021 To Be With You the group s More Than Words esque acoustic pop metal ballad Popoff Martin 2014 The Big Book of Hair Metal Voyageur Press p 202 ISBN 9781627883757 Mr Big s Eric Martin on To Be With You Getting the Band Back Together and Power Rangers Phoenix New Times August 1 2011 Retrieved March 28 2019 Welcome to the RockSquad Eric Martin Mr Big Interview Archived from the original on February 11 2009 Retrieved April 20 2009 a b Considine J D 1992 The Baltimore Sun via Las Vegas Review Journal June 5 1992 Erlewine Stephen Thomas Mr Big Lean Into It AllMusic Retrieved November 4 2020 Flick Larry November 30 1991 Single Reviews PDF Billboard p 82 Retrieved February 13 2020 DeVaney Bryan Clark Randy November 30 1991 Music Reviews Singles PDF Cashbox p 5 Retrieved October 31 2020 Garza Janiss February 14 1992 Lean Into It Entertainment Weekly Retrieved November 11 2020 Bernstein Jonathan December 1992 The Year In Pop Spin p 42 Retrieved January 25 2023 Mr Big artist videography mvdbase com Mr Big To Be with You ARIA Top 50 Singles Mr Big To Be with You in German O3 Austria Top 40 Mr Big To Be with You in Dutch Ultratop 50 Top RPM Singles Issue 2072 RPM Library and Archives Canada March 7 1992 Retrieved September 25 2019 Top RPM Adult Contemporary Issue 2097 RPM Library and Archives Canada April 18 1992 Retrieved September 25 2019 Top 10 Sales in Europe PDF Music amp Media April 25 1992 p 26 Retrieved September 25 2019 Eurochart Hot 100 Singles PDF Music amp Media April 11 1992 p 22 Retrieved September 25 2019 Nyman Jake 2005 Suomi soi 4 Suuri suomalainen listakirja in Finnish 1st ed Helsinki Tammi ISBN 951 31 2503 3 Mr Big To Be with You in French Les classement single Mr Big To Be with You in German GfK Entertainment charts Retrieved May 16 2019 The Irish Charts Search Results To Be with You Irish Singles Chart Retrieved September 25 2019 Nederlandse Top 40 week 17 1992 in Dutch Dutch Top 40 Retrieved September 25 2019 Mr Big To Be with You in Dutch Single Top 100 Retrieved September 25 2019 Mr Big To Be with You Top 40 Singles Mr Big To Be with You VG lista Mr Big To Be with You Singles Top 100 Mr Big To Be with You Swiss Singles Chart Official Singles Chart Top 100 Official Charts Company Retrieved September 25 2019 Billboard Hot 100 Billboard February 29 1992 Retrieved July 25 2023 Adult Contemporary Billboard March 28 1992 Retrieved July 25 2023 Mainstream Rock Airplay Billboard November 9 1991 Retrieved July 25 2023 a b ARIA Top 50 Singles for 1992 ARIA Retrieved September 25 2019 Jahreshitparade Singles 1992 in German Retrieved September 25 2019 Jaaroverzichten 1992 in Dutch Ultratop Retrieved September 25 2019 The RPM Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1992 PDF RPM Vol 56 no 25 December 19 1992 p 8 Retrieved September 25 2019 The RPM Top 100 Hit tracks of 1992 RPM Retrieved September 25 2019 via Library and Archives Canada 1992 Year End Sales Charts PDF Music amp Media Vol 9 no 51 52 December 19 1992 p 17 Retrieved January 30 2020 Top 100 Singles Jahrescharts 1992 in German GfK Entertainment Retrieved September 25 2019 Single top 100 over 1992 PDF in Dutch Top40 Retrieved April 14 2010 Jaaroverzichten Single 1992 in Dutch MegaCharts Retrieved September 25 2019 End of Year Charts 1992 Recorded Music NZ Retrieved May 2 2020 Note RMNZ erroneously lists To Be with You as Remedy by the Black Crowes on both the weekly and year end charts Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1992 in German Retrieved September 25 2019 Year End Charts Top Singles Music Week January 16 1993 p 8 Billboard Top 100 1992 Archived from the original on July 8 2009 Retrieved July 30 2010 Mayfield Geoff December 25 1999 1999 The Year in Music Totally 90s Diary of a Decade The listing of Top Pop Albums of the 90s amp Hot 100 Singles of the 90s Billboard Retrieved October 15 2010 Gold Platin Datenbank Mr Big To Be with You in German Bundesverband Musikindustrie Retrieved September 25 2019 Japanese digital single certifications in Japanese Recording Industry Association of Japan Retrieved August 24 2022 Select 2015年6月 on the drop down menu Dutch single certifications Mr Big To Be with You in Dutch Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld en geluidsdragers Retrieved September 25 2019 EnterTo Be with You in the Artiest of titel box Select 1992 in the drop down menu saying Alle jaargangen Swedish certification award Paul Gilbert Archived from the original on June 26 2017 Retrieved June 26 2017 British single certifications Mr Big To Be with You British Phonographic Industry Retrieved September 25 2020 a b American single certifications Mr Big To Be with You Recording Industry Association of America Retrieved September 25 2019 New Releases Singles Music Week February 22 1992 p 23 External links editOfficial Website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title To Be with You amp oldid 1174793440, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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