Michael Bolton cloned his approach from Soul Provider on its follow-up, Time, Love & Tenderness, and sold as many records for his trouble. (That's six million copies.) His key collaborator once again was Diane Warren, who applied her goldplated gift for writing contemporary love songs to six tunes, among them the hits "Time, Love & Tenderness" and "Missing You Now" (which featured saxmeister Kenny G). The obligatory R&B carbon copy was Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman," which hit number one. The only unusual songs came at the beginning and the end. The album led off with "Love Is a Wonderful Thing" (a Top Ten hit), a song in standard '60s R&B mode that would be the subject of a plagiarism suit from the Isley Brothers, and it concluded with "Steel Bars," co-written by Bolton and...Bob Dylan? That's what it said, and if the song wasn't one of Dylan's best, it at least indicated that Bolton might have possibilities that had so far gone unnoticed. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
Michael Christopher (Engineer), Randy Jackson (Bass), Devon Rietveld (Assistant Engineer), Nancy Sprague (Make-Up), Gary Cirimelli (Vocals (Background)), Walter Afanasieff (Synthesizer Bass), Mick Guzauski (Mixing), Michael Thompson (Guitar), Jeff Porcaro (Drums), Louis Levin (Director), Walter Afanasieff (Keyboards), Dan Higgins (Horn), Michael Gilbert (Mixing Assistant), Manny Lacarrubba (Mixing Assistant), Tanya Scarlett (Vocals (Background)), Nancy Sprague (Hair Stylist), Shaun Murphy (Vocals (Background)), Laura Creamer (Vocals (Background)), Walter Afanasieff (Horn Arrangements), Chris Camozzi (Guitar), Claytoven Richardson (Vocals (Background)), Desmond Child (Vocals (Background)), Patti LaBelle (Performer), Kenny G (Sax (Soprano)), Skyler Jett (Vocals (Background)), Walter Afanasieff (Organ (Hammond)), Jim Mitchell (Assistant Engineer), Nancy Danahy (Design), Michael Bolton (Arranger), Sandy Griffith (Vocals (Background)), Walter Afanasieff (Arranger), A. Mark Russo (Sax (Tenor)), Christopher Austopchuk (Art Direction), Michael Bolton (Vocals), John Beasley (Piano), Kitty Beethoven (Vocals (Background)), Vicki Randle (Vocals (Background)), David Thoener (Mixing), Patti LaBelle (Vocals), Michael Bolton (Horn Arrangements), Terry Brock (Vocals (Background)), Chris Hawkins (Vocals (Background)), Roger Talkov (Engineer), Myriam Naomi Valle (Vocals (Background)), Michael Bolton (Vocals (Background)), Walter Afanasieff (Synthesizer), Mick Higgins (Assistant Engineer), Jeanie Tracy (Vocals (Background)), Manny Lacarrubba (Assistant Engineer), Walter Afanasieff (Percussion), Walter Afanasieff (Producer), Matthew Boomer La Monica (Assistant Engineer), Jean McClain (Vocals (Background)), Melisa Kary (Vocals (Background)), Larry Batiste (Vocals (Background)), Joe Lynn Turner (Vocals (Background)), Michael Landau (Guitar), Michael Gilbert (Assistant Engineer), Dana Jon Chappelle (Mixing), Devon Rietveld (Mixing Assistant), Dana Jon Chappelle (Engineer), Vladimir Meller (Mastering), Gerry Hey (Horn), Louis Biancaniello (Programming), Joe Turano (Vocals (Background)), Richard Kerr (Engineer), Larry Williams (Horn), Tim White (Photography), Walter Afanasieff (Drums), Michael Bolton (Producer), Ren Klyce (Programming), Gary Cirimelli (Programming), Gary Grant (Horn)
Time, Love & Tenderness is the seventh studio album by American recording artist Michael Bolton. The album was released in April 1991 by Columbia Records; it was produced by Walter Afanasieff and Michael Bolton. The album topped the Billboard 200 chart and produced four Top 40 singles: a cover of Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, "Love Is a Wonderful Thing" reached #4, "Time, Love and Tenderness" reached #7, and "Missing You Now" reached #12. In the UK a fifth single was released, "Steel Bars", which made the top 20. It is also notable that this is the only album from his "hit period" that is "out of print".
After reaching the top spot the album enjoyed a steady stay on the charts, eventually selling over 8 million copies in the US only. The album was supported by various hit singles which topped the charts worldwide. Worldwide the album has sold approximatelly 16 million copies and is his best selling album to date.
Mixed & Engineered By Dana Jon Chapelle, Michael Gilbert, Mick Higgins, Manny Lacarrubba, Matthew LaMonica, Jim Mitchell, Devon Rietveld, David Thoerner, Roger Talkov, Michael Christopher, Richard Kerr
Kitty Beethoven, Larry Batiste, Desmond Child, Laura Creamer, Sandy Griffith, Chris Hawkins, Skyler Jett, Melisa Kary, Patti LaBelle, Jean McClain, Jeanie Tracy, Joe Lynn Turner, Myriam Naomi Valle, Tim White - Backing Vocals
Controversy
In 1964, the American R&B group The Isley Brothers recorded a song titled "Love Is a Wonderful Thing". Not included on an Isley Brothers album until years later, the song was released as a single in 1966 on a 45rpm vinyl record, and it "bubbled under" on the Billboard chart, meaning that it peaked between #101 and #125 on the Hot 100. Bolton's song contained similarities to the song by the Isleys that exceeded the title: in 1994, a jury found songwriters Bolton and Goldmark, along with Sony Music Entertainment (the parent company of Bolton's label, Columbia Records), liable for copyright infringement due to multiple similarities between the two songs and ordered them to pay the Isleys all profits earned from the single plus 28% of the album profits, which amounted to over $5 million (U.S.). On May 9, 2000, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, an appellate court covering the western regions of the U.S., affirmed the jury's decision, which is one of the largest monetary sums to be awarded in a case such as this. On January 22, 2001, the Supreme Court of the United States declined to review the decision of the appellate court despite Bolton's claims that he had never heard the Isley Brothers recording (although he was a fan of their music) and that he was exercising his right to "independent creation". The decision by the Supreme Court not to hear the case resulted in the original verdict remaining valid.
