You Belong to Me - Carly Simon (1978) 3/10/21

The origin of today's "Great Song of the '70s" may surprise you bit.

Fact: "You Belong to Me," by Carly Simon was written by Carly and Michael McDonald of The Doobie Brothers, and the Doobies recorded it first on their 1977 album, "Livin' On the Fault Line."

Nothing much really happened with it until 1983...but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Let's back up to '77. Carly recorded HER version for the album, "Boys in the Trees," and when it was released as a single, it quickly became a hit in both the US and Canada. (Note: James Taylor added some background vocals, making it a husband/wife thing.)

The charts tell only part of the story: #4 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart and #6 on the Hot 100. Up North, the matching chart numbers were 7 & 5, respectively.

The rest of the story goes like this: "You Belong to Me" spent 18 weeks on the charts and Carly received a Grammy nomination for "Best Pop Female Vocalist." Later on, the song was featured in the films "Desperately Seeking Susan," and "Little Back Book."

And with all that, Carly could say, "A "Great Song of 1977" belongs to me! :-)

So what happened with the Doobie Brothers in 1983? Well, they recorded a live version for their "Farewell Tour" album, released it as a single, and finally hit the charts with it--although it stalled out at #59 on the Hot 100 and #31 on Canada's Top 40. Still, it's a good version of a Great Song!

"You Belong to Me"

Carly Simon (1977):

Doobie Brothers (1983):