Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City
"Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City" is a 1974 R&B song, written by Michael Price and Dan Walsh, and first recorded by Bobby "Blue" Bland for the ABC Dunhill album Dreamer. While Bland scored a minor hit with the song, landing in the top ten of the R&B charts,[1] it is perhaps best known through cover versions and samples. While it is ostensibly a love song, some critics have also heard it as a lament on urban poverty and hopelessness; the cover version by reggae singer Al Brown even changes most of the lyrics to magnify this emphasis.[1] The song is featured on the soundtracks to the 2009 film Fighting and the 2011 crime drama The Lincoln Lawyer.[2]
Covers and samples
| "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Whitesnake | ||||
| from the album Live...in the Heart of the City and Snakebite EP | ||||
| B-side | "Take Me With You" (Live) | |||
| Released | 1978 (studio version) 1980 (live version) | |||
| Format | Vinyl LP | |||
| Recorded | April 7–13, 1978 (studio version) November 23, 1978 (live version) | |||
| Genre | Hard rock, blues rock | |||
| Length | 5:07 (studio) 8:18 (live) | |||
| Label | United Artists, Geffen, EMI (studio) Liberty, Sunburst (live) | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Michael Price Dan Walsh | |||
| Producer(s) | Martin Birch(both versions) | |||
| Whitesnake singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
A well-known cover of the song is by the hard rock band Whitesnake, who included it on their 1978 debut EP, Snakebite, and again as a live recording on Live...in the Heart of the City. The cover was the new band's first hit, and it became a staple of their live set.
For his 2001 album The Blueprint, rapper Jay-Z recorded the song "Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)," a Kanye West-produced track built around a sample of Bobby Bland's chartmaking rendition. Jay-Z's song was used in the trailer for the 2007 film American Gangster, in a 2011 Chrysler commercial, as the theme song for the CBS series NYC 22 and a Crown Royal commercial in 2013.
The song is featured in the 2009 video game DJ Hero, in "mashed-up" form.
The song is played over the opening credits of the 2019 Norwegian time-travel fantasy comedy-drama television series Beforeigners.[3]
Other notable cover versions have been recorded by:
- Barrett Strong (R&B, 1976)
- Café Jacques - on the album Round the Back' (rock, 1977)
- Grady Tate (jazz, 1977)
- Long John Baldry (blues, 1977)
- Kate Taylor (rock, 1979)
- Crystal Gayle (country, 1980)
- Herman Brood (rock, Bühnensucht, live recording, 1985)
- Chris Farlowe (R&B, 1985)
- Ruthless Blues (blues, 1989)
- Walter "Wolfman" Washington (New Orleans R&B, on 1991 album Sada)
- The Good Earth (pop/rock, 1994)
- Mick Abrahams (rock, 1996)
- Jørn Lande (hard rock, The Snakes live in Europe 1998)
- Paul Weller (rock, 1998)
- Willie Clayton (R&B, 1998, as "Heart of the City")[4]
- Jay Z (on the album The Blueprint, as "Heart of City (Ain't No Love)", 2001)
- Mary Coughlan (jazz, 2002)
- DJ Andrew Unknown & DJ Mekalek (hip hop/rap (intro), 2002)
- Joey Tempest (rock/metal, 2003)
- Maggie Bell (rock, 2004, live recording)
- Vaya Con Dios (rock, 2004)
- YTcracker (From the "STC Is the Greatest" album, track #16, "spamcity", 2004)
- Joe Budden (Rap, 2007)
- Paul Carrack (Blue-Eyed Soul, Pop/Rock, 2008)
- Allman Brothers (Blues, 2009 live recording)
- Nicky Moore (blues rock, 2009)
- GRiZ (sampled on the song "Where's The Love" on the album Mad Liberation, 2012)
- Lukas Graham (Blue-Eyed Soul, 2012 as "Daddy, Now That You're Gone (Ain't No Love)")
- Jo Harman And Company (blues, on the album Live At The Royal Albert Hall Recorded 2013, released 2014)
- Dana Fuchs (On album "Broken Down, acoustic sessions" 2015)
- Shane Pacey Trio (On album, "Helios" 2016)
- Supersonic Blues Machine (On the album "West of flushing south of frisco" 2016)
- C.S. Armstrong (On album, "Ain't No Love" 2016)
- Zeshan B (On album, "Vetted" 2017)
References
- Jo-Ann Greene (2001-08-14). "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City - Al Brown : Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
- "The Lincoln Lawyer and 2019 Netflix film, Shaft (Soundtrack)". Blogs.indiewire.com. Archived from the original on 2011-04-07. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
- "Beforeigners - Season 1 Soundtrack". Soundtrack Mania. 2019-09-15. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
- Hamilton, Andrew (1998-06-02). "Something to Talk About - Willie Clayton : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-03-26.