Put a Little Love in Your Heart

"Put a Little Love in Your Heart"
Single by Jackie DeShannon
from the album Put a Little Love in Your Heart
B-side	Always Together
Released	June 1969
Recorded	1969
Genre	Pop
Length	2:39
Label	Imperial Records
Writer(s)	Jackie DeShannon, Jimmy Holiday, Randy Myers
Certification	Gold
Jackie DeShannon singles chronology
"Trust in Me" (1969) "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" (1969) "Love Will Find a Way" (1969)

"Put a Little Love in Your Heart" is a song originally performed in 1969 by Jackie DeShannon, who composed it with her brother, Randy Myers and Jimmy Holiday. In the USA, it was DeShannon's highest-charting hit, reaching #4 on the Hot 100 in August 1969 and #2 on the Adult Contemporary charts.^[1] In late 1969, the song reached number one on South Africa's hit parade.

The song rivaled the success of her signature song, "What the World Needs Now is Love".

Charts

Chart (1968-1969)	Peak position
Canadian Singles Chart	12
South African Singles Chart	1
US Billboard Hot 100 Chart	4
US Billboard Adult Contemporary	2

Annie Lennox & Al Green version

"Put a Little Love in Your Heart"
U.S. edition
Single by Annie Lennox & Al Green
from the album Scrooged
B-side	"A Great Big Piece of Love" by The Spheres of Celestial Influence
Released	1988
Recorded	1988
Genre	Pop
Label	A&M Records
Writer(s)	Jackie DeShannon, Jimmy Holiday, Randy Myers
Producer(s)	David A. Stewart
Annie Lennox singles chronology "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" (1988) "Why" (1992) Al Green singles chronology "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" (1987) "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" (1988) "As Long as We're Together" (1989)

In 1988 Annie Lennox and Al Green recorded a version that was released as the ending theme song to the 1988 film Scrooged. The song reached #9 in the USA on the Hot 100 in January 1989 and climbed all the way to #2 on the US Adult Contemporary chart, as well as becoming a top 40 hit in several countries worldwide. Although credited to Lennox, the song was produced by her Eurythmics partner David A. Stewart.

The video was directed by Sophie Muller.

Charts

Chart (1988-1989)	Peak position
Austrian Singles Chart	4
Australian Singles Chart	6
US Billboard Hot 100 Chart	9
Swiss Singles Chart	11
German Singles Chart	20
UK Singles Chart	28
Irish Singles Chart	30

Other versions

RIAA gold record for "Put a Little Love in Your Heart", by Jackie DeShannon

• Susan Raye covered the song on her debut 1969 album, One Night Stand. The song was released as a single and peaked at #30 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
• The Dave Clark Five recorded a version in 1969. Issued as a single in the UK, it spent four weeks in the top 75, reaching number 31, three positions below that attained by Annie Lennox and Al Green in 1988.^[2]
• The Isley Brothers covered the song on their 1972 album, Brother, Brother, Brother.
• The Circle Jerks covered the song on their album Wild in the Streets in 1982.
• Dolly Parton covered the song on her 1993 album, Slow Dancing with the Moon.
• Mary Mary's version was featured in the 2002 film Stuart Little 2.
• A cover appeared in a 2003 Gap television campaign, performed by Al Green, Melissa Etheridge, Kelly Rowland, Stephan Jenkins, Vanessa Carlton, Ginuwine, Musiq, Heather Headley and Gavin DeGraw.

References

1. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 77.
2. British Hit Singles, 12th edition, Guinness

External links

• Put A Little Love In Your Heart lyrics at Dolly Parton On-Line
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics