Easy (Commodores song)

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"Easy"

Easy by Commodores 1977 US vinyl A-side.jpg

A-side label of 1977 U.S. vinyl single

Single by Commodores

from the album Commodores

B-side "Can't Let You Tease Me"

Released March 18, 1977

Format 45 rpm record

Recorded 1977

Genre Soul

Length 4:14

Label Motown

Songwriter(s) Lionel Richie

Producer(s)

James Anthony Carmichael Commodores[1]

Commodores singles chronology

"Fancy Dancer"

(1977) "Easy"

(1977) "Brick House"

(1977)

"Easy" is a song by Commodores for the Motown label, from their fifth studio album, Commodores.
Released in March 1977, "Easy" reached #1 on the Billboard R&B chart, and #4 on the Billboard Hot
100.[2] The success of "Easy" paved the way for similar Lionel Richie-composed hit ballads such as
"Three Times a Lady" and "Still", and also for Richie's later solo hits.
Richie wrote "Easy" with the intention of it becoming another crossover hit for the group, given the
success of a previous single, "Just to Be Close to You", which spent 2 weeks at #1 on the Billboard R&B
chart (known as the Hot Soul Singles chart at that time) and peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop
charts in 1976.[2]

Contents

1 Content

2 Charts

2.1 In Popular Culture

3 Faith No More cover

3.1 Version differences

3.2 Track listings

3.2.1 Songs to Make Love To

3.2.2 I'm Easy/Be Aggressive

3.2.3 Japanese version

3.3 Charts

3.3.1 Weekly charts

3.3.2 Year-end charts

4 Sky Ferreira cover

5 Sampled

6 Footnotes

7 External links

Content

Written by Commodores lead singer Lionel Richie, the song is a slow ballad expressing a man's feelings
as a relationship ends. Rather than being depressed about the break-up, he states that he is instead
"easy like Sunday morning"—something that Richie described as evocative of "small Southern towns
that die at 11:30pm" on a Saturday night, such as his own Tuskegee, Alabama.[3] The song is noted for
its feedback noise, heard in the Bridge section, as well as an electric guitar solo. The song goes up half a
step from A-Flat to A which repeats the refrain as the song fades out.

The re-recorded version is on Lionel Richie's album Tuskegee which features country legend Willie
Nelson.

Charts

Chart (1977) Peak

position

Ireland (IRMA)[4] 18

Netherlands (Single Top 100)[5] 24

Canada Top Singles (RPM)[6] 12

New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[7] 9

UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[8] 9

U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles 1

US Billboard Hot 100[9] 4

In Popular Culture

Faith No More cover

"Easy"

Faith No More – Easy.jpg

Single by Faith No More

from the album Angel Dust

Released

December 29, 1992 (Europe)

April 4, 1993 (US)

Genre

Pop rocksoft rock

Length 3:08

Label Slash

Songwriter(s) Lionel Richie

Producer(s)

Matt Wallace Faith No More

Faith No More singles chronology

"Everything's Ruined"

(1992) "Easy"

(1992) "Another Body Murdered"

(1994)

Alternative cover

"I'm Easy/Be Aggressive" cover

"I'm Easy/Be Aggressive" cover

Faith No More recorded a cover of "Easy" during the studio sessions for Angel Dust,[10] following its
repeated performance during live shows, but was released as the final single to the album in late
1992/early 1993. The song was originally played to replace their cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs", so
the band would break from the typical rock band mould and to spite the heavy metal fans who attended
Faith No More's concerts expecting "War Pigs". Bassist Billy Gould said the version was a straightforward
cover because "we like ["Easy"] in a painful kind of way. It gives us memories of our childhood".[11][12]
When asked about the cover, Lionel Richie replied that "I was actually quite flattered about the song.
Yes, I loved it!"[13]

It is their highest-charting UK hit, reaching #3, their second number one single on the Australian charts
and their final charting single in the American chart Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #58. It was originally
issued on December 29, 1992, on the double A-side single with "Be Aggressive", listed as "I'm Easy", in
Europe and over three months later in America on the Songs to Make Love To EP, it was later included
on the European version of their album Angel Dust. Other appearances include a 2006 commercial for
Levi's Jeans and as the theme tune for the TV programme Goals on Sunday. The biggest difference from
the original is that Faith No More left out the second verse.
Version differences

The song was released under three titles: "I'm Easy", "I'm Easy (Cooler Version)", and "Easy". The title
varies depending upon the region of release or whether it was the single or part of the album Angel
Dust. As a single, in most countries apart from the United States, Australia and Japan, releases had the
title "I'm Easy". In the aforementioned countries, the title was simply "Easy" with the German special
edition using "I'm Easy (Cooler Version)". There are at least two different mixes in circulation, all of
which originate from the same studio recording of the song. The first mix has a voice-over by Mike
Patton during the first few seconds of the song: "Turn the lights out, baby. This one's for the ladies in the
house". It also has fewer guitar overdubs, a slightly different bass line before the guitar solo, and more
reverb on the entire track. The second version, sometimes listed as the "Cooler Version" as titled on the
German special edition of the single, lacks this voice-over but features a background string-synth
arrangement throughout the song as well as the "missing" guitar parts not found in the other mix.

The first version was featured on all London Records releases of the single and Angel Dust apart from
the German special edition:

"I'm Easy/Be Aggressive"

"Easy" (Japanese release)

Angel Dust (Japanese, European, Brazilian and Australian [London Records version] releases)

And the second version, known as the "cooler version", was featured on the Slash and Slash/Liberation
releases of the single, on Angel Dust and on retrospective compilations release by Slash, London
Records, Rhino and Liberation:

"Easy" (USA)

Songs to Make Love To (USA and Canada)

"I'm Easy" (Australia)

Angel Dust (iTunes digital and Australian [Liberation version] releases)

Who Cares a Lot?

This Is It: The Best of Faith No More

Track listings
Songs to Make Love To

The Songs to Make Love To release, which was titled "Easy" on some pressings, was the American and
Canadian release of the single. Its track list, which was almost identical to the German "I'm Easy" –
special edition version which replaces track three with the re-recording of "As the Worm Turns" and is
similar to the standard edition versions of "I'm Easy" which had the Revolution 23 Full Moon mix of "A
Small Victory" as its third and last track, is as follows:[14]

"Easy" – 3:10

"Das Schutzenfest" – 3:00

"Midnight Cowboy" (John Barry) – 4:15

"Let's Lynch the Landlord" (Jello Biafra) – 2:56

I'm Easy/Be Aggressive

The double A-side release, "I'm Easy/Be Aggressive", features "Easy" and "Be Aggressive" as its first two
tracks in addition to two live tracks, with the exception of one fully live version which is identical to the
Free Concert in the Park bonus disc and a two-track French version. The standard track list is as
follows:[14]

"I'm Easy" – 3:06

"Be Aggressive" – 3:40

"A Small Victory" (Live †) – 4:49

"We Care a Lot" (Live †) – 4:02

"Mark Bowen" (Live †) – 3:15

Japanese version

The Japanese version was released separately as a seven-track EP under the name of "Easy" with the
"I'm Easy/Be Aggressive" cover image along with six live tracks that also featured on other versions of
the single; its track list was as follows:[14]

"Easy"

"Easy" (Live †)
"Be Aggressive" (Live †)

"Land of Sunshine" (Live ‡)

"RV" (Live ‡)

"Kindergarten" (Live †)

"A Small Victory" (Live †)

† Live in Munich, Germany on November 9, 1992

‡ Live in Dekalb, Illinois, September 20, 1992

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1993) Peak

position

Australia (ARIA)[15] 1

Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[16] 3

Canada Top Singles (RPM)[17] 73

Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[18] 3

Germany (Official German Charts)[19] 20

Ireland (IRMA)[20] 5

Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[21] 10

New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[22] 6

Norway (VG-lista)[23] 2

Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[24] 11

Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] 9

UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[26] 3

US Billboard Hot 100[27] 58

Year-end charts

Chart (1993) Position

New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[28] 35

Sky Ferreira cover

"Easy"

Song by Sky Ferreira

from the album Baby Driver (Music from the Motion Picture)

Length 4:27

Label 30th Century

Songwriter(s) Lionel Richie

Producer(s) Nigel Godrich