She was actually very pleased with the record and had approved it in it's final released form before the legal entanglements. After she had her new contract a year later I Need You was re released by Curb records in the US on March 26, 2002 with almost no changes, 98% of the album was still the same with LeAnn's approval, the Country mix of But I Do Love You was replaced by the Pop Mix, an extended version of "You Are" & a bonus song, "Light the Fire Within" (that didn't exist a year earlier) that she sang at the opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics at Salt Lake City were the only minor changes. Interestingly last summer I Need you the Album went over 1,000,000 in sales in the US to go Platinum. Even when LeAnn struck out she still knocked it out of the ball park!!!!!
so happy to finally see this interview after it being referenced so much over the years. love her honesty but i have to say i think the I Need You album has some really greats songs on it. One Of These Days is one of the most beautiful, relatable songs i’ve ever heard. Also love You Are.
I think it was a superb album and quite possibly her best album up to that point. 7 of the 10 tracks were from Movies and in one case a TV mini series and their respective sound tracks and had been released on movie soundtrack CD's & in some cases as a single as well. So they were all finished products & not rehearsal cuts or demos done on a tape recorder like her initial take of How Do I Live was done at Diane Warrens home. The other 3 tracks were all completed originally as part of Twisted Angel but LeAnn decided to go in a different direction so the 3 tracks no longer fit Twisted Angel but were still excellent finished songs that worked really well as a part of I Need You. It was just a Business tug of war between LeAnn & Mike Curb, these tactics & this sort of thing goes on all the time in contract disputes with record companies. If she really felt that way about the CD then a year later when she had final say and total artistic control with her new record deal with Curb Records she would have made massive changes to I Need You when it was re released and could have, yet it was released almost exactly the same as it was when this interview was done.
Thank you very much for clarifying this whole situation at that time. I'm in love with LeAnn and I always want to know more about this fight with Curb at that time and also, why she left there, and then didn't continue at Sony RCA
LeAnn knew of and approved both the concept of the album I Need You and the album itself and was well pleased with it. Her comments on the Tonight Show and her disavowing of the CD was a tactical negotiating tactic on her part to gain leverage in her contract fight with Mike Curb of MCG Curb records. He used the CD as a means to make her fulfill her contract requirements with Curb Records. If Mike Curb could release songs both released or unreleased from her catalogue that he already had in his possession in the form of compilation albums of already recorded songs he already had then he could make her meet her contractual obligations without giving into her demands on her terms for a new contract & make her live up to her then contract with no changes to it. LeAnn at the time was working on her Brilliant Album Twisted Angel and was refusing to provide the already recorded songs from that project to Mike Curb, so this was his only option in his battle of wills with LeAnn. If she could sabotage it & therefore also future similar compilation CD's commercially by disowning it as she did in this interview on the tonight show & on her website then he would have to give into her demands to tear up her current contact & give her a new one while making him fulfill it on her terms. Her gambit worked as after only 4 days Curb records stopped pressing copies of & it was discontinued with no more promotion from Curb Records and none from LeAnn herself which was hugely impactful on it's commercial limited success. Interestingly it still dropped at #1 on the Billboard Country Album chart and quickly sold over 500,000 copies in the US alone to go Gold, all of the rest of the initial pressings also sold to bring the number sold in the US to over 800,000 copies. She was too good and popular for even an abandoned discontinued CD to be anything but very successful!
MCG Curb stated in a press release that it had been discontinued in the US only, that no more pressings would be done nor any more promotion or marketing for it in the US after LeAnn so publicly disowned it. All other International releases in Canada, UK , Australia, New Zealand, Japan & the far east as well as Continental Europe were a different issue as Warner International did all the pressings, promotion, marketing & distribution outside of the US for MCG Curb Records & as such were not affected by Curbs actions that i have referenced. LeAnn was as hot a commodity in music then as there was, she was a superstar so her fans when they heard of it's release would still buy it like hotcakes. As well you have to understand that the initial pressings were about 800,000 & already shipped at the time Curb pulled the plug on the CD so the stores already had them to sell but without her promoting it on the Tonight show, Letterman, the 3 network morning shows etc. Curb pulled the plug on it. In the upload you are referring too she was on the tonight show to promote the Coyote Ugly soundtrack CD that had already gone Platinum by then & had been #1 on the Billboard Country Album charts for a total of 8 weeks. It was eligible for the country album charts as at least half of the tracks on it were by artists considered to be country artists from previous releases by them.
'But I Do Love You' was actually released as a double A side CD single with Can't Fight the Moonlight off of the Coyote Ugly soundtrack CD at the end of Aug/2000, this was the one she was promoting on the Tonight show & you can see Jay Leno holding it & saying that this is the one you should buy not I Need You as suggested by LeAnn. Soon was never released by MCG Curb, it was an Album cut played off of the Album by AC Pop radio programmers & Disk Jockeys on their own due to requests for it by the public, it got to #14 on the Billboard AC Pop chart with no promotion or support.
"But I Do Love You" was first released on the soundtrack for Coyote Ugly on August 1, 2000. It was later released as a B-side track to the single "Can't Fight the Moonlight" on August 22, 2000 all before the release of I Need You. The song was released to country radio in the U.S. on February 9, 2001 as a single off of the soundtrack for Coyote Ugly to promote it which was why LeAnn was on the Tonight show on Feb.6,2001 singing it with Jay Leno holding the CD for the Coyote Ugly soundtrack up, before I Need You was discontinued by Curb which was the issue you were referencing. As for Soon It was released in August 2001 to adult contemporary radio as a single from the soundtrack for the 2001 film Driven. "Soon" was also launched after the release of the album from the soundtrack for Driven. Two promotional singles were released from the album. "You Are" was released in 2001. The song was featured on the soundtrack for Angel Eyes on May 15, 2001, and was included on the Asian release of The Best of LeAnn Rimes, as well as the remixed edition. "You Are" is a pop song with a duration of four minutes and fifty-eight seconds, and it was written by Laurie Webb. Mark Huxley at Barnes & Noble.com called the song a "full-on dance-pop". "Soon" was released in 2001 as a promotional CD single that consisted of the "Driven" album version of the song and the Graham Stack Radio Edit of the song. I Need You is the third compilation album from American recording artist LeAnn Rimes. The album was first released on January 30, 2001, through Curb Records to help satisfy Rimes' recording contract obligations during litigation with the label and her management, without Rimes' knowledge or input. This caused Rimes to publicly disowned the album just days after its release, which then led to it being discontinued. After Rimes disowned the 2001 release, it was discontinued, and she officially re-issued the album on March 26, 2002. It contained all ten original tracks from the 2001 release with an extended version of "You Are"; a bonus song, "Light the Fire Within", which Rimes performed at the 2002 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Salt Lake City; and four bonus remixes. The 2002 release also contains the Pop version of "But I Do Love You" featured on the Coyote Ugly soundtrack. leann-rimes.fandom.com/wiki/I_Need_You_(album) Curbs comments about the CD were after her post on her website & before her appearance on the Tonight show, it was after that when Curb discontinued promoting & marketing the CD. Interestingly it went Gold pretty fast anyway & kept selling over the years from her catalogue with Curb records & a year ago went Platinum for over 1,000,000 copies sold in the US.
18 years old Feb.6,2001 LeAnn Rimes singing But I Do Love You from the Coyote Ugly soundtrack as well as her compilation album I Need You, plus Comments on her Lawsuit with Curb Records On the tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Her initial recording contract signed with MCG-Curb called for 28 Albums to be delivered over 20 years when the industry norm is a 7 year 10 album contract. As well any music videos she made (all of which she paid for as in 6 figures) as well as any music she wrote would belong to Mike Curb who would receive all $$$ from them while LeAnn would get nothing, own nothing & be expected to be Happy. The opposite of that is the case in the music industry literally without exception, you write it or film it you own it and the $$$ they make. She also had zero creative control over her albums and singles. LeAnn was so angry about this that she was willing to never release another record again till she got a fair contract. Mike Curb had an iron clad contract that was unbreakable and won in court, but when he realized he was killing the goose that was laying the Gold Records and in effect kicking himself in the nuts metaphorically he finally gave in to LeAnn's demands. Eventually Mike Curb capitulated and tore up her old contract and gave her a new 7 year 10 album retroactive contract that gave her pretty much all that she demanded, it was basically done on her terms.
None of this drama effected the album outside the US in terms of distribution, pressings, marketing & promotion nor commercial success as you can see below as it was a huge commercial success for LeAnn outside the US, her most successful charting and selling Album Internationally for her of all her albums with Twisted Angel running a close second. It was a top 15 on the album charts success in a dozen countries as well as hitting a very impressive #7 on the Europa Chart for all of continental Europe, the second biggest records selling market in the world, 2nd only to the US. Canada Gold & Platinum 100,000 copies. Denmark Gold 25,000 copies. New Zealand Gold 7,500 copies. United Kingdom Gold 100,000 copies. United States Gold & Platinum 1,000,000 copies.
MCG-Curb had her signed to a rip off contract she signed when she was 12 & later that fall of 2000 she sued them over it. This led to the compilation CD I Need You being released by Mike Curb as LeAnn refused to provide any Master Recordings till she got a new recording contract, in a tactical move she disavowed I Need You on her website & on the Tonight Show on Feb.6,2001 as the battle raged between her and Mike Curb, it was basically a compilation of almost all her movie soundtrack appearances with 3 from the twisted Angel sessions thrown in as well that she had previously delivered to Curb Records.
She was actually very pleased with the record and had approved it in it's final released form before the legal entanglements.
After she had her new contract a year later I Need You was re released by Curb records in the US on March 26, 2002 with almost no changes, 98% of the album was still the same with LeAnn's approval, the Country mix of But I Do Love You was replaced by the Pop Mix, an extended version of "You Are" & a bonus song, "Light the Fire Within" (that didn't exist a year earlier) that she sang at the opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics at Salt Lake City were the only minor changes.
Interestingly last summer I Need you the Album went over 1,000,000 in sales in the US to go Platinum.
Even when LeAnn struck out she still knocked it out of the ball park!!!!!
so happy to finally see this interview after it being referenced so much over the years. love her honesty but i have to say i think the I Need You album has some really greats songs on it. One Of These Days is one of the most beautiful, relatable songs i’ve ever heard. Also love You Are.
I think it was a superb album and quite possibly her best album up to that point.
7 of the 10 tracks were from Movies and in one case a TV mini series and their respective sound tracks and had been released on movie soundtrack CD's & in some cases as a single as well.
So they were all finished products & not rehearsal cuts or demos done on a tape recorder like her initial take of How Do I Live was done at Diane Warrens home. The other 3 tracks were all completed originally as part of Twisted Angel but LeAnn decided to go in a different direction so the 3 tracks no longer fit Twisted Angel but were still excellent finished songs that worked really well as a part of I Need You.
It was just a Business tug of war between LeAnn & Mike Curb, these tactics & this sort of thing goes on all the time in contract disputes with record companies.
If she really felt that way about the CD then a year later when she had final say and total artistic control with her new record deal with Curb Records she would have made massive changes to I Need You when it was re released and could have, yet it was released almost exactly the same as it was when this interview was done.
And "Soon" just sends chills down ones backs as her vocals on it are absolutely breathtaking.
Really every track on the CD I Need You is exceptional!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you very much for clarifying this whole situation at that time. I'm in love with LeAnn and I always want to know more about this fight with Curb at that time and also, why she left there, and then didn't continue at Sony RCA
LeAnn knew of and approved both the concept of the album I Need You and the album itself and was well pleased with it. Her comments on the Tonight Show and her disavowing of the CD was a tactical negotiating tactic on her part to gain leverage in her contract fight with Mike Curb of MCG Curb records.
He used the CD as a means to make her fulfill her contract requirements with Curb Records.
If Mike Curb could release songs both released or unreleased from her catalogue that he already had in his possession in the form of compilation albums of already recorded songs he already had then he could make her meet her contractual obligations without giving into her demands on her terms for a new contract & make her live up to her then contract with no changes to it.
LeAnn at the time was working on her Brilliant Album Twisted Angel and was refusing to provide the already recorded songs from that project to Mike Curb, so this was his only option in his battle of wills with LeAnn.
If she could sabotage it & therefore also future similar compilation CD's commercially by disowning it as she did in this interview on the tonight show & on her website then he would have to give into her demands to tear up her current contact & give her a new one while making him fulfill it on her terms.
Her gambit worked as after only 4 days Curb records stopped pressing copies of & it was discontinued with no more promotion from Curb Records and none from LeAnn herself which was hugely impactful on it's commercial limited success.
Interestingly it still dropped at #1 on the Billboard Country Album chart and quickly sold over 500,000 copies in the US alone to go Gold, all of the rest of the initial pressings also sold to bring the number sold in the US to over 800,000 copies.
She was too good and popular for even an abandoned discontinued CD to be anything but very successful!
MCG Curb stated in a press release that it had been discontinued in the US only, that no more pressings would be done nor any more promotion or marketing for it in the US after LeAnn so publicly disowned it.
All other International releases in Canada, UK , Australia, New Zealand, Japan & the far east as well as Continental Europe were a different issue as Warner International did all the pressings, promotion, marketing & distribution outside of the US for MCG Curb Records & as such were not affected by Curbs actions that i have referenced.
LeAnn was as hot a commodity in music then as there was, she was a superstar so her fans when they heard of it's release would still buy it like hotcakes.
As well you have to understand that the initial pressings were about 800,000 & already shipped at the time Curb pulled the plug on the CD so the stores already had them to sell but without her promoting it on the Tonight show, Letterman, the 3 network morning shows etc. Curb pulled the plug on it.
In the upload you are referring too she was on the tonight show to promote the Coyote Ugly soundtrack CD that had already gone Platinum by then & had been #1 on the Billboard Country Album charts for a total of 8 weeks.
It was eligible for the country album charts as at least half of the tracks on it were by artists considered to be country artists from previous releases by them.
'But I Do Love You' was actually released as a double A side CD single with Can't Fight the Moonlight off of the Coyote Ugly soundtrack CD at the end of Aug/2000, this was the one she was promoting on the Tonight show & you can see Jay Leno holding it & saying that this is the one you should buy not I Need You as suggested by LeAnn.
Soon was never released by MCG Curb, it was an Album cut played off of the Album by AC Pop radio programmers & Disk Jockeys on their own due to requests for it by the public, it got to #14 on the Billboard AC Pop chart with no promotion or support.
"But I Do Love You" was first released on the soundtrack for Coyote Ugly on August 1, 2000.
It was later released as a B-side track to the single "Can't Fight the Moonlight" on August 22, 2000
all before the release of I Need You.
The song was released to country radio in the U.S. on February 9, 2001 as a single off of the soundtrack for Coyote Ugly to promote it which was why LeAnn was on the Tonight show on Feb.6,2001 singing it with Jay Leno holding the CD for the Coyote Ugly soundtrack up, before I Need You was discontinued by Curb which was the issue you were referencing.
As for Soon It was released in August 2001 to adult contemporary radio as a single from the soundtrack for the 2001 film Driven.
"Soon" was also launched after the release of the album from the soundtrack for Driven.
Two promotional singles were released from the album. "You Are" was released in 2001.
The song was featured on the soundtrack for Angel Eyes on May 15, 2001, and was included on the Asian release of The Best of LeAnn Rimes, as well as the remixed edition. "You Are" is a pop song with a duration of four minutes and fifty-eight seconds, and it was written by Laurie Webb.
Mark Huxley at Barnes & Noble.com called the song a "full-on dance-pop".
"Soon" was released in 2001 as a promotional CD single that consisted of the "Driven" album version of the song and the Graham Stack Radio Edit of the song.
I Need You is the third compilation album from American recording artist LeAnn Rimes.
The album was first released on January 30, 2001, through Curb Records to help satisfy Rimes' recording contract obligations during litigation with the label and her management, without Rimes' knowledge or input.
This caused Rimes to publicly disowned the album just days after its release, which then led to it being discontinued.
After Rimes disowned the 2001 release, it was discontinued, and she officially re-issued the album on March 26, 2002.
It contained all ten original tracks from the 2001 release with an extended version of "You Are"; a bonus song, "Light the Fire Within", which Rimes performed at the 2002 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Salt Lake City; and four bonus remixes.
The 2002 release also contains the Pop version of "But I Do Love You" featured on the Coyote Ugly soundtrack.
leann-rimes.fandom.com/wiki/I_Need_You_(album)
Curbs comments about the CD were after her post on her website & before her appearance on the Tonight show, it was after that when Curb discontinued promoting & marketing the CD.
Interestingly it went Gold pretty fast anyway & kept selling over the years from her catalogue with Curb records & a year ago went Platinum for over 1,000,000 copies sold in the US.
18 years old Feb.6,2001 LeAnn Rimes singing But I Do Love You from the Coyote Ugly soundtrack as well as her compilation album I Need You, plus Comments on her Lawsuit with Curb Records On the tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Her initial recording contract signed with MCG-Curb called for 28 Albums to be delivered over 20 years when the industry norm is a
7 year 10 album contract.
As well any music videos she made (all of which she paid for as in 6 figures) as well as any music she wrote would belong to Mike Curb who would receive all $$$ from them while LeAnn would get nothing, own nothing & be expected to be Happy.
The opposite of that is the case in the music industry literally without exception, you write it or film it you own it and the $$$ they make.
She also had zero creative control over her albums and singles.
LeAnn was so angry about this that she was willing to never release another record again till she got a fair contract.
Mike Curb had an iron clad contract that was unbreakable and won in court, but when he realized he was killing the goose that was laying the Gold Records and in effect kicking himself in the nuts metaphorically he finally gave in to LeAnn's demands.
Eventually Mike Curb capitulated and tore up her old contract and gave her a new 7 year 10 album retroactive contract that gave her pretty much all that she demanded, it was basically done on her terms.
None of this drama effected the album outside the US in terms of distribution, pressings, marketing & promotion nor commercial success as you can see below as it was a huge commercial success for LeAnn outside the US, her most successful charting and selling Album Internationally for her of all her albums with Twisted Angel running a close second.
It was a top 15 on the album charts success in a dozen countries as well as hitting a very impressive #7 on the Europa Chart for all of continental Europe, the second biggest records selling market in the world, 2nd only to the US.
Canada Gold & Platinum 100,000 copies.
Denmark Gold 25,000 copies.
New Zealand Gold 7,500 copies.
United Kingdom Gold 100,000 copies.
United States Gold & Platinum 1,000,000 copies.
MCG-Curb had her signed to a rip off contract she signed when she was 12 & later that fall of 2000 she sued them over it.
This led to the compilation CD I Need You being released by Mike Curb as LeAnn refused to provide any Master Recordings till she got a new recording contract, in a tactical move she disavowed I Need You on her website & on the Tonight Show on Feb.6,2001 as the battle raged between her and Mike Curb, it was basically a compilation of almost all her movie soundtrack appearances with 3 from the twisted Angel sessions thrown in as well that she had previously delivered to Curb Records.