Don't Pull Your Love

Rumored to have been written with Elvis Presley in mind,[2] and first recorded (as "Don't Pull Your Love Out") in 1970 by Country Store—an obscure group produced by the song's writers Lambert and Potter—"Don't Pull Your Love" had been optioned by ABC-Dunhill Records A&R vice-president Steve Barri to be recorded by the Grass Roots whom Barri had been producing for five years: however the Grass Roots passed on the song, which Barri recalls the group considered "a bit light[weight]".[3] Joe Frank Carollo would recall how he and his fellow band members Dan Hamilton and Tommy Reynolds were performing a Creedence Clearwater Revival medley to audition for ABC-Dunhill when Steve Barri stopped the trio to play them the demo of "Don't Pull Your Love" two or three times til the trio themselves could sing it for Barri, who resultantly arranged for Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds to be signed to ABC-Dunhill that same day.[4]

According to Steve Barri, Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds themselves played on the basic tracks for their recording sessions, on which Jimmie Haskell's horn and string arrangements were later overdubbed.[5] The credits for their debut, which included "Don't Pull Your Love", entitled Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds, lists the group members as musicians (Dan Hamilton on lead vocals and guitar, Joe Frank Carollo on bass guitar and Tom Reynolds on keyboards) with additional credits for drummer Joe Correro Jr. – formerly of Paul Revere & the Raiders – and keyboardist Larry Knechtel. Both Correro (Carollo's second cousin) and Knechtel were prolific session musicians with Knechtel - who also played bass - being a regular member of famous Los Angeles session band the Wrecking Crew: it has been alleged that the instrumentation on "Don't Pull Your Love" was exclusively a work of the Wrecking Crew with the trio being relegated only to vocals,[6][7] an allegation which Carollo has refuted ("we were self contained so we pretty much played on everything"), concluding that only Knechtel and Correro, as session musicians, played on the "Don't Pull Your Love" session.[1][8] An instrumental entitled "Funk-in-Wagnal", credited to the group's members, was recorded to be B-side of "Don't Pull Your Love".

Recorded in December 1970, "Don't Pull Your Love" was released April 1971[1] and reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated 31 July 1971, in which month the single was certified gold for sales of one million units (Billboard also afforded "Don't Pull Your Love" a No. 4 ranking on the magazine's Easy Listening chart).[9] On the Top 100 Singles chart in Cash Box dated 31 July 1971, "Don't Pull Your Love" was ranked at #1.[10] In Canada, "Don't Pull Your Love" spent one week at number one.[11]

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