If You Leave Me Now by Chicago A Cappella - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.1829564

This is a lush four-part a cappella vocal arrangement of Chicago's classic song If You Leave Me Now, penned by Peter Cetera. Visit the YouTube link (https://youtu.be/hjzLjMVGHvU) for the full-length demo.

Part learning tracks for this arrangement are available for verified purchasers; details are included in the last pages of the purchased PDF.

This arrangement is available in both SATB and SSAB voicings.

More about the song from Wikipedia:

"If You Leave Me Now" is a song by the American rock group Chicago, from their album Chicago X. It was written and sung by bass player Peter Cetera and released as a single on July 30, 1976. It is also the title of a Chicago compilation album released by Columbia Records in 1983.

The single topped the Billboard Hot 100 on October 23, 1976, and stayed there for two weeks, making it the first number one hit for the group. It hit the number one on the Easy Listening charts and was also Chicago's biggest hit internationally, topping the charts in other countries such as the UK, Australia, Ireland, Canada, and Netherlands. In the UK, it maintained the number one position for three weeks It was one of five "non-disco" songs to make it to number one in the US in a nine-month period of 1976. According to writer Zachary Houle of PopMatters, "The song was so pervasive on radio upon its release that, reportedly, those tuning in in New York could hear the song playing on four different stations, each with varying formats, simultaneously."

The song won Grammy Awards for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) (strings) for arranger Jimmie Haskell and producer James William Guercio and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus, the first Grammy Award won by the group. It also received a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year. In addition, by August 1978 it had sold 1.4 million copies in the United States alone. It has been certified gold and platinum by the RIAA.

Peter Cetera originally wrote "If You Leave Me Now" at the same time as Chicago VII's "Wishing You Were Here", and composed it on a guitar. In the lyrics, the singer is trying to stop his loved one from breaking up with him. "How can we end it all this way?" he asks. Band manager James William Guercio initially played acoustic guitar on the demo version of the track, figuring that regular guitarist Terry Kath would record the proper part when he was in the studio next. However, the band decided that Guercio's part sounded satisfactory and consequently left that effort on the record. Walter Parazaider recalled that he heard the song on the radio while cleaning his pool and initially thought "it sounded like McCartney," not realizing it was his own band's work.