It's_Your_Thing

It's Your Thing

It's Your Thing

1969 single by The Isley Brothers


"It's Your Thing" is a funk single by The Isley Brothers. Released in 1969, the anthem was an artistic response to Motown chief Berry Gordy's demanding hold on his artists after the Isleys left the label in late 1968.

Quick Facts Single by The Isley Brothers, from the album ...

The lyrics of the chorus, which also serve as first verse, run: "It's your thing/ Do what you wanna do/ I can't tell you/ Who to sock it to". The song is ranked No. 420 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

History

Overview

After scoring one popular hit with the label, with the song "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)", the Isleys felt typecast in the role as a second-tier act while well-established Detroit acts like The Temptations, The Miracles, and the Four Tops got more promotion from the label Motown.

The brothers' decision to leave Motown came after a successful British tour, where they had a bigger fan base than in the United States. A re-release of "This Old Heart" had reached number three on the UK Singles Chart. Similar success came with two more singles from their Motown catalog that were hits well after their Motown departure.

Berry Gordy allowed the brothers to leave the label, and the Isleys reactivated their own label, T-Neck Records, which they had originally started a few years prior to their Motown signing. For Buddah Records, the Isleys recorded "It's Your Thing" which Ronald wrote upon arriving home after taking his daughter Tawana to school. The lead singer said that he thought of the melody and some of the lyrics in his head. His older brothers O'Kelly and Rudolph helped compose more lyrics.

Release and reaction

Recorded in two takes and featuring the first appearance of 16-year-old Ernie on bass and Skip Pitts on guitar. The song was released as a single on February 16, 1969, and quickly rose to the top of both the Billboard pop and R&B singles charts, peaking at No. 2 on the former, (behind Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In by The 5th Dimension),[3] and marking their first No. 1 hit in the latter.[4] Upon the song's release and ascent to success, Gordy threatened to sue the group for releasing it in an attempt to bring them back to Motown, but he eventually cancelled his threat, and in February 1970 the brothers became the first former Motown act to win a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.

Chart history

More information Chart (1969), Peak position ...

Cover versions and legacy

Over 60 artists have recorded their own version of the song.

Personnel


References

  1. Pitchfork Staff (August 18, 2006). "The 200 Best Songs of the 1960s". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 12, 2022. ...and then the whole vicious lope explodes in a euphoric storm of woozy, joyous psych-funk.
  2. Molanphy, Chris (May 20, 2021). "Blame It on the Feign Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
  3. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 54.
  4. "Toutes les Chansons N° 1 des Années 70" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  5. "Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. 1969-07-01. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  6. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  7. "RPM Top Singles of 1969". Library and Archives Canada. RPM. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  8. "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 27, 1969". Archived from the original on January 25, 2019. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  9. "SpecialRelease". Record Store Day. April 16, 2016. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  10. "SpecialRelease". Record Store Day. April 16, 2016. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  11. "Samples of It's Your Thing by Lou Donaldson". WhoSampled. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
  12. "WALK THE MOON to Release 'Different Colors' EP". ABC News Radio. December 3, 2015. Retrieved July 2, 2020.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article It's_Your_Thing, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.