Funkatropolis: “It’s Your Thing” by The Isley Brothers

The Isley Brothers had their biggest hit with the funk classic “It’s Your Thing,” released in February 1969. This exhilarating groove anthem was one of the standout releases of that year. People were bumpin’ it everywhere: the club, the beach, cars, parties, festivals, etc. The song boasts a smashing arrangement, with marvelous musicianship featuring gutbucket bass, dirty guitar riffs, funky piano, and killer horns. And Ronald Isley delivers a gritty, soulful vocal performance.

The song is a celebration of personal independence, artistic freedom, and sexual liberation. It also served as the band’s declaration of independence following their departure from Motown in 1968. The Isleys felt restricted, sidelined, and creatively stifled at the legendary Detroit-born label. The band released “It’s Your Thing” on their reactivated label, T-Neck Records, which they founded in 1964. The label had been inactive since 1965, when they signed with Motown.

In an interview on The Isley Brothers: Summer Breeze Greatest Hits Live DVD, Ronald Isley said he wrote "It's Your Thing" while dropping his daughter off at school one day. Worried that he might forget the lyrics, he began humming the tune in his head and rushed straight to his mother’s house to write it out. He sang it to his eldest brother, O’Kelly Isley Jr., who liked it right away and thought it could be a hit. So they immediately set up the studio to record it.

“It’s Your Thing” was a popular phrase at the time the Isleys recorded the song. It has an ambiguous double meaning. It could be about having the sexual freedom to hook up with whoever you want to without shame or guilt, or simply about self-independence and following your own path and pursuing your own interests, whatever they may be. The song covers both of these themes.

Ronald, Rudolph Isley, and O’Kelly Isley Jr. are the credited writers for “It’s Your Thing.” The song was the first major hit that the Isleys wrote and produced themselves. It topped Billboard’s R&B singles chart and peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song also performed well on the charts in the UK (#30), France (#9), and Canada (#3). It has sold over two million copies worldwide and earned the Isleys a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group in 1970. It was their first Grammy win. The song ranked at number 420 on Rolling Stone magazine’s 2004 list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. "It's Your Thing" was the lead single from the Isleys' sixth studio album, It's Our Thing, released in April 1969.

Here’s the full personnel for “It’s Your Thing”: Ronald Isley (lead vocals), O’Kelly Isley Jr. and Rudolph Isley (background vocals), Woody Woodson (drums), Charles “Skip” Pitts (guitar), Trevor Lawrence (tenor saxophone), Herb Rooney (piano), George Patterson (alto saxophone and arrangement), and Ernie Isley on bass, who was only 16 at the time. It was his first appearance on an Isley Brothers record. They recorded it at A&R Studios in New York. The musicians that the Isleys recruited for the session had toured with soul/R&B legend Wilson Pickett. Guitarist Charles Pitts was later known for his funky wah-wah guitar riff on Issac Hayes’ "Theme From Shaft."

“It’s Your Things” has been sampled on 13 songs, including “My Thang” (James Brown, 1974) and “Shake Your Thang” (Salt-N-Pepa feat. E.U., 1988). It was featured in the film soundtracks Tender Bar (2021), The Witches (2020), The Glorias (2020), Uncle Frank (2020), Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017), Sausage Party (2016), Stonewall (2015), The Falling (2014), Soul Kitchen (2009), Pride (2007), Music Within (2007), Big Momma’s House 2 (2006), The Big Bounce (2004), Runaway Jury (2003), Muppets from Space (1999), Out of Sight (1998), Virgin Snow (1976), and It’s Your Thing (1970). It has also been featured in several TV movies and series.

“It’s Your Thing” has been covered by a slew of artists, including Aretha Franklin, the Jackson 5, Ann Peebles, the Temptations, Johnnie Taylor, and Jason Derulo. This classic track still gets a lot of play on oldies stations, movies, commercials, events, TV series, and more.