The Isley Brothers — “He’s Got Your Love”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 7, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,137) The Isley Brothers — “He’s Got Your Love”

This wailing wall of sound, a ‘69 album track and ’71 B-sid, is one of the great “Why did you choose him over me” songs. I hope it wasn’t one of the brothers talking about another! It comes from the Brothers’ first post-Motown album, their declaration of artistic freedom.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine:

“It’s Your Thing[“ is] a wild, loose-limbed groove that functioned as the Isleys’ repudiation of Motown and embrace of Sly and the Family Stone funk. With this 1969 hit, along with the It’s Our Thing album that accompanied it, the Isley Brothers embraced the now of ’60s soul. The album was very much their thing: they threw in everything they had in reviving their indie T-Neck, abandoning the uptown soul without losing sight of a pop audience while also deepening the groove, all giving them their biggest hit to date.

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/20989-the-isley-brothers-the-rca-victor-and-t-neck-album-masters

Alex Henderson:

A very important album for the Isley Brothers, 1969’s It’s Our Thing found Ronald, O’Kelly and Rudolph Isley reviving their T-Neck label and marked the beginning of their association with Buddah (where they would remain until moving T-Neck to Epic/CBS in 1973). Creatively, this excellent LP put the siblings in the driver’s seat — they did all of the producing and songwriting themselves — and they enjoyed the type of artistic freedom that they could only dream about when they were with Tamla/Motown from 1965-1968. At Tamla/Motown, Berry Gordy’s team of producers and songwriters called the shots, but at T-Neck/Buddah, the Isleys’ own vision was allowed to flourish. And that creative freedom made It’s Our Thing a commercial triumph as well as an artistic one. The funky title track soared to number two on the R&B charts, and equally invigorating gems like “Give the Women What They Want” and “I Know Who You Been Socking It To” also went down in history as soul classics. Nor are tough, gritty album tracks like “He’s Got Your Love” and “I Must Be Losing My Touch” anything to complain about. It’s Our Thing made it clear that Tamla/Motown’s loss was Buddah’s gain.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/its-our-thing-mw0000075763

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