Motown Illustrated: "The Isley Brothers Got To Have You Back" Mono 45 mix & First version

The Isley Brothers spent a lot of time in Motown's Detroit studios in the mid sixties. The Brothers worked with a variety of Motown's Superstar songwriters/producers and here they are paired with Ivy Jo Hunter. Ivy was an interesting presence at Motown. Norman Whitfield is the name everyone associates with being something of a maverick at Hitsville: an adventurous, innovative producer, making extensive use of polyrhythms and experimenting with tempos and beats; however, Ivy Jo was probably the bigger maverick- so much so that he summarily found himself often outside of Motown's inner circle.

Years of collecting and listening to Motown's music, you start picking up the styles of various producers and Ivy struck me as someone who was always wanting to go beyond the satus quo as far as how soul music sounded and that especially went for the music he produced at Motown. I can't speak for Ivy Jo and I wish I could have met him and had some deep conversations with him about his influences- but I keep getting the impression he had some serious Rock leanings. If I ever had questions about that, the recent discovery of a first version of a single he produced for The Isleys, "Got To Have You Back," erased those questions completely.

Paired together here are the version that was released and that first version. I have a feeling the version that was released came about because Motown's famous Quality Control (the quasi governing body that picked what singles would be released, made requests for changes in a record's mix or even requested an entirely new recording) heard Ivy's first version and FREAKED.

Listen to the 45 mix and it's a very good, solid, even innovative recording. The Motown Vibe is there but Ivy's touches move it a bit beyond: a rock, fuzz tone guitar stings, two drummers working the rhythm, even a surprising use of a harpsichord. It's Motown but you also hear influences from some of the tougher Rock sounds that was becoming popular on Top 40 radio. It should have gone over much better than it did with audiences, but that's another debate for another day. This version (actually version number 3) was completed in 1967. Next up is the first version recorded in the fall of 1966.

In '66, Motown had recently upgraded their recording equipment, giving the producers more tracks to work with. Along with the new equipment, producers were also given (by Berry Gordy himself) absolute freedom to experiment with this new technology. This was both generous and smart. The scene of music was changing and Berry knew his company had to change with it. Because everything was done in-house at Motown, and because Motown basically ran 24 hours a day, this must have been like letting a battalion of kids loose inside of a candy store that was giving it away.

Ivy obviously felt free to try very new things and in this case, he decided to mess with the beat. That's the first thing that hit me, how Hunter had the drummer accenting every first and third beat instead of the customary (and practically required by law) second and fourth beats. That change of accent gives the recording the feeling you're hearing it being played in reverse! I kept thinking, when is it going to change over to the snare accenting the 2 and the 4? But it never did and actually, I liked it. A lot! Granted, it's oddly like waiting for that proverbial sneeze that never happens, and it keeps you off balance the entire time, but dang it, Ivy makes it work.

The other thing here that you'll notice is how raw and jagged the whole thing sounds. It has absolutely none of Motown's prerequisite prettiness. The fuzz, rock guitar sound is here, underpinning everything and in leu of that strong drum beat on the 2 and the 4, there is plenty of other percussion to anchor those beats.

Unfortunately, there is also a bit of a feeling that the song has no really strong hook to hang a hat on. You keep sorta waiting for something to jump at you and it doesn't happen. And still, I think I actually prefer this work-in-progress-sounding version. It's imperfect, it's uneven, but it's 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, because you just don't know what kind of a side trip this thing is taking you on.

I think once you hear version number one of "Got To Have You Back," you'll understand why I said Quality Control probably freaked out when they heard it. I'm sure they asked Ivy to re-work it, "get that drummer to HIT IT ON THE 2 AND 4!" Ivy may even have had some feeling that he'd never get away with his first version. But I'm glad it was preserved for us to hear today.

Got To Have You Back (Ivy Jo Hunter-Stephen Bowden-Leon Ware) published Jobete 01-Nov-66
The Isley Brothers; recorded Hitsville, completed 10-Oct-66 ; produced by Ivy Jo Hunter ; [v1]
The Isley Brothers; recorded Hitsville-GW, completed 09-Jan-67 ; produced by Ivy Jo Hunter ; [v3]
30-Mar-67; 45 (M): Tamla T 54146 A
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