Search - Marva Whitney :: It's My Thing

Her "Thing" Was Miles Ahead Of Late 1960s Audiences

rollo | 08/11/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Marva Whitney, born May 1, 1944 in Kansas City, Kansas, began her career at the tender age of three while performing with members of her family under the billing The Manning Gospel Singers. After studying voice and composition at the University of Missouri in Kansas, she landed a job singing lead with Tommy Gadson & the Derbys, whose main claim to fame was being the opening act for the likes of The Drifters, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Rufus Thomas, Ike & Tina Turner, and even Little Richard and Etta James among others.



In 1967 she embarked upon a solo career when signed by James Brown Productions and King Records, traveling far and wide with The James Brown Revue, including one memorable visit to U.S. troops in Vietnam where, according to Brown, "she dodged just as many bullets as I did" - an act of heroism that earned her recognition by the U.S. Defense Department and the U.S. Ninth Infantry Division's brass.



In June 1969 she scored her first hit single for King when the answer song to The Isley Brothers' It's Your Thing, called It's My Thing (You Can't Tell Me Who To Sock It To), reached # 19 R&B and # 82 Billboard Pop Hot 100. Here they give you Parts 1 and 2 of the song, although the original King single had Ball Of Fire on the flipside, and that's not included here. In September, Things Got To Get Better (Get Together) made it to # 22 R&B and # 110 on the Hot 100 "bubble under" charts b/w Get Out Of My Life, and in November came her third (and last) hit single, I Made A Mistake Because It's Only You Pt. 1, which topped out at # 32 R&B b/w Part 2. All were produced by James Brown and all are in this collection.



Although a lucrative singles career avoided her, simply because she was far too funky to have made an impact on the more uptight, conservative pop charts, she did continue to perform with the Revue until the start of the 1970s, and also recorded the well-received King albums It's My Thing and Live and Lowdown At The Apollo before moving on to the Isley Brothers' T Neck label and, later, Nashboro Records [her sides with NAshboro have been re-released on CD by Ace of London so you know THAT'S a good buy].



From 1988 to 1993 she performed throughout Europe with the James Brown All-Stars [aka James Browns' Funky People] along with Vicki Anderson, Alfred Ellis, Bobby Byrd, Lyn Collins, Maceo Parker, and Fred Wesley, and in 2000 Soul Society Records re-released the LPs It's My Thing and Live and Low Down at the Apollo on both CD and Vinyl.



A dynamic, exciting singer who often out-funked the king of funk and who maybe arrived on the scene about a decade too early.

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