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That Lady (song)

1964 single by The Isley Brothers

Summary

1964 single by The Isley Brothers

Field	Value
name	Who's That Lady
image	Whos that lady isley brothers US single 1964.png
alt	side-A label
caption	US single of the original 1964 recording
type	single
artist	the Isley Brothers
B-side	My Little Girl
released	April 1964
recorded	January 14, 1964
studio	Bell Sound Studios, New York City, New York
genre	R&B
length	2:48
label	United Artists
714
writer
producer	Bert Berns

| B-side = My Little Girl 714 3:09 (Radio version) 2251 Ronald Isley O'Kelly Isley Jr. Ernie Isley Marvin Isley Chris Jasper Rudolph Isley

"That Lady" is a song by the Isley Brothers, made famous in 1973 when it was reworked in a funk rock style. It was originally performed as "Who's That Lady?" in a classic R&B vocal style by the Isley Brothers in 1964, inspired by the Impressions.

In 1973, the core Isley Brothers vocal trio had recently expanded, picking up guitarist Ernie Isley, bassist Marvin Isley and keyboardist Chris Jasper to form their 3 + 3 configuration. Guitarist Jimi Hendrix had supported the Isley Brothers on tour in the mid-1960s, and Ernie Isley had been strongly influenced by Hendrix's playing methods. At the Los Angeles Record Plant in 1973 recording the new version of "That Lady", Ernie laid down a searing guitar line with heavy Hendrix-style sustain carrying a soft fuzz distortion. The recording project included other musicians on organ and congas to establish a funk/rock fusion sound. The song debuted at No.89 on the Hot 100 on July 14, 1973, as "Meet The Lady", then the title would appear as "Meet That Lady" for the next six weeks and "That Lady" for the remainder of the run.

"That Lady" became the Isley Brothers' first Top 10 pop single since 1969's "It's Your Thing", spending three weeks at No.6 on the pop chart and reaching No.2 on the US R&B Singles chart. The RIAA certified the single Gold in October 1973. It was also a cross-Atlantic hit for the group, reaching No.14 in the UK. With its prominent electric guitar line, "That Lady" helped establish Ernie Isley as a powerhouse performer.

In 2003, the song was ranked No.357 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Covers and samples

"That Lady" is sampled in "A Year and a Day," a section in the "B-Boy Bouillabaisse" suite on the 1989 Beastie Boys album Paul's Boutique.

Hip-hop versions of the song include "Who's That Lady" by The Get Funky Crew from their 1989 album Shake Them and "Who's That Lady" by Houston rapper 380 Dat Lady on her 1996 album A Day in the Life of 380 Vol. 1. "That Lady" is sampled in "Jus 1 Kiss (The Isley Bootleg)" by Basement Jaxx, which was released in 2001 and appeared on their 2005 greatest hits compilation The Singles.

Re-recorded elements of "That Lady" are incorporated in "i", the lead single of Kendrick Lamar's 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly. The song won the awards for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 2015 Grammy Awards.

Santana covers this track on his 1990 album "Spirits Dancing In The Flesh".

In popular culture

In the late 1990s, the song was used in a series of commercials for Salon Selectives haircare products.

"That Lady" appears in the 2004 film Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, introducing Christina Applegate's character, the news anchor Veronica Corningstone, when she first arrives at the San Diego television station KVWN Channel 4.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Chart (1973)	Peak
position
Canada RPM Top Singles	20
Netherlands	20
UK Singles (OCC)	14
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	6
U.S. Billboard R&B	2
U.S. Cash Box Top 100	6

Year-end charts

Chart (1973)	Rank
Canada	164
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	21
U.S. Cash Box	24

Personnel

Ronald Isley – lead and backing vocals
Rudolph Isley – backing vocals
O'Kelly Isley Jr. – backing vocals
Ernie Isley – guitar, backing vocals
Marvin Isley – bass guitar, backing vocals
Chris Jasper – piano, backing vocals
George Moreland – drums
Truman Thomas – organ
Rocky – congas

References

"The Isley Brothers | Biography, Albums, Streaming Links".
Stanley, Bob. (2014). "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé". [[W. W. Norton & Company]].
Marsh, Dave. (1989). "The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made". [[Plume (publisher).
Larkin, Colin. (1998). "The Virgin Encyclopedia of R & B and Soul". Virgin.
"Gold and Platinum Search: Isley Brothers". RIAA.
(1973-09-22). "Official Charts Company".
Taylor, Marc. (2001). "A Touch of Classic Soul 2: The Late 1970s". Aloiv Publishing.
Staff. (December 11, 2003). "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
Unterberger, Andrew. (2014-09-23). "The Five Best Times Someone Other Than Kendrick Lamar Used 'That Lady'".
(1973-10-27). "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada".
(1973-09-22). "Official Charts Company".
''Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990'' - {{ISBN. 0-89820-089-X
"Cash Box Top 100 Singles, October 20, 1973".
Canada, Library and Archives. (July 13, 2017). "Image : RPM Weekly".
"Top 100 Hits of 1973/Top 100 Songs of 1973 | Music Outfitters".
"Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1973".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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