I Gotcha (Joe Tex song) explained

I Gotcha
Type:single
Artist:Joe Tex
Album:I Gotcha
A-Side:A Mother's Prayer
Released:December 1971[1]
Recorded:1971 American Sound Studio Memphis,TN
Genre:
Length:2:18
Label:Dial Records
Producer:Buddy Killen
Prev Title:Give the Baby Anything the Baby Wants
Prev Year:1971
Next Title:A Mother's Prayer
Next Year:1972

"I Gotcha" is a song by Joe Tex. Originally intended for King Floyd, instead Tex recorded it himself in the late 1960s, but did not release it at that time. He decided to re-record it in late 1971 and released it as the B-side of "A Mother's Prayer", the first single from his 1972 album "I Gotcha". Mostly spoken in the form of an early rap song, with few singing passages, "I Gotcha" has the singer admonishing a woman for playing with his affections: "You never shouldn't have promised if you weren't gonna do it".

Radio DJs ended up playing this B-side song more than the A-side. This would result in Tex having his first major hit in five years as "I Gotcha" eventually peaked at Number 1 on the R&B chart and Number 2 on the Pop chart for two weeks, behind "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" by Roberta Flack[4] and would sell around three million copies. Billboard ranked it as the Number 6 song of 1972.[5] In Canada, the song reached Number 22.[6] Tex would later re-record "I Gotcha" in a ballad-style for his 1978 album Rub Down.

Like other Tex songs, "I Gotcha" has been sampled in various hip hop and R&B songs over the years. Liza Minnelli performed the number for her 1972 television concert Liza with a Z. It is also featured on the soundtrack to the 1992 Quentin Tarantino film Reservoir Dogs. A shorter version of the song appears in Kermit's Swamp Years.

Later uses

"I Gotcha" was sampled in the 1973 break-in record, "Super Fly Meets Shaft" (US #31).

Jimmy Barnes version

I Gotcha
Cover:I_Gotcha_by_Jimmy_Barnes.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Jimmy Barnes
Album:Soul Deep
B-Side:"I Gotcha" (Tex Mex 12" Mix)
Released:1991
Recorded:Freight Train Studios, Australia
Genre:R&B
Length:2:18
Label:Mushroom Records
Producer:Don Gehman, Tony Brock
Prev Title:Love Is Enough
Prev Year:1991
Next Title:When Something Is Wrong with My Baby
Next Year:1991

In 1991, Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes recorded and released "I Gotcha" as the first single from his fifth studio album, Soul Deep. It peaked at Number 6 in Australia and Number 27 in New Zealand.[7]

Track listingCD single (D11045)[8]
  1. "I Gotcha"
  2. "I Gotcha" (Tex Mex 12" Mix)
Charts
Certifications

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Top 60 Pop Spotlight . Billboard . December 18, 1971 . 62 .
  2. Web site: Tom . Breihan . The Number Ones: Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face". . February 25, 2019 . Joe Tex’s raw and horny soul stomper “I Gotcha” peaked at #2 behind “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face".. June 18, 2023.
  3. Book: Precious and Few - Pop Music in the Early '70s. Don. Breithaupt. Jeff. Breithaupt. October 15, 1999. Shafts: Macho Soul. 98. St. Martin's Griffin. 031214704X.
  4. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 574.
  5. [Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1972]
  6. Web site: RPM Top 100 Singles - May 13, 1972.
  7. Web site: JIMMY BARNES - I GOTCHA (SONG). Australian-Charts. 25 October 2014.
  8. Web site: Jimmy Barnes "I Gotcha". discogs.com. 25 October 2014.