Willie Hutch (December 6, 1944 – September 19, 2005) – Brother’s Gonna Work It Out (1973)

From the talented singer/songwriter and producer's soundtrack to the influential Blaxploitation film The Mack, this extended version was released on a promo-only 7".

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Willie Hutch was a multi-talented singer/songwriter, musician and producer who recorded for Motown in the 1970s and scored the soundtracks to the classic Blaxploitation films The Mack and Foxy Brown.

William McKinley Hutchison was born in Los Angeles but raised in Dallas, Texas. He sang in his high school chorus, and after graduating recorded his first single in 1964.

After returning to Los Angeles, he began collaborating with the newly formed 5th Dimension. With producer Marc Gordon, he co-wrote their 1966 debut single’s non-LP B-side “Too Poor To Die,” and wrote and co-produced both sides of their second (non-LP) single, “I'll Be Lovin' You Forever” b/w the upbeat jam “Train, Keep On Movin'.” These all showed the group started out with a much rawer soul/R&B sound than they later adopted.

Hutchison later wrote the 5D’s mellow tracks “Learn How To Fly” and “California My Way” which appeared on their 1967 debut album Up, Up and Away. He recorded his own superb version of the latter several years later.

When asked by Friends of Distinction member Harry Elston to audition more of his songs for their producer John Florez at RCA Records, he blew Florez away with his voice. Florez finally stopped him during the middle of a number and said, “Willie, there’s no way in heaven anyone can sing that better than you,” then signed him to a contract on the spot. He released his debut solo LP Soul Portrait in 1969, produced by Florez, billed as Willie Hutch. In a behind-the-scenes video about the LP that premiered earlier this year, Florez explained how Hutch masterminded the project:

“Willie did everything for that album. He’s the one that contracted his musicians on the date, he wrote all the tunes, he arranged and conducted…all the players, including the horn section, and he played stellar guitar on all the cuts. This guy could do anything. And he could do everything, and he did.”

Soul Portrait was full of superb jams like its Mayfield-esque opening cut “Ain't Gonna Stop,” the stellar “A Love That’s Worth Having” (later sampled by 9th Wonder for Murs’ “Dreamchaser”), the heartfelt “That's What I Call Loving You,” the phenomenal “You Gotta Try,” and its masterpiece, “Your Love Keeps Liftin’ Me Higher.”

Inexplicably, the album did not chart. Original copies today sell for $60-$75 on average on Discogs.

Florez also produced Hutch’s second LP Season for Love (1970), which likewise missed the charts. This time around, Hutch only wrote or co-wrote half of the album, including the superb jam “Walking On My Love,” which he co-wrote with J.W. Alexander.

In June, 1970, Hutch got a call from Motown producer Hal Davis, who asked him to write lyrics for a new Jackson 5 song he had just co-written with Bob West (with Berry Gordy also receiving songwriting credit). Hutch immediately wrote and delivered the lyrics to “I’ll Be There,” which the group recorded the next morning. Released as a single on August 28, 1970, it became their biggest-ever hit, hitting #1 on the R&B charts and Billboard Hot 100 that fall on its way to selling over six million copies worldwide.

Gordy signed Hutch to Motown as a songwriter, producer, and recording artist. He wrote more songs for the Jackson 5, plus the Miracles, Marvin Gaye, and others.

One stellar track he wrote for Gaye titled “I'm Gonna Give You Respect” was shelved, although released years later on deluxe editions of both Let’s Get It On (2016) and Gaye’s lost album You’re The Man (2019). It was also recorded by G.C. Cameron for his 1974 Love Songs & Other Tragedies LP. Hutch’s own superb version (h/t DJ A-Ski aka @mrunique74) was also eventually released on compilations of his work like Try It You'll Like It (The Best Of Willie Hutch) which was issued in 2003 by Expansion Records.

In 1972, Hutch was tapped to score the soundtrack to the classic Blaxploitation film The Mack, a tale of a pimp whose dreams of money and power conflict with his Black nationalist brother’s desire to rid the community of pushers, drugs and prostitutes. Starring Max Julien and Richard Pryor, it was filmed on location in Oakland from early September to late December of that year and released in theatres in April, 1973.

Hutch composed and produced every one of the soundtrack’s excellent songs, and was featured on lead vocals. Highlights included the funky opening cut “Vampin’,” the epic “Theme Of The Mack,” the stone cold classic love song “I Choose You,” and the album’s second single “Slick,” which hit #18 R&B, and was recently expertly remixed in an extended Disco-Tech ReWork by DJ Juan Negron.

Its masterpiece was the powerful, socially conscious anthem “Brother’s Gonna Work It Out.” Released as the soundtrack’s lead single, it hit #18 R&B. Along with “Slick,” Hutch memorably performed it on an episode of Soul Train that aired July 7, 1973, which also featured Max Julien as a special guest.

A seven-minute extended version was later issued as a promo-only 7” single. The album itself sold well, reaching #17 on the R&B charts and crossing over to #114 on the Billboard 200.

Hutch next scored the soundtrack to Foxy Brown (1974), again writing, arranging and producing the entire project. Besides its title track “Theme Of Foxy Brown,” standout cuts included the funky opening cut “Chase,” and the phenomenal message song “Out There.”

Hutch released six solo albums on Motown between 1973-77, and scored a #41 Hot 100 hit with “Love Power” in 1975. His last Motown LP was Havin’ a House Party (1977) which went to #26 on the R&B album charts and featured the powerful disco message song “Train of Love.”

He then put out two more albums on Whitfield Records in the late seventies after leaving Motown to join producer Norman Whitfield at his new label.

Happy 79th Birthday to the late great Willie Hutch.

Further info:

“Motown's Willie Hutch Dies,” Billboard, September 20, 2005.

“Willie Hutch," obituary, The Guardian, October 3, 2005.

“Get Ready for the Get Down: The Funk of Willie Hutch,” The Virginian-Pilot, April 7, 2011.

“Inside The Studio: The Incomparable Willie Hutch - Our 'Soul Portrait' Album,” by John Florez, YouTube, January 10, 2023.

#soul #funk #Motown #TheMack #WillieHutch