"You Got It" is a song from American singer

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were ...

's 22nd studio album, ''

Mystery Girl ''Mystery Girl'' is the twenty-second album by American singer Roy Orbison. It was his last album recorded during his lifetime, completed in November 1988, a month before his death at age 52. Released posthumously by Virgin Records on January 3 ...

'' (1989). The song was released posthumously on January 3, 1989, after Orbison's death from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on December 6, 1988. The song was issued with "The Only One" as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

and was later released with "

Crying Crying is the dropping of tears (or welling of tears in the eyes) in response to an emotional state or physical pain. Emotions that can lead to crying include sadness, anger, joy, and fear. Crying can also be caused by relief from a period ...

" (version with

k.d. lang Kathryn Dawn Lang (born November 2, 1961), known by her stage name k.d. lang (stylised in all lowercase), is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter and occasional actress. Lang has won Juno Awards and Grammy Awards for her musical pe ...

). The single reached number nine on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

and number one on the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

chart, returning Orbison to the top 10 for the first time in 25 years. "You Got It" also reached number three on the UK Singles Chart and entered the top five in 10 other countries. Although it is an Orbison solo single, Orbison's fellow

Traveling Wilburys The Traveling Wilburys were a British-American supergroup formed in Los Angeles in 1988, consisting of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. They were a roots rock band and described as "perhaps the biggest sup ...

bandmates

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the leader and frontman of the Rock music, rock bands Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch and a member of the late 1980s sup ...

and

Jeff Lynne Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is the co-founder and, latterly, sole member of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) which was formed in 1970. He has written all of ...

co-wrote the song and played instruments on the record. According to ''The Authorized Roy Orbison'', the song was recorded at guitarist Mike Campbell's garage in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California, and mixed at

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

's residence Friar Park in

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Thames, in the South Oxfordshire district, in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, west of M ...

, England. Orbison gave his only public rendition of the hit at the Diamond Awards Festival in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, on November 19, 1988, just 17 days before his death and before the single was released. This footage was incorporated into the song's

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

. A 2014 version incorporated videos of rehearsal and practice sessions.

Background

"You Got It" was written by Orbison and his

bandmates

and

. Their first songwriting collaboration, it was written during the Christmas season of 1987 and recorded in Mike Campbell's garage in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, in April 1988. Lynne, Petty, former Beatle and fellow Wilbury

and Phil Jones provided other instrumentation and background vocals. Harrison went uncredited on the track. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that it "showcases Orbison’s distinctive vocal charge—fluid, yet capable of creating excitement" and said "listen for the exotically melodic lift to the chorus".

Personnel

– lead vocals and backing vocals, acoustic guitar *

– electric guitar, bass, synthesizer, piano and backing vocals *

– acoustic guitar and backing vocals *

– acoustic guitar and backing vocals (uncredited) * Phil Jones – drums and timbales *

Michael Utley Michael Edward Utley (born 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and was the musical director and keyboard player for Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band. After Buffett's death he retired from touring and was replaced by his ...

– string arrangement

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Bonnie Raitt version

The song became a hit again in 1995 for American singer-songwriter

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In 1971, Raitt released her Bonnie Raitt (album), self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed Americana (mu ...

, who recorded a version for the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

of the film '' Boys on the Side''. In the United States, it peaked at number 33 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and spent two weeks at number 31 on the ''

'' Top 100. In Canada, "You Got It" reached number 11 and was the 62nd-biggest hit of 1995, while in Iceland, it peaked at number 10. "You Got It" was nominated for the

Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The awar ...

, becoming Raitt's fifth nomination in the category.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

In-depth Song Analysis
at the Jeff Lynne Song Database (jefflynnesongs.com) * {{Authority control 1989 singles 1989 songs 1995 singles Arista Records singles Bonnie Raitt songs Roy Orbison songs Song recordings produced by Don Was Song recordings produced by Jeff Lynne Songs released posthumously Songs written by Jeff Lynne Songs written by Roy Orbison Songs written by Tom Petty Virgin Records singles