Jimmy Webb is one of the premier songwriters of the 20th century. Even his lesser-known tunes get covered by a multitude of artists, because they’re so darned good.
Today’s classic song of the day is a case in point. The song is “Do What You Gotta Do” and it was a minor hit for a few different artists, as well as being covered by dozens more.
Jimmy Webb wrote “Do What You Gotta Do” back in 1967 as a sensitive breakup song with a bit of a soulful flair. It was first recorded by Johnny Rivers that year, for his album Rewind.
The song was made into a minor hit in 1968 by R&B artist Al Wilson. Wilson’s record didn’t quite make it into the Billboard Hot 100 (it peaked at #102, just below the chart cutoff) but reached #39 on Billboard’s R&B chart.
Songstress supreme Nina Simone was next to record the song. Her version of “Do What You Gotta Do,” released in August of 1968, made it into the Hot 100, peaking at #83 on that chart. It did better in the UK, going all the way to #2 on the UK charts.
Next up were the Four Tops, who released their cover of “Do What You Gotta Do” in 1969. Their version wasn’t released as a single here in the States, but it was in the UK where it went to #11 on the local charts.
Over the years, “Do What You Gotta Do” has been covered by an extremely large number of popular artists, including Linda Ronstadt, Glen Campbell, Bobby Vee, Ronnie Milsap, Clarence Carter, Paul Anka, B.J. Thomas, Roberta Flack, Tom Jones, the duo of Cher and then-hubby Duane Allman, and the New Zealand band Larry’s Rebels. Composer Jimmy Webb released his own version of the song on his 2010 album, Just Across the River. You can go down a very deep rabbit hole just listening to all recordings of this tune; they’re all good because it’s such a good song.
