Clean Up Woman

"Clean Up Woman"
"Clean Up Woman"
	Side A of the US single
Single by Betty Wright
from the album I Love the Way You Love
B-side	"I'll Love You Forever"
Released	November 1971
Studio	Criteria (Miami)
Genre	Funk; pop; R&B;
Length	2:40
Label	Alston
Songwriters	Clarence Reid, Willie Clarke
Producers	Clarence Reid, Willie Clarke
Betty Wright singles chronology
Official audio
	"Clean up Woman" on YouTube

"Clean Up Woman" is a song by Betty Wright from her second studio album, I Love the Way You Love (1972). Written and produced by Clarence Reid and Willie Clarke, it was released in November 1971 in the U.S. as a 7" single with "I'll Love You Forever" on the B-side. The song's distinctive guitar lick was played by Willie "Little Beaver" Hale.

It has sold over two million copies with the RIAA gold disc awarded on December 30, 1972.^[5] Billboard ranked it as the No. 49 song for 1972. The song also appears as the beginning and end songs in a medley on the 1978 album Betty Wright Live.

Chart performance

The single reached No. 6 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, spending fourteen weeks on the chart.^[5] It also reached No. 2 on the U.S. Black Singles chart and remained in that spot for eight weeks, all behind "Let's Stay Together" by Al Green.^[6] It peaked at No. 4 on the Cash Box Top 100 singles chart during the weeks ending January 29, 1972 and February 5, 1972.^[7] In Canada, the song reached No. 39.^[8]

Weekly charts

Chart (1971–1972)	Peak position
Canada RPM Top Singles^[8]	39
U.S. Billboard Hot 100^[9]	6
U.S. Billboard R&B	2
U.S. Cash Box Top 100^[10]	4

Year-end charts

Chart (1972)	Rank
U.S. Billboard Hot 100^[11]	49
U.S. Cash Box ^[12]	57

Samples

The song has been sampled in at least 32 other songs, including the 2013 "Favorite Song" by Chance the Rapper and the 1993 remix of "Real Love" by Mary J. Blige.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ McDonnell, Evelyn (22 July 2008). "Miami sound machine". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
^ Billboard Staff (October 19, 2023). "The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List". Billboard. Retrieved February 11, 2024. Betty Wright hit the top 10 a year later with "Clean Up Woman," another impressively slinky funk gem...
^ Breithaupt, Don; Breithaupt, Jeff (October 15, 1996). "I Am Woman: Feminist Pop". Precious and Few - Pop Music in the Early '70s. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 96. ISBN 031214704X.
^ Molanphy, Chris (April 30, 2020). "Still Billy Joel to Me Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
^ ^a ^b Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 306. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 638.
^ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles, week ending FEBRUARY 5, 1972". Cashboxmagazine.com. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
^ ^a ^b "RPM Top 100 Singles - February 12, 1972" (PDF). Collectionscanada.gc.ca.
^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
^ "Cash Box Top 100 2/05/72". Cashboxmagazine.com. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
^ "Top 100 Hits of 1972/Top 100 Songs of 1972". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
^ "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1972". Tropicalglen.com. Retrieved 2020-05-11.

External links

Both Sides Now Publications
Clean Up Woman at Discogs (list of releases) Alston release
Clean Up Woman at Discogs (list of releases) Atlantic release

This 1970s R&B/soul music song-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[McDonnell-1] McDonnell, Evelyn (22 July 2008). "Miami sound machine". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 23 December 2021.

[Billboard_Pop_500-2] Billboard Staff (October 19, 2023). "The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List". Billboard. Retrieved February 11, 2024. Betty Wright hit the top 10 a year later with "Clean Up Woman," another impressively slinky funk gem...

[Breithaupt_1996-3] Breithaupt, Don; Breithaupt, Jeff (October 15, 1996). "I Am Woman: Feminist Pop". Precious and Few - Pop Music in the Early '70s. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 96. ISBN 031214704X.

[Molanphy_2020-4] Molanphy, Chris (April 30, 2020). "Still Billy Joel to Me Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved April 2, 2024.

[The_Book_of_Golden_Discs-5] Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 306. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.

[6] Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 638.

[7] "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles, week ending FEBRUARY 5, 1972". Cashboxmagazine.com. Retrieved 14 October 2018.

[auto-8] "RPM Top 100 Singles - February 12, 1972" (PDF). Collectionscanada.gc.ca.

[9] Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X

[10] "Cash Box Top 100 2/05/72". Cashboxmagazine.com. Retrieved 2020-05-11.

[11] "Top 100 Hits of 1972/Top 100 Songs of 1972". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2020-05-11.

[12] "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1972". Tropicalglen.com. Retrieved 2020-05-11.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

Clean Up Woman

Hub talks

Clean Up Woman

Clean Up Woman

Clean Up Woman

Hub overview

Add your contribution

Inside this hub

Media Collections

Timelines

Articles

Notes collections

Notes

Days in Chronicle

Root Wikipedia Article

Clean Up Woman

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Samples

References

External links

Add your contribution

Related Hubs

Clean Up Woman

Hub talks

Welcome to #editors!