All That I've Got (I'm Gonna Give It to You)
Billy Preston's third Apple single, produced by George Harrison.
In January 1970, Billy Preston released “All That I’ve Got (I’m Gonna Give It to You)” as his third Apple Records single. He co-wrote it with Doris Troy, and George Harrison handled production. The song failed to reach the Billboard Hot 100, stalling at number 108. Harrison said it was Preston’s reply to accusations that he had turned away from his black soul origins by moving into rock. The track was cut in London that December with Ringo Starr on drums.
Quick Facts
- Artist
- Billy Preston
- B-side
- As I Get Older
- Released
- January 30, 1970
- Genre
- Soul rock
- Length
- 3:34
- Label
- Apple
- Writer
- Billy Preston, Doris Troy
- Producer
- George Harrison
Facts from the source article.
Background and recording
Billy Preston co-wrote "All That I've Got (I'm Gonna Give It to You)" with fellow Apple Records soul singer Doris Troy. George Harrison explained in a March 1970 BBC Radio 1 interview that the song was Preston's effort to return to his black soul roots. This came after Preston's 1969 hit "That's the Way God Planned It" was ignored by US soul and R&B radio stations, whose programmers criticised him for "copping out … going with the whiteys" by playing rock music, which hurt him. Recording started in mid-December 1969 in London, delayed by work permit issues. Preston had joined Harrison in Copenhagen as a guest on the Delaney & Bonnie and Friends European tour. Another track, "Right Now", was considered for the single but saved for Preston's album Encouraging Words. The recording features Preston on vocals, piano and Hammond organ, Harrison on bass guitar, and Ringo Starr on drums, plus a horn section and tambourine. Author John Winn describes the song as soul rock, matching the album's style.
Release
The single was released in Britain on January 30, 1970, and in the US on February 16, with the B-side "As I Get Older", an instrumental written by Preston and Sly Stone and produced by Ray Charles. The record's face labels included the instruction "PLAY LOUD", as with John Lennon's concurrent Apple single "Instant Karma!". Cash Box selected the A-side as a "pick of the week", stating that Preston "ties on his heaviest shoes and stomps out the heaviest vocal and instrumental of late." Record World predicted chart success, but the single failed to chart in Britain and was not commercially successful elsewhere. It spent two weeks on the US Billboard singles chart in March 1970, peaking at number 108, and placed at number 21 on Record World's Singles Coming Up list. The song was added as a bonus track to the 1993 and 2010 CD releases of Encouraging Words. A recording by Troy was first issued in 1992 on the CD release of her album Doris Troy.
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