''Give It Away'' is the debut album by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

group

The Chi-Lites The Chi-Lites (, ) are an American R&B/soul vocal quartet from Chicago, Illinois, United States. Forming at Chicago's Hyde Park High School in 1959, The group's original lineup consisted of singers Robert Lester, Eugene Record, Creadel Jones, ...

, produced by

Carl Davis Carl Davis, (born October 28, 1936) is an American-born conductor and composer who has lived in the United Kingdom since 1961. He has written music for more than 100 television programmes, but is best known for creating music to accompany si ...

and lead singer

Eugene Record Eugene Booker Record (December 23, 1940 – July 22, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was best known as the lead vocalist of the Chicago-based vocal group The Chi-Lites from their formation in 1959 un ...

. The album was released in 1969 on the Brunswick label.

History

''Give It Away'' consists of seven original tracks and four

cover versions In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

(three

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

songs and "

The Twelfth of Never "The Twelfth of Never" is a popular song written in 1956 and first recorded by Johnny Mathis the following year. The title is a popular expression, which is used as the date of a future occurrence that will never come to pass. In the case of t ...

"). The album was well received by critics and sold respectably, with four singles reaching the R&B top 50 and two the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The album sold mainly to the R&B market, where it peaked at #16. Five singles were released from the album with the title track charting the highest, #88 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #10 on R&B chart, their first top ten hit. In 2004, the track "What Do I Wish For" became familiar to television viewers in the

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when it was used in a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

for

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chain

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Track listing

Personnel

Marshall Thompson James Marshall Thompson (November 27, 1925 – May 18, 1992) was an American film and television actor. Early years Thompson was born in Peoria, Illinois. He and his parents, Dr. and Mrs. Laurence B. Thompson, moved to California when he was a ...

Robert "Squirrel" Lester Robert Earl "Squirrel" Lester (August 16, 1942 – January 21, 2010) was the second tenor in the Chicago-based singing group The Chi-Lites. Lester was born in McComb, Mississippi. He was part of the original Chi-Lites line-up when the group (then ...

Creadel "Red" Jones The Chi-Lites (, ) are an American R&B/soul vocal quartet from Chicago, Illinois, United States. Forming at Chicago's Hyde Park High School in 1959, The group's original lineup consisted of singers Robert Lester, Eugene Record, Creadel Jones, ...

– vocals

Production

, Gerald Sims – producers *

Willie Henderson William Henderson (born 24 January 1944) is a Scottish people, Scottish retired association football, footballer. He played most of his career for Rangers F.C., Rangers, and spent the latter part of his career with Sheffield Wednesday F.C., She ...

– director *Sonny Sanders – arranger

Charts

;Singles

References

External links

Give It Away
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

{{Authority control 1969 debut albums The Chi-Lites albums Brunswick Records albums Albums produced by Eugene Record