"Don't Knock My Love" is a hit song performed by R&B singer

Wilson Pickett Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the ''Bil ...

and written by Pickett with

Brad Shapiro Bradley Aaron Shapiro (born August 15, 1938) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer, whose credits have included work with Wilson Pickett, Millie Jackson, James Brown, and the J. Geils Band. In the late 1950s, he played bass guitar ...

. Released in the spring of 1971 from the album of the same title, it spent a week at number-one on the ''Billboard'' Best Selling Soul Singles Chart and peaked at #13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Singles Chart. The song, which was produced under a

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mi ...

tempo was Pickett's last number-one single and one of his last hits for

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most im ...

Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross version

The best known cover version of this song was recorded by

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups ...

and

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

for their 1973 duet album, '' Diana & Marvin''. It peaked at #46 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and #25 on the Hot Soul Singles Chart. Outrside the US, the duo had a #1 hit in Brazil with their cover.

Personnel

Wilson Pickett version

*Lead vocals by

*Instrumentation by assorted musicians *Produced by Wilson Pickett

Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye version

*Lead vocals by

and

*Background vocals by assorted singers *Instrumentation by

The Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

*Produced by Hal Davis

Other Versions

*In 1980,

Lou Christie Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco (born February 19, 1943), known professionally as Lou Christie, is an American pop and soft rock singer-songwriter known for several hits in the 1960s, including his 1966 US chart-topper "Lightnin' Strikes" and 1969 ...

and

Pia Zadora Pia Zadora (born Pia Alfreda Schipani, May 4, 1954) is an American actress and singer. After working as a child actress on Broadway, in regional theater, and in the film ''Santa Claus Conquers the Martians'' (1964), she came to national attention ...

recorded a version as a non-album single on the Mindsong Music label. *In 1994,

Kate Ceberano Catherine Yvette Ceberano ( or , born 17 November 1966) is an Australian singer and actress who performs in the soul, jazz, and pop genres, as well as in film and musicals such as ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. Her song "Pash" received a gold sa ...

and

Jon Stevens Jon Stevens (born 8 October 1961) is a New Zealand singer, best known for his work with Noiseworks and ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. Biography 1980–1986: career beginnings and ''Jezebel'' Stevens was born in Upper Hutt, New Zealand, and is ...

recorded a version for the 1994 album '' Kate Ceberano and Friends''.

References

{{authority control 1971 singles 1974 singles Wilson Pickett songs Diana Ross songs Marvin Gaye songs Male–female vocal duets Songs written by Wilson Pickett Songs written by Brad Shapiro Song recordings produced by Hal Davis 1971 songs Motown singles Atlantic Records singles