"It's Gonna Work Out Fine" is a song written by Rose Marie McCoy and

Joe Seneca Joe Seneca (January 14, 1919 – August 15, 1996) was an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for Willie Brown in '' Crossroads'' (1986), Dr. Meadows in '' The Blob'' (1988), and Dr. Hanes in ''The Cosby Show''. Life and ca ...

(also known as Sylvia McKinney). It was originally released by

Ike & Tina Turner Ike & Tina Turner were an American musical duo consisting of husband and wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, supported by Ike Turner's band the Kings of Rhythm and backing voc ...

in 1961 as a single from their album ''Dynamite!'' (1962). The record is noted for being their first Grammy nominated song and their second million-selling single after " A Fool In Love".

Recording and release

Following the success of "A Fool in Love",

scored another hit with " I Idolize You", and they released their debut album, '' The Soul of Ike & Tina Turner'' in February 1961. They toured all over the country on the

Chitlin' Circuit The Chitlin' Circuit was a collection of performance venues throughout the eastern, southern, and upper Midwest areas of the United States that provided commercial and cultural acceptance for African American musicians, comedians, and other enterta ...

as The Ike & Tina Turner Revue, which included Ike's band the

Kings of Rhythm The Kings of Rhythm are an American music group formed in the late 1940s in Clarksdale, Mississippi and led by Ike Turner through to his death in 2007. Turner would retain the name of the band throughout his career, although the group has underg ...

, and three

backing vocalist A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

known as

the Ikettes The Ikettes, originally The Artettes, were a trio (sometimes quartet) of female backing vocalists for the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Despite their origins, the Ikettes became successful artists in their own right. In the 1960s they had hits such as ...

. Songwriter Rose Marie McCoy co-wrote "It's Gonna Work Out Fine," but she didn't care for the song. It was copyrighted by Joe Seneca and James Lee. After being suggested by her writing partner to hear Tina Turner sing, McCoy attended their show at the

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

in New York and approached the duo about recording the song. Juggy Murray is credited as the sole producer, but the duo

Mickey & Sylvia Mickey & Sylvia was an American R&B duo composed of Mickey Baker and Sylvia Vanderpool, who later became Sylvia Robinson. They are best known for their number-one R&B single " Love Is Strange" in 1957. Baker and Vanterpool began recording tog ...

contributed to the song.

Sylvia Robinson Sylvia Robinson (née Vanderpool; May 29, 1935 – September 29, 2011) was an American singer, record producer, and record label executive. Robinson achieved success as a performer on two R&B chart toppers: as half of Mickey & Sylvia with ...

arranged, produced, and played guitar while

Mickey Baker MacHouston "Mickey" Baker (October 15, 1925 – November 27, 2012) was an American guitarist, best known for his work as a studio musician and as part of the recording duo Mickey & Sylvia. Early life Baker was born in Louisville, Kentucky. His ...

played the role of

Ike Turner Izear Luster "Ike" Turner Jr. (November 5, 1931 – December 12, 2007) was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, record producer, and talent scout. An early pioneer of 1950s rock and roll, he is best known for his work in the 1960s and ...

. In a 1981 interview with ''Black Radio Exclusive'' magazine Robinson said, "I paid for the session, taught Tina the song; that's me playing guitar." Mickey & Sylvia also recorded a version of the song in 1960 which was unreleased until their 1990 compilation album ''Love Is Strange''. Ike & Tina Turner's version was released as a single in June 1961 and became their biggest hit since "A Fool in Love". It peaked at No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B Sides chart and became their third pop hit, reaching No. 14 on the Hot 100. In addition to being released on the album '' Dynamite!'' in 1962, the song was also released on the album ''It's Gonna Work Out Fine'' in 1963.

Critical reception

''Billboard'' (June 19, 1961): "Ike and Tina talk about love on this attractive disk which also features a gospel-styled chorus. Pair handle the tune with gusto and it has a chance." '' Cash Box'' (June 24, 1961):

Ike & Tina Turner, who’ve had dual-mart R&B-pop chart representations in "A Fool In Love" and "I Idolize You," can soon be claiming another one in "It's Gonna Work Out Fine." Side, a hip-swinging, beat-ballad thumper, sports a delectable chorus-backed, verbal exchange between the two. Strings play an important part in the rhythmic, rock-a-shuffler on the lower end.

Awards and nominations

"It's Gonna Work Out Fine" earned Ike and Tina their first

Grammy Award nomination The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

for Best Rock & Roll Recording at the

4th Annual Grammy Awards The 4th Annual Grammy Awards were held on May 29, 1962, at Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1961. Henry Mancini won 5 awards. Award winners *Record of the Year **Henry Mancini for "Moo ...

Sequels and re-recordings

Ike and Tina released several "sequels" related to the song, including 1962's "The Argument", in which they sang in a similar way but this time involved in an argument, and the "official" sequel, "Something Came Over You", recorded during their tenure at

Kent Records Kent Records was a Los Angeles-based record label, launched in 1958 by the Bihari brothers. It was subsidiary of Crown Records Corporation. Kent was a follow-up to Modern Records which ceased operations in 1958. The label reissued Modern's singles, ...

. In 1966 the Turners re-recorded the original for the album, ''

River Deep - Mountain High A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wat ...

''. The duo re-recorded the song again in 1975. In 1993 Tina re-recorded the song for the soundtrack to the biopic, '' What's Love Got to Do with It''. Her saxophonist, Timmy Cappello, sang Ike's lines.

Live performances

"It's Gonna Work Out Fine" was performed in most of Ike and Tina's sets in the 1960s, most notably on ''The Big T.N.T. show'' in 1965, but as they began incorporating covers of rock tunes to their show, the song was rarely performed again. However, they performed the song on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

'' in 1972. Their performance was included on the double LP '' Here's Johnny: Magic Moments From The Tonight Show'' released by

Casablanca Records Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label currently ...

in 1974. Tina performed the song along with "A Fool In Love" in an Ike & Tina medley during her early solo live shows in the late 1970s. After hiring Roger Davies in 1980, the song was taken off her setlist.

Personnel

1961 version

*Lead vocal by Tina Turner *Spoken vocal by

*Background vocals by

and

The Ikettes The Ikettes, originally The Artettes, were a trio (sometimes quartet) of female backing vocalists for the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Despite their origins, the Ikettes became successful artists in their own right. In the 1960s they had hits such as ...

*Produced by Juggy Murray

1993 version

*Lead vocal by Tina Turner *Spoken vocal by Timmy Cappello *Background vocals by Jacquelyn Gouche, Jean McClain and Sharon Brown *Produced by

Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic compression for molding mixes that play wel ...

, Roger Davies and Tina Turner

Cover versions

* The

recorded an instrumental version that was released on the album '' Ike & Tina Turner's Kings of Rhythm Dance'' in 1962, which was released as a single in April of that year. *

Manfred Mann Manfred Mann were an English rock band, formed in London and active between 1962 and 1969. The group were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The band had two diffe ...

covered the song on their album ''

The Five Faces of Manfred Mann ''The Five Faces of Manfred Mann'' is the debut British and second American studio album by Manfred Mann. It was first released in the United Kingdom on 11 September 1964 by His Master's Voice. In late October/early November, the album was relea ...

'' in 1964. *

The Spencer Davis Group The Spencer Davis Group were a British band formed in Birmingham in 1963 by Spencer Davis (guitar), brothers Steve Winwood (keyboards, guitar) and Muff Winwood (bass guitar), and Pete York (drums). Their best known songs include the UK numb ...

covered the song on their debut album ''Their First LP'' in 1965. *

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, ...

recorded an instrumental version of the tune on his '' Bop Till You Drop'' album in 1979. *

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

and

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, hav ...

released a version of "I Think It's Gonna Work Out Fine" on Ronstadt's 1982 album ''Get Closer''. *

Ronnie Spector Veronica Yvette Greenfield (; August 10, 1943 – January 12, 2022) was an American singer who co-founded and fronted the girl group The Ronettes. She is sometimes referred to as the original "bad girl of rock and roll". Ronnie formed the ...

and Andre Williams released a version of the song on Williams' 2001 album ''Bait and Switch'' on

Norton Records Norton Records, is an independent record label founded by musicians Miriam Linna and Billy Miller in 1986. The label concentrates on rock, rockabilly, primitive music, punk, garage rock and early rhythm and blues.1961 songs 1961 singles Ike & Tina Turner songs Tina Turner songs Manfred Mann songs The Spencer Davis Group songs Songs written by Rose Marie McCoy Sue Records singles Linda Ronstadt songs Ry Cooder songs