Impressions – It’s Alright

You got soul and everybody knows
That it’s all right, whoa, it’s all right

I never get tired of this song and it never fails to put me in a good mood…just as “I Can See Clearly Now” does. It’s a great sixties soul/pop feel-good song. I’m a Curtis Mayfield fan from The Impressions to Superfly. A great songwriter and singer…and a pretty good guitar player.

The song was written by singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer Curtis Mayfield. In 1963, the song peaked at #4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100,#1 on the R&B Charts, and #1 in New Zealand… I looked for the Canadian charts but since it was before 1964 it was hard to find. My friend Dave did find that it at least reached #25 on the Chum Toronto chart in November of 1963.

The song started with a conversation between lead singer Curtis Mayfield, baritone Sam Gooden, and tenor Fred Cash between Nashville performances. The trio had recently teamed up with producer Johnny Pate and were excitedly talking about future possibilities for The Impressions when Fred Cash exclaimed that “it’s all right!” Mayfield ran with it after hearing that phrase.

This song was on their self-titled debut album released in 1963. It peaked at #43 on the Billboard Album Charts. They would have more successful albums but It’s Alright was their highest-peaking song on the Billboard 100.

Mayfield was getting ready to perform at Windgate Field in Brooklyn, N.Y. on August 13, 1990, when a gust of wind from a fast-moving storm sent a lighting rig tumbling down onto him, breaking his neck and paralyzing him from the neck down. He received a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement in 1995, and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Impressions in 1991 and as a solo artist in 1999. He died at age 57 in 1999. 

It’s Alright

Say it’s all right, it’s all right
Say it’s all right, it’s all right
It’s all right, have a good time
‘Cause it’s all right, whoa, it’s all right

We’re gonna move it slow
When lights are low
When you move it slow, it sounds like more
And it’s all right, whoa, it’s all right

Now listen to the beat
Kinda pat your feet
You’ve got soul and everybody knows
That it’s all right, whoa, it’s all right

When you wake up early in the morning
Feelin’ sad like so many of us do
Hum a little soul, make life your goal
And surely something’s got to come to you

And say it’s all right
Say it’s all right
It’s all right, have a good time
‘Cause it’s all right, whoa, it’s all right

Now everybody clap your hands
Give yourself a chance
You got soul and everybody knows
That it’s all right, whoa, it’s all right

Someday I’ll find me a woman
Who will love and treat me real nice
Then my woe’s got to go
And my love, she will know
From morning, noon and night

And she’s got to say it’s alright
Say it’s all right
It’s all right, have a good time
‘Cause it’s all right, whoa, it’s all right

Everybody clap your hands
Now give yourselves a chance
You’ve got soul

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball fan, old movie and tv show fan... and a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

19 thoughts on “ Impressions – It’s Alright”

  1. As soon as I saw the title of today’s post, I put on my headphones. This is one of those songs. For more on Curtis Mayfield, see Craig Werner’s “Higher Ground: Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, and the Rise and Fall of American Soul”. (P.S. Professor Werner shares a birthday with Stevie Wonder.)

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    1. I”ll check it out…thanks.
      A few years ago my son and I got to see Superfly on the big screen at an art theater we go to…yea I’m a fan of Curtis.

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  3. This song is alright, and it has this feel-good vibe to it. Outdoor concerts do have their problems due to the weather and I went to a Grateful Dead concert where the lightning was so intense that they cancelled the show. I was disappointed, but I wouldn’t have wanted to be out on stage in that storm.

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  6. quality old tune, I didn’t know it by name when you had mentioned it to me, but once I listened, I did, though it’s not one I’ve heard often here or in Canada. Tragic the Mayfield story. I wrote about it last year, when you were on holiday I think, up until then I didn’t know the circumstances of his injury. A few seconds earlier or later and he would have been fine. Sad

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    1. I’ve known this song for a long time…probably because of the oldies channel I listened to in the 80s. It has the same effecct as I Can See Clearly Now

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  8. “It’s All Right” is the musical equivalent to soul food, as is “I Can See Clearly Now” – all around beautiful tunes that just make you feel happy. I also love “People Get Ready”, another tune by the Impressions Curtis Mayfield wrote.

    And, btw, what a horrible freak accident that was. Sadly, it started a downward spiral in Mayfield’s health. Eight years later, he also needed to have his right leg amputated due to diabetes. It was also diabetes, or I should say complications from it, which eventually took his life – what an ordeal!

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    1. Oh I like People Get Ready also…I thought I covered this one already but I didn’t! It makes me feel really good.
      I know it just wasn’t fair man…just an awful freak accident to happen to him.

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    1. Bruce I was surprised on how many people didn’t know it. I’ve heard it countless times on old shows and movies…not to mention oldies radio.

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