What Can You Bring Me

Recorded in Los Angeles during sessions for the 1971 album You're So Beautiful, at Gold Star Recording Studios and Western Recorders. Written by drummer James Gadson, the recording featured the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, with Charles Wright directing the ensemble and musicians including Melvin Dunlap on bass, Benorce Blackmon on guitar and Gadson on drums. Released in 1971 on Warner Bros. Records, 'What Can You Bring Me' appeared on You're So Beautiful and as the B-side of 'Your Love (Means Everything to Me)'. The recording highlighted James Gadson's songwriting and the group's tightly coordinated rhythmic arrangements during the period following their commercial breakthrough with 'Express Yourself'. The composition was covered by Robert Palmer on his 1976 album Some People Can Do What They Like, extending its reach beyond the original recording. It subsequently attracted attention among rare-groove collectors and hip-hop producers, including Brand Nubian, and remains part of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band's influential early-1970s catalogue.