Released November 1971 Genre Soul Label Alston | Format 7" single Length 2:40 | |
B-side "I'll Love You Forever" | ||
"Clean Up Woman" is a song by Betty Wright from her second studio album, I Love the Way You Love (1972). Written and produced by Clarence Reid and Willie Clarke, it was released in 1971 as a 7" single with "I'll Love You Forever" on the B-side, reaching number six on the U.S. Pop Singles chart—where it stayed for fourteen weeks—and number two on the U.S. Black Singles chart. It has sold over a million copies with the RIAA gold disc awarded on December 30, 1971. Billboard ranked it as the No. 49 song for 1972. The song's distinctive guitar lick was played by Willie "Little Beaver" Hale.
The song also appears as the beginning and end songs in a medley on the 1978 album Betty Wright Live.
The song has been sampled in at least 32 other songs, including the 2013 "Favorite Song" by Chance the Rapper and the 1993 remix of "Real Love" by Mary J. Blige. Cover versions include those by Leela James (2009), Blowfly (1975), Al Kooper (1994) and Maria Muldaur (1979).