“Tell It Like It Is” by Aaron Neville

Aaron Neville cut the original "Tell It Like It Is" in 1966, a George Davis and Lee Diamond song that also gave its name to his album on Par-Lo Records. Davis did double duty on the session, arranging it and playing baritone sax, with Alvin "Red" Tyler on tenor, Emory Humphrey-Thompson, also known as Umar Shariff, on trumpet, Deacon John on guitar, Willie Tee on piano and June Gardner on drums.

Issued as a single that November, it went to No. 1 on the R&B chart and stalled at No. 2 on the Hot 100 early in 1967, stuck behind the Monkees' "I'm a Believer". Rolling Stone put it at No. 391 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2010, and Neville's recording entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2015.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.