Billy Joe Royal recorded a number of Joe South compositions and "Yo-Yo" was one of the many from 1967.

The Osmonds 1971 single cover of "Yo-Yo" peaked at number three on the Billboard Top One Hundred. The single was produced by Grammy winner Rick Hall, the owner of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The next year "Yo-Yo" was a track on their eighth studio album "Phase 111".