"Hold Me" is a song written by Glenn Ray, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful music artist ...

. It was recorded and released in August 1977 as the second single from the album ''

Lovers, Friends and Strangers ''Lovers, Friends and Strangers'' is the sixth solo studio album released by American country music singer, Barbara Mandrell, released in May 1977. The album peaked at number 26 on the ''Billboard'' Top Country Albums chart. "Hold Me", the album's ...

''. It reached the top 20 of the North American country songs charts.

Background and recording

Barbara Mandrell had a series of charting singles at

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

in the early 1970s including the top ten country song " The Midnight Oil". In 1975 she moved to

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In 1956, the company moved ...

and found a musical style that helped her reach her breakthrough. This was crafted by producer

Tom Collins The Tom Collins is a Collins cocktail made from gin, lemon juice, sugar, and carbonated water. First memorialized in writing in 1876 by Jerry Thomas, "the father of American mixology", this "gin and sparkling lemonade" drink is typically serv ...

, who helped bring a

Countrypolitan The Nashville Sound originated during the mid-1950s as a subgenre of American country music, replacing the chart dominance of the rough Honky tonk, honky tonk music, which was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s, with "smooth strings and choruse ...

sound. One of the singles she cut during this period was 1977's "Hold Me". It was written by Glenn Ray. Collins produced the track's recording session in March 1977 in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

Release and chart performance

"Hold Me" was released as a single on ABC/Dot Records in August 1977. It was backed on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

by the song "This Is Not Another Cheatin' Song". The track was issued by the label as a seven inch vinyl single. The single spent 14 weeks on America's ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

country songs Country song may refer to: *National anthem, known as a "country song" in some languages * "Country Song" (Jake Bugg song), a 2011 song by British singer songwriter Jake Bugg * "Country Song" (Pink Floyd song), an untitled song by Pink Floyd from th ...

chart, peaking at number 12 by October 1977. In Canada, the single climbed to the number 14 position on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' country chart. The song was released on Mandrell's third ABC/Dot studio album called ''

''.

Track listing

7" vinyl single * "Hold Me" – 2:54 * "This Is Not Another Cheatin' Song" – 2:47

Charts

References

{{Barbara Mandrell songs 1977 singles 1977 songs ABC Records singles Dot Records singles Barbara Mandrell songs Song recordings produced by Tom Collins (record producer)