"I'll Keep Holding On" is a song composed by

Mickey Stevenson Mickey is a given name and nickname, almost always masculine and often a short form (hypocorism) of Michael, and occasionally a surname. Notable people and characters with the name include: People Given name or nickname Men * Mickey Andrews (bor ...

and Ivy Jo Hunter and recorded by Motown singing group

The Marvelettes The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who wa ...

, who released the single on the

Tamla Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

imprint in 1965. Peaking at #34 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and #11 on the R&B charts), the single returned the group to the top forty after a year recording songs that performed below the top forty.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

/ref> This was among the first A-side singles that longtime Marvelettes member

Wanda Young Wanda LaFaye Young (August 9, 1943 – December 15, 2021), also known as Wanda Rogers, was an American singer, known for being a member of the Motown all-female singing group the Marvelettes, and after 1965, the lead singer. Early life Youn ...

sung lead on. Before 1965, the majority of the leads in Marvelettes songs had belonged to original member

Gladys Horton The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who wa ...

. The single features a woman determined to win the love of an unknowingly conquest telling him that she'll convince him to love her "until my will to resist is gone". Her Marvelettes band mates Gladys Horton and Katherine Anderson egg her on with her ad-libbing "oh yeah/sho' nuff" in the bridge leading up to the chorus. The single was covered by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

mod-pop act,

The Action The Action were an English band of the 1960s, formed as the Boys in August 1963, in Kentish Town, North West London. They were part of the mod subculture, and played soul music-influenced pop music. Career The band was formed as the Boys in ...

in 1966. It then returned across the Atlantic in 1998 to be released on Mink Rat or Rabbit by the

Detroit Cobras Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. '' Cash Box'' described it as "a shufflin’ pop-blues tearjerker about a love-sick gal who contends that she’ll stick with her guy no matter what he does" and said that the song has "tremendous potential."

Credits

*Lead vocals by

*Background vocals by

Katherine Anderson The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who w ...

and

The Andantes The Andantes were an American female session group for the Motown record label during the 1960s. Composed of Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps, the group sang background vocals on numerous Motown recordings, including songs by Ma ...

(Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, Louvain Demps) *Instrumentation by

The Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

** Drums by

Benny Benjamin William "Benny" Benjamin (July 25, 1925 – April 20, 1969), nicknamed Papa Zita, was an American musician, most notable as the primary drummer for the Motown Records studio band The Funk Brothers. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of ...

References

{{authority control 1965 singles The Marvelettes songs Songs written by William "Mickey" Stevenson Songs written by Ivy Jo Hunter Tamla Records singles 1965 songs 1966 singles Song recordings produced by Ivy Jo Hunter Song recordings produced by William "Mickey" Stevenson