"Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)" is a song written by the premier

Motown 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 ...

songwriting/production team of the 1960s

Holland–Dozier–Holland Holland–Dozier–Holland was a songwriting and production team consisting of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland. The trio wrote, arranged and produced many songs that helped define the Motown sound in the 1960s. During ...

. The first hit recording was sung by

Kim Weston Kim Weston (born December 20, 1939) is an American soul singer, and Motown alumna. In the 1960s, Weston scored hits with the songs "Love Me All the Way" and "Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)", and with her duet with Marvin Gaye, " ...

in 1965. It was most popular in 1975 when it was recorded by the

Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...

Early versions

Eddie Holland Edward Holland Jr. (born October 30, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Holland was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Although he was an early Motown artist who recorded minor hit singles such as "Jamie", ...

of Holland-Dozier-Holland made the original recording of "Take Me in Your Arms" in 1964. This version was not released commercially until 2005. Holland-Dozier-Holland had Kim Weston record the song in 1965 and her version was released that September. Mike Terry is the baritone sax player. It peaked at number 4 on the

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

in ''

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 ...

'' and at number 50 on the Hot 100. In 1967, Holland-Dozier-Holland had

the Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...

recorded the song. Their version released in March 1968 and reached number 121 in the U.S.Joel Whitburn's Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100 1959-2004 and 22 on the R&B chart. The American

jazz-rock Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

band

Blood, Sweat & Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is a jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. In addition to original music, the group has performed popular songs by Laura Ny ...

released a version of the song on the album BST4 in June 1971.

Jermaine Jackson Jermaine La Jaune Jackson (born December 11, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and bassist. He is best known for being a member of the Jackson family. From 1964 to 1975, Jermaine was second vocalist after his brother Michael of The Jackson ...

released "Take Me in Your Arms" for his first solo album, ''Jermaine'', released in 1972. The track, produced by

Hal Davis Harold Edward Davis (February 8, 1933 – November 18, 1998) was an American songwriter and record producer. Davis was a producer and writer for Motown Records for nearly thirty years, and was a key figure in the latter part of the Motown ...

, was 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 ...

for Jackson's record "Daddy's Home".

The Doobie Brothers

The Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...

recorded "Take Me in Your Arms" for their 1975 ''

Stampede A stampede () is a situation in which a group of large animals suddenly start running in the same direction, especially because they are excited or frightened. Non-human species associated with stampede behavior include zebras, cattle, elephants ...

'' album. Tom Johnston, who was then the Doobies' frontman, later recalled, "I had been a fan of that song since it came out somewhere in the '60s. I just loved that song. So somewhere around '72 I started lobbying to get the band to do a cover of that. And I didn't get anywhere until '75. Then finally in 1975 we actually did it." Doobies member

Jeff Baxter Jeffrey Allen "Skunk" Baxter (born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, known for his stints in the rock bands Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers during the 1970s and Spirit in the 1980s. More recently, he has worked as a defense consu ...

said of their recording, "That song was like a dream come true for us. Every musician I've ever known has at some point wanted to achieve Motown's technically slick soul sound - it's so dynamic. We sat down to try to duplicate it, and to see if our version could emerge as a successful single." According to Doobies member

Patrick Simmons Patrick Simmons (born October 19, 1948) is an American musician best known as a founding member of the rock band The Doobie Brothers. Born in Aberdeen, Washington, he has been the only consistent member of the band throughout their tenure. Simm ...

, "At first the band sounded like the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

doing the

Four Tops The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet from Detroit who helped to define the city's Motown sound of the 1960s. The group's repertoire has included soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes. Founded as the ...

, but gradually it came together quite accurately." Motown veteran

Paul Riser Paul Riser (born September 11, 1943) is an American trombonist and Motown musical arranger who was responsible for co-writing and arranging dozens of top ten hit records. His legacy as one of the "Funk Brothers" is similar to that of most of the ...

was enlisted to arrange the track. Released as the lead single of ''Stampede'' on April 23, 1975, "Take Me in Your Arms" reached a United States

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

peak of number 11 that June. "Take Me in Your Arms" gave the Doobie Brothers their only chart hit in France, where it reached number 37. The track also charted in the UK at number 29, matching the chart peak of the Doobie Brothers' only other original release Top 30 hit "

Listen to the Music "Listen to the Music" is a song recorded by the Doobie Brothers on their second album ''Toulouse Street''. The song was the Doobie Brothers' first big hit in 1972. It was written by Tom Johnston. Song Writer Tom Johnston described the motivatio ...

" (The Doobie Brothers reached number 7 in the UK in 1993 with a remixed version of their 1973 single "

Long Train Runnin' "Long Train Runnin" (or "Long Train Running") is a song recorded by the Doobie Brothers and written by band member Tom Johnston. It was included on the band's 1973 album ''The Captain and Me'' and was released as a single, becoming a hit and pea ...

") and in Australia at number 34.

Other notable versions

"Take Me in Your Arms" was also released in 1975 by the Canadian singer

Charity Brown Charity Brown (born Phyllis Boltz in Kitchener, Ontario) is a Canadian film actress, singer, and voice artist for television animation shorts. She is one of Eastwood Collegiate Institute's notable alumni. Biography Charity Brown began singing wit ...

whose version, produced by Harry Hinde, was arranged by the Motown veteran Tom Baird. The Charity Brown rendering reached number 5 in Canada in May 1975. The song was also recorded by Blood Sweat & Tears on BS&T 4. Brown's single was given a May 1975 release in the UK where it failed to chart. The track appeared on Brown's 1975 album ''Charity Brown''. Australian pop group

The Chantoozies The Chantoozies are an Australian pop group, formed in 1986. The group featured four female vocalists: Eve von Bibra, Angie La Bozzetta, Ally Fowler and Tottie Goldsmith, and four male musicians: Brett Goldsmith (bass guitars, keyboards, pro ...

released their version as a single in 2019, which was the last song to feature founding member

Tottie Goldsmith Caroline "Tottie" Goldsmith (born 27 August 1962) is an Australian actress and singer. Career Television In the early 1980s, Goldsmith acted in the Australian television series ''The Young Doctors'', '' Starting Out'', ''Prisoner'', '' Saturd ...

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Kim Weston Isley Brothers Charity Brown

Year-end charts

Doobie Brothers

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1964 songs 1965 singles 1967 singles 1975 singles The Doobie Brothers songs The Isley Brothers songs Songs written by Holland–Dozier–Holland Song recordings produced by Ted Templeman Motown singles Gordy Records singles Warner Records singles Song recordings produced by Hal Davis