"You've Really Got a Hold on Me" is a song written by

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...

, which became a 1962 Top 10

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

for the Miracles. One of the Miracles' most covered tunes, this million-selling song received a 1998 Grammy Hall of Fame Award. It has also been selected as one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. It was recorded by the Beatles for their second album, '' With the Beatles'' (1963). Many other musicians also recorded versions.

Composition and recording

"You've Really Got a Hold On Me" was written by

while in New York in 1962 on business for Motown; he heard

Sam Cooke Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred ...

's " Bring It On Home to Me", which was in the charts at the time, and—influenced by it—wrote the song in his hotel room. The song was recorded in Motown's Studio A on October 16, 1962, with Robinson on lead vocals, and Miracles' second tenor Bobby Rogers on harmony co-lead. Robinson was the producer, and he had Eddie Willis and Miracle Marv Tarplin share the guitar parts.

Releases and charts

The song was released on the Tamla label on November 9, 1962, as the B side of " Happy Landing". "Happy Landing" reached some regional charts; however, "Hold On Me" ultimately performed better. With "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" as the A side, the single reached the Top 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Pop chart, peaking at number eight, and was a number one smash on the Billboard R&B singles chart during the winter of 1962–63. ''

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'' described it as "a pulsating beat-ballad romancer that the artists carve out in emotion-packed fashion" and said "could be a real big dual-mart, pop-r&b sales item." ''Cash Box'' also praised the "captivating instrumental assist." The Miracles' original version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. It was also the group's second single to sell over a million copies, after "Shop Around". The song was included on the album '' The Fabulous Miracles'' over three months after its release.

Personnel

The Miracles *

– lead vocal *

Claudette Rogers Robinson Claudette Annette Rogers Robinson ( Rogers; born June 20, 1938) is an American singer, best known as a member of the vocal group The Miracles from 1957 to 1972. Her brother Emerson "Sonny" Rogers was a founding member of the group, which befor ...

– backing vocal * Pete Moore – backing vocal * Ronnie White – backing vocal * Bobby Rogers – co-lead vocal and backing vocal * Marv Tarplin – guitar *Other instruments by the Funk Brothers

The Beatles rendition

"You Really Got a Hold on Me" was the first song recorded for the Beatles' second British album, '' With the Beatles'', and was included on their third US album, '' The Beatles' Second Album''. It features John Lennon and

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

on lead vocals with Paul McCartney on harmony vocals. The Beatles recorded the song on July 18, 1963. This session took place while '' Please Please Me'' was still at number one in the album charts four months after its release, and in the midst of a rigorous touring schedule that also had to include BBC sessions for radio and television. It was completed in seven takes, four of which were complete. The group then recorded four edit pieces. The final version was an edit of takes 7, 10 and 11. The Beatles also recorded "You Really Got a Hold on Me" on four occasions for BBC radio in 1963. One of these, from July 30, 1963 was included on the '' Live at the BBC'' collection. A live version recorded in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden, in October 1963 was released in 1995 on '' Anthology 1''. The song was performed once again in 1969, during the ''

Let It Be Let It Be most commonly refers to: * ''Let It Be'' (Beatles album), the Beatles' final studio album, released in 1970 * "Let It Be" (Beatles song), the title song from the album It may also refer to: Film and television * ''Let It Be'' (1970 ...

'' recording sessions, and featured in the 1970 documentary film, ''

''. Personnel * John Lennon – rhythm guitar, lead vocals *

– lead guitar, lead vocals * Paul McCartney – bass guitar, harmony vocals *

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

– drums * George Martin – piano

Other versions

"You've Really Got a Hold on Me" has been recorded several times since its release. A rendition by Eddie Money, recorded for his self-titled debut album, reached number 72 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in December 1978, and number 68 in Canada in January 1979. A version by American country music artist Mickey Gilley peaked at number two on the U.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 ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart and number one on the Canadian ''

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 Tracks chart.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:You've Really Got A Hold On Me The Miracles songs Songs written by Smokey Robinson Tamla Records singles Parlophone singles 1962 singles 1963 singles 1979 singles 1980 singles 1983 singles The Beatles songs Eddie Money songs Mickey Gilley songs Song recordings produced by George Martin Song recordings produced by Jim Ed Norman Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients RPM Top Singles number-one singles Epic Records singles Song recordings produced by Berry Gordy Song recordings produced by Smokey Robinson 1962 songs 1960s ballads Soul ballads ja:ユーヴ・リアリー・ゴッタ・ホールド・オン・ミー#ビートルズによるカバー