You Keep Me Hangin On

"You Keep Me Hangin' On" is a song written and composed by Holland–Dozier–Holland. It was first recorded in 1966 by American Motown girl group the Supremes, reaching number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. American rock band Vanilla Fudge released a cover version in June of the following year, which reached number six on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. English singer Kim Wilde covered "You Keep Me Hangin' On" in 1986, reaching number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in June 1987. In the first 32 years of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 rock era, "You Keep Me Hangin' On" became one of six songs to reach number one by two different musical acts. In 1996, American country singer Reba McEntire's version reached number two on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Club Play chart. The BBC ranked the Supremes' original song at number 78 on ''The Top 100 Digital Motown Chart'', which ranks Motown releases by their all-time UK downloads and streams.

The Supremes original version

Background

"You Keep Me Hangin' On" was originally recorded in 1966 by the Supremes for the Motown label. The single is rooted in proto-funk and rhythm and blues, compared to the Supremes' previous single, " You Can't Hurry Love", which uses the call and response elements akin to gospel. The song's signature guitar part is said to have originated from a Morse code-like radio sound effect, typically used before a news announcement, heard by Lamont Dozier. Dozier collaborated with Brian and Eddie Holland to integrate the idea into a single.

Many elements of the recording, including the guitars, the drums, and Diana Ross's vocals were multitracked, a production technique which was established and popularized concurrently by Holland–Dozier–Holland (H–D–H) and other premier producers of the 1960s such as Phil Spector (see ''Wall of Sound'') and George Martin. H–D–H recorded the song in eight sessions with the Supremes and session band the Funk Brothers before settling on a version deemed suitable for the final release.

Reception

"You Keep Me Hangin' On" was the first single taken from the Supremes' 1967 album '' The Supremes Sing Holland–Dozier–Holland''. The song became the group's eighth number-one single when it topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 pop singles chart for two weeks in the United States from November 19 to 26, 1966. It peaked at number eight in the UK Singles Chart. The Supremes original version was ranked number 339 on ''Rolling Stone''s The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was voted number 43 on Detroit's 100 Greatest Songs, a ''Detroit Free Press'' poll in 2016. ''Billboard'' described the song as a "pulsating rocker with the trio in top form" with an "interesting, driving guitar figure throughout." ''Cash Box'' said that it is "another in he Supremes'long-line of strong 'Detroit' offerings" that "is bound to follow in footsteps of the group’s previous winners."

The track is one of the more oft-covered songs in the Supremes canon. The group performed the song on the ABC variety program ''The Hollywood Palace'' on October 29, 1966.

Personnel

* Diana Ross – lead vocals
* Florence Ballard – backing vocals
* Mary Wilson – backing vocals
* The Funk Brothers – instrumental accompaniment

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales

Vanilla Fudge version

Background

Vanilla Fudge's 1967 psychedelic rock remake entitled "You Keep Me Hanging On" reached number six on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart a year after the release of the Supremes' recording. While the edited version released on the 45 RPM single was under three minutes long, the album version was 7:26. The recording, done in one take, was Vanilla Fudge's first single.

Vanilla Fudge drummer Carmine Appice talked about the band's decision to cover the song in a 2014 interview:

The Vanilla Fudge version appears in the series finale of the television show ''The Sopranos'' (2007), at the conclusion of episode 1 of season 7 of the television series '' Mad Men'' (2015), the film ''War Dogs'' (2016), the video game ''Mafia III'' (2016), the film ''Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'' (2019) and its soundtrack, and over the closing credits of the "Intervention" (2022) episode of ''That Damn Michael Che''.

Personnel

* Carmine Appice – drums, vocals
* Tim Bogert – bass, vocals
*Vince Martell