"Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me" is a song and single by American group,

Gladys Knight & the Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B, soul and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s. Starting out as simply ...

written by

Barrett Strong Barrett Strong (born February 5, 1941) is an American singer and songwriter. Strong was the first artist to record a hit for Motown, although he is best known for his work as a songwriter, particularly in association with producer Norman Whitfi ...

Cornelius Grant Cornelius Grant (born April 27, 1943) is an American guitarist, composer, and band leader. He served as the musical director, guitar player, and live show arranger for Motown vocal group The Temptations from 1964 until 1982. Early life Grant was ...

and

Rodger Penzabene Rodger Penzabene (1945 – December 31, 1967) was an American songwriter for the Motown label. Among his most notable compositions as a lyricist are " Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me" by Gladys Knight & the Pips; " The End of Our Road" by G ...

. It was produced by

Norman Whitfield Norman Jesse Whitfield (May 12, 1940 – September 16, 2008) was an American songwriter and producer, who worked with Berry Gordy's Motown labels during the 1960s. allmusic Biography/ref> He has been credited as one of the creators of the Mo ...

Background

It also appeared on their 1967 album '' Everybody Needs Love'', where the song's erotic nature was censored. Critic John Lowe for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

felt the editing "damaged the song's story structure" and "undermined Knight's erotic awareness for the song".

Chart performance

Originally released in the US on the

Soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...

label in 1967 with "Do You Love Me Just a Little, Honey" as 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 ...

, the song only charted at number 98 on the

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 ...

. "Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me", however, did not chart on the national, Billboard's Top Selling R&B Singles chart. Overseas, it was later released in the UK in 1967 on the

Tamla 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 ''mot ...

label. It made number 13 in the UK charts in June 1967 and was Gladys Knight & the Pips' first UK hit.

Cover versions

Green Gartside Green Gartside (born Paul Julian Strohmeyer; 22 June 1955) is a Welsh songwriter, singer and musician. He is the frontman of the band Scritti Politti. Early life Gartside was born on 22 June 1955 in Cardiff, Wales, to a " Cup-a-Soup salesman da ...

teamed up with Sweetie Irie in 1991 for

Scritti Politti Scritti Politti are a British band, originally formed in 1977 in Leeds, England, by Welsh singer-songwriter Green Gartside. He is the only member of the band to have remained throughout the group's history. Beginning as a punk-inspired collecti ...

's cover of "Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me", the follow-up to the top 20 hit "

She's a Woman "She's a Woman" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released on a non-album single in November 1964 as the B-side to "I Feel Fine", except in North Amer ...

" with

Shabba Ranks Shabba Ranks (born Rexton Rawlston Fernando Gordon; 17 January 1966) is a Jamaican dancehall musician. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was one of the most popular Jamaican musicians in the world. Throughout his prominence in his home cou ...

. Scritti Politti's version "Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me" peaked at No. 47 and came from the same B.E.F. recording sessions as Scritti Politti's cover of "She's a Woman" and Gartside's version of "I Don't Know Why I Love You" (from the B.E.F. album ''Music of Quality and Distinction, Volume 2''). *

Florence Rawlings Florence Rawlings (born 26 September 1988) is an English singer from South London, England. She first met Dramatico Entertainment chairman Mike Batt when she was 13 years old. He was auditioning female vocalists, and two of them stood out to him ...

covered the song in 2010 for her debut album ''A Fool In Love''.

References

{{Gladys Knight & the Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips songs 1967 singles 1967 songs Songs written by Barrett Strong Songs written by Cornelius Grant Songs written by Rodger Penzabene Song recordings produced by Norman Whitfield Motown singles