"Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)" is a song written by

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

Barrett Strong Barrett Strong Jr. (February 5, 1941 – January 28, 2023) was an American singer and songwriter known for his recording of "Money (That's What I Want)", which was the first hit single for the Motown record label. He is also known for his songw ...

and

Norman Whitfield Norman Jesse Whitfield (May 12, 1940 – September 16, 2008) was an American songwriter, composer, 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 ...

, and first recorded by Gaye in 1962. It was the B-side to his 1969 hit "Too Busy Thinking 'Bout My Baby".

Paul Young Paul Antony Young (born 17 January 1956) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Formerly the frontman of the short-lived bands Kat Kool & the Kool Cats, Streetband and Q-Tips, he became a teen idol with his solo success in the 1980s. H ...

's version of the song was a UK No. 1 single for three weeks in July 1983.

Paul Young version

The Paul Young version, from the album ''

No Parlez ''No Parlez'' is the debut solo studio album by English singer Paul Young. Released in 1983, it reached number one on the UK Albums Chart (for a non-consecutive total of 5 weeks) and remained in the UK Top 100 for 119 weeks. The album has been ...

'', is stylistically notable for its use of

fretless bass A fretless bass is an electric bass guitar whose neck lacks frets and thus is smooth like traditional string instruments, and like the neck of an acoustic double bass. While the fretless bass is played in all styles of music, it is most common in ...

, played by

Pino Palladino Giuseppe Henry "Pino" Palladino (born 17 October 1957) is a Welsh musician, songwriter, and record producer. A session bassist, he has played bass for a number of acts such as the Who, the John Mayer Trio, Gary Numan, Paul Young, Don Henle ...

. Though a major UK hit that broke Young as a star, the song fared less well on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 70, but was later used in the 1986 film ''

Ruthless People ''Ruthless People'' is a 1986 American black comedy film directed by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker and written by Dale Launer. It stars Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold, Anita Morris, and Helen Slater, with Bill Pull ...

'' and its accompanying soundtrack album.

Production

According to Young, when he was making the album ''No Parlez'', the label sent him a number of songs that he thought were too complex. He said: "I just want a simple three-chord trick with a melody." He remembered a B-side track by Marvin Gaye he heard when he was 14, found a recording, and decided to record the song. He slowed the song down, and added more melancholy to the vocal. Palladino was then recruited from

Jools Holland Julian Miles Holland (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and has worked with many artists including Marc Almond, Jayne County, To ...

's band, Jools Holland and His Millionaires. The song was produced by

Laurie Latham Laurie Latham (born 1954) is a British record producer whose career has now entered its fifth decade. Some of his most notable productions include albums ''New Boots and Panties!!, New Boots & Panties'' by Ian Dury, Ian Dury & the Blockheads, ''No ...

, who asked for an intro for the song, and Palladino quoted the bassoon melody at the opening of

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

's ''

The Rite of Spring ''The Rite of Spring'' () is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Vaslav Nijinsky ...

'' for the opening bass line. Palladino however thought that the bass line in the recording was too loud and out of tune. The keyboard player Ian Kewley added a keyboard motif to the song, and it was then decided that the song should be released as a single.

Reception

In a retrospective review,

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 Mus ...

journalist Dave Thompson wrote that Young's version of the song "left mouths hanging open in awe" and described it as "a beautifully impassioned take on what was, in all fairness, never one of Marvin Gaye's greatest performances."

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Other cover versions

Cover versions were also made by (among others):

Delano Stewart Winston "Delano" Stewart (born 5 January 1947) is a Jamaican singer who had success in the 1960s with The Gaylads before establishing himself as a solo artist. Born in Kingston, Stewart was half of the duo Winston and Bibby, along with B.B. S ...

(1970),

Cornell Campbell Cornel Campbell aka Don Cornel or Don Gorgon (born 23 November 1945 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a reggae singer, best known for his trademark falsetto voice, and his recordings at Studio One in the late 1960s and his later work with Bunny Lee in ...

(1975), John Holt (1982),

The Nolans The Nolans were an Anglo-Irish girl group formed in Blackpool in 1974, originally known as the Nolan Sisters. They changed their name to The Nolans in 1980. Between 1979 and 1982, they enjoyed a string of hit singles, including ''I'm in the M ...

(1984),

The Temptations The Temptations is an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1961 as The Elgins, known for their string of successful singles and albums with Motown from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield ...

(1986, more than 10 years after their recording it),

Taylor Hicks Taylor Reuben Hicks (born October 7, 1976) is an American singer who won the American Idol (season 5), fifth season of ''American Idol'' in May 2006. Hicks got his start as a professional musician in his late teens and performed around the Sout ...

(2006), Darren Percival (2012),

Boyzone Boyzone were an Irish boy band created in 1993 by the talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's ''The Late Late Show (Ireland), The Late Late Show''. Its most successful line-up was co ...

(2014),

Imany Nadia Mladjao (born 5 April 1979), better known by her stage name Imany ( ), is a French pop-soul recording artist of Comorian descent. Her debut album, ''The Shape of a Broken Heart'', which was released in 2011, reached platinum status in Fran ...

(2017).''Wherever I Lay My Hat, versions'' op secondhandsongs.com
/ref>

References

{{Authority control 1962 songs 1983 singles Marvin Gaye songs Paul Young songs Taylor Hicks songs Songs written by Barrett Strong Songs written by Marvin Gaye Songs written by Norman Whitfield Irish Singles Chart number-one singles UK singles chart number-one singles Pop ballads Songs about infidelity CBS Records singles Music videos directed by Storm Thorgerson