"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 R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he ...

, which became a 1962 top 10

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply 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 The Miracles (later known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1955. They were the first successful recording act for Motown Records and are considered one of the most ...

. One of the Miracles' most covered tunes, this million-selling song received a 1998

Grammy Hall of Fame Award The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

. It has also been selected as one of

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

. It was recorded by

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

for their second album, ''

With the Beatles ''With the Beatles'' is the second studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released in the United Kingdom on 22 November 1963 on Parlophone, eight months after the release of the band's debut album, '' Please Please Me''. P ...

'' (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 Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

; he heard

Sam Cooke Samuel Cooke (; January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter. Considered one of the most influential soul music, soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred to as the "King of Soul" for his distin ...

'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 Robert Edward Rogers (February 19, 1940 – March 3, 2013) was an American musician and tenor singer, best known as a founding member of Motown vocal group the Miracles from 1956 until his death. He was inducted, in 2012, as a member of the Mira ...

on harmony co-lead. Robinson was the producer, and he had Eddie Willis and Miracle Marv Tarplin share the guitar parts.

Originally a B-side

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. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' described it as "a pulsating beat-

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

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 The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

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'' just over three months after its release.

Personnel

The Miracles *

– lead vocal * Claudette Rogers Robinson – backing vocal * Pete Moore – backing vocal * Ronnie White – backing vocal *

– co-lead vocal and backing vocal * Marv Tarplin – guitar *Other instruments by

the Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

Charts

The Beatles version

"You Really Got a Hold on Me" was the first song recorded for

' second British album, ''

'', and was included on their third US album, '' The Beatles' Second Album''. It features

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

and

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

on lead vocals with

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

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 The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

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, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden, in October 1963 was released in 1995 on ''

Anthology 1 ''Anthology 1'' is a compilation album of music by the Beatles, released on 20 November 1995 by Apple Records as part of ''The Beatles Anthology'' series. It features rarities, outtakes and live performances from the period 1958–64, inclu ...

''. The song was performed once again in 1969, during the ''

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

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

''.

Personnel

According to

Ian MacDonald Ian MacCormick (known by the pseudonym Ian MacDonald; 3 October 1948 – 20 August 2003) was an English music critic, journalist and author, best known for both '' Revolution in the Head'', his critical history of the Beatles which borrowed te ...

: The Beatles *

lead vocal, rhythm guitar *

vocal, lead guitar *

harmony vocal, bass guitar *

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

drums Additional musician *

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...

piano

Other versions

"You've Really Got a Hold on Me" has been recorded several times since its release. A rendition by

Eddie Money Edward Joseph Money ( Mahoney; March 21, 1949September 13, 2019) was an American singer and songwriter who, in the 1970s and 1980s, had eleven Top 40 songs, including " Baby Hold On", " Two Tickets to Paradise", " Think I'm in Love", " Shakin' ...

, 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. In 1984, a version by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

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 advertis ...

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 along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart, and number one on the Canadian ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' Country Tracks chart.

In popular culture

Smokey Robinson himself also performed a rewritten version of this song on ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'' in 1989 called “U Really Got a Hold on Me”, alongside a grabby feminine looking Muppet letter " U", that keeps squeezing and grabbing him."U Really Got a Hold on Me"
/ref>

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:You've Really Got A Hold On Me 1962 songs 1962 singles 1963 singles 1979 singles 1980 singles 1983 singles The Miracles songs Songs written by Smokey Robinson Tamla Records singles Parlophone 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 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