You've Really Got a Hold on Me

"You've Really Got a Hold on Me" is a 1962 Top 10 hit single by The Miracles for the Tamla (Motown) label. One of the group's most covered tunes, this million-selling song is a 1998 Grammy Hall of Fame inductee.

The Miracles' original version
Written by Smokey Robinson and featuring Robinson on lead vocals, with Miracles second tenor Bobby Rogers on harmony co-lead, the song explores the feelings of a man so in love with a woman that he can't leave her despite the fact that she treats him badly. The song was a major hit for the Miracles,reaching 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. The Miracles' original version is a 1998 Grammy Hall of Fame inductee. It was also the group's second single to sell over a million copies, after "Shop Around".

Interestingly, it almost didn't happen, because "You've Really Got A Hold On Me" wasn't the single's "A" side. The original "A" side of the single (Tamla 54073) was the uptempo song "Happy Landing", a solid rocker of a tune that had hit potential,and even charted regionally. Surprisingly, however, the nation's Dee-Jays flipped the record over, because they liked "Hold On Me" better (Reference: The Miracles–Depend On Me: The Early Albums liner notes-pg 12). It would be included on the album The Fabulous Miracles over three months after its release.

The Miracles can be seen performing the song live on stage at the legendary Apollo Theatre in New York (1963) on the Motown/Universal DVD release: Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: The Definitive Performances 1963-1987. This filmed performance, according to the DVD's liner notes, is the only known recorded live footage of the group with original Miracles member Claudette (Mrs.Smokey) Robinson. They also performed it live at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium the following year (1964) for the American International Pictures concert film, T.A.M.I. Show. It was also chosen for the soundtrack of the award-winning 1964 Ivan Dixon film, Nothing But a Man, and many others (see below). Smokey Robinson himself also performed a rewritten version of it on Sesame Street alongside a grabby feminine looking Muppet letter "U", with such lyrics as "U stands for uptight/That's how I'm feelin'/Bein' grabbed by a letter is/Unappealin'".

Soundtracks and film appearances

 * Nothing But a Man (1964)
 * T.A.M.I. Show (1964)
 * More American Graffiti (1979)
 * Mermaids (1990)
 * Striptease (1996)
 * Strike! (1998)
 * Alien Nation (1998)

Reference: IMDb

Personnel: The Miracles

 * Smokey Robinson – lead vocal
 * Claudette Rogers Robinson – 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' version
"You Really Got a Hold on Me" [sic] was the first track recorded for the Beatles' second United Kingdom LP, With the Beatles, and features John Lennon on lead vocal with George Harrison on close harmony. The Beatles acquired an imported copy by the Miracles and included it in their repertoire early in 1963.

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.

In the fall of 1963, when EMI acquired their first four track recording equipment, the Beatles recorded another version of the song at Lennon's request, perhaps with the intent of including it as a B-side to an upcoming single, or as part of a four song EP. However, the group concluded that in spite of the enhanced recording technology, the new version was not substantially better than their original studio effort, and the remade cover has yet to be officially released in any form.

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, Sweden in October 1963 was released in 1995 on Anthology 1.

The song was performed once again in 1969, during the Let It Be recording sessions, and featured in the 1970 documentary film, Let It Be.

Personnel

 * John Lennon – lead vocal, rhythm guitar
 * George Harrison – lead guitar, lead vocal
 * Paul McCartney – bass, backing vocal
 * Ringo Starr – drums
 * George Martin – piano

The Supremes version
The Supremes' cover version of "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" produced by Hal Davis and Marc Gordon was included on their 1964 album A Bit of Liverpool.

Personnel

 * Diana Ross – lead and background vocal
 * Florence Ballard – background vocal
 * Mary Wilson – background vocal and harmony co-lead vocal
 * Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers

The Temptations version
The Temptations' cover version of "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" produced by Smokey Robinson was included on their 1965 album The Temptations Sing Smokey.

Personnel

 * Eddie Kendricks – lead vocal
 * Melvin Franklin – background vocal
 * Paul Williams – background vocal and harmony co-lead vocal; verses 1 & 2
 * Otis Williams – background vocal
 * David Ruffin – background vocal and harmony co-lead vocal; last verse
 * Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers

Mickey Gilley version
The song was covered by country music artist Mickey Gilley in 1984. Gilley's version peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and #1 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada.

Other versions
The song, one of the most famous of the early Motown era, has been covered extensively since its release, including by The Beatles, Laura Nyro backed by Labelle on Gonna Take a Miracle, Percy Sledge, a young Michael Jackson, Mike and the Mechanics, Greg Lake, Little Caesar and the Consuls, The Zombies, The Small Faces, The Temptations, and The Supremes, Phil Collins among many others.

The song was covered by American rock singer Eddie Money on his 1977 album, Eddie Money. It was released as a single in early 1979 and reached #72 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was also released in 1977 as the second promotion single by Gregg Allman and Cher from the album Two the Hard Way. Their version did not chart.

"California Song" from The Mountain Goats's 1995 album Sweden quotes the song.

It was recorded by Cyndi Lauper for her 2003 album At Last. It was also recorded by Bobby McFerrin in his debut album, released in 1982 by Elektra Musician.

The indie folk duo She & Him (Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward) recorded a version of "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" for their 2008 debut album, Volume One. The song was also featured as the last track on Thao Nguyen's 2008 album We Brave Bee Stings and All.

It was also recorded by Rod Stewart in his album Soulbook, released in 2009.

On American Idol in 2011, Haley Reinhart performed this song on Motown Week and was declared safe the next night.

Cultural references
Smokey Robinson performed a parody of the song in January 1988 on Sesame Street, where he is embraced, then chased by a huge letter 'U'.

In Kidsongs' Ride the Roller Coaster, the lines "got a hold on me" were mentioned in the song, "Fast Food".