"You've Really Got a Hold On Me" was written by Smokey Robinson while in New York in 1962 on business for Motown; he heard Sam Cooke'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.[1]
The song was recorded in Motown's Studio A on October 16, 1962, with Robinson on lead vocals, and Miracles' second tenor Bobby Rogers on harmony co-lead. Robinson was the producer, and he had Eddie Willis and Miracle Marv Tarplin share the guitar parts.[1]
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.[2] 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.[3]Cash Box described it as "a pulsating beat-ballad romancer that the artists carve out in emotion-packed fashion" and said "could be a real big dual-mart, pop-r&b sales item."[4]Cash Box also praised the "captivating instrumental assist."[4]
The Miracles' original version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. It was also the group's second single to sell over a million copies, after "Shop Around".[5] The song was included on the album The Fabulous Miracles over three months after its release.
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.[9]
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[10] 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.[11]
"You've Really Got a Hold on Me" has been recorded several times since its release. A rendition by Eddie Money, 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.[12]
