You Really Got A Hold On Me

Song facts

From Wikipedia:

“You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me” is a song written by Smokey Robinson which became a 1962 Top 10 hit single for the Miracles on the Tamla (Motown) label. One of the Miracles’ most covered tunes, this million-selling song received a 1998 Grammy Hall of Fame Award. It has also been selected as one of the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. It was covered by The Beatles on their second album, With The Beatles.

Composition

“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. […]

Release

The song was released on the Tamla label on November 9, 1962 as the B side to “Happy Landing“. “Happy Landing” charted regionally; however, the nation’s Dee-Jays flipped the record over, because they liked “Hold On Me” 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. 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“. It would be included on the album The Fabulous Miracles over three months after its release. […]

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 and Paul McCartney on close harmony lead. The Beatles acquired an imported copy by the Miracles and included it in their repertoire early in 1963. In a 1968 interview, Smokey Robinson reported that he liked their cover.

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.

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. […]

From The Usenet Guide to Beatles Recording Variations:

• [a] mono 21 Aug 1963.
  UK: Parlophone PMC 1206 With the Beatles 1963.
  CD: EMI CDP 7 46436 2 With the Beatles 1987.
• [b] stereo 29 Oct 1963.
  UK: Parlophone PCS 3045 With the Beatles 1963.
• [b1] stereo remixed from [b] 1964, by Capitol.
  US: Capitol ST 2080 Second 1964.
• [b2] mono made from [b] 1964, by Capitol.
  US: Capitol T 2080 Second.

In mono [a], the instrumental track is mixed relatively quiet until the line “oh ho ho you treat me badly”, when it comes up to a more normal level; in stereo [b] it starts at normal level and remains.

Last updated on February 9, 2016

Lyrics