You Keep Me Hangin' On (1966)

"You Keep Me Hangin' On" is a song written and composed by Holland–Dozier–Holland. It was first recorded in 1966 by American Motown group the Supremes, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song has since been interpreted by many performers. American rock band Vanilla Fudge released a cover version in June the following year, which reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100. Wilson Pickett recorded it in 1969. English singer Kim Wilde covered "You Keep Me Hangin' On" in 1986, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1987. In 1996, a version recorded by American country singer Reba McEntire reached number two on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.

In the first 32 years of the Billboard Hot 100 rock era, "You Keep Me Hangin' On" became one of the six songs to reach number one by two different musical acts: The Supremes and Kim Wilde. The BBC ranked the Supremes' original song at number 78 on The Top 100 Digital Motown Chart, which ranks Motown releases by their all-time UK downloads and streams.

Background

"You Keep Me Hangin' On" was originally recorded in 1966 by the Supremes for the Motown label. The single is rooted in proto-funk and rhythm and blues, compared to the Supremes' previous single, "You Can't Hurry Love", which uses the call and response elements akin to gospel. The song's signature guitar part is said to have originated from a Morse code–like radio sound effect, typically used before a news announcement, heard by Lamont Dozier. Dozier collaborated with Brian and Eddie Holland to integrate the idea into a single.

Many elements of the recording, including the guitars, the drums, and Diana Ross's vocals were multitracked, a production technique which was established and popularized concurrently by Holland–Dozier–Holland (H–D–H) and other premier producers of the 1960s such as Phil Spector (see Wall of Sound) and George Martin. H–D–H recorded the song in eight sessions with the Supremes and session band the Funk Brothers before settling on a version deemed suitable for the final release.

Release

"You Keep Me Hangin' On" was the first single released from the Supremes' tenth studio album The Supremes Sing Holland–Dozier–Holland (1967). The song became the group's eighth number-one single when it topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks from November 19 to 26, 1966. It was also a top 10 hit in Canada, Iceland, Malaysia, Singapore and the United Kingdom

Critical reception

"You Keep Me Hangin' On" was ranked number 339 on Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was voted number 43 on Detroit's 100 Greatest Songs, a Detroit Free Press poll in 2016. Billboard described the song as a "pulsating rocker with the trio in top form" with an "interesting, driving guitar figure throughout." Cash Box said that it is "another in [the Supremes'] long-line of strong 'Detroit' offerings" that "is bound to follow in footsteps of the group’s previous winners." Record World described it as "a driving nifty with distinctive sound."

"You Keep Me Hangin' On" is one of the most often covered songs in the Supremes canon. The group performed the song on the ABC variety program The Hollywood Palace on October 29, 1966. In 1999, the single was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Personnel

• Diana Ross – lead vocals
• Florence Ballard – backing vocals
• Mary Wilson – backing vocals
• The Funk Brothers – instrumental accompaniment

Vanilla Fudge version

Background

In 1967, the American rock band Vanilla Fudge included a psychedelic rock cover of "You Keep Me Hanging On" on their self-titled debut album. The recording, done in one take, is a slower and more aggressive take on the song. While the album version is seven minutes and 26 seconds, the edited version released as Vanilla Fudge's debut single is under three minutes. It reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100, a year after the release of the Supremes' recording.

Vanilla Fudge drummer Carmine Appice talked about the band's decision to record the song in a 2014 interview:

That was Mark and Timmy [the band's keyboardist and bassist]. We used to slow songs down and listen to the lyrics and try to emulate what the lyrics were dictating. That one was a hurtin' song; it had a lot of emotion in it. "People Get Ready" was like a Gospel thing. "Eleanor Rigby" was sort of eerie and church-like ... like a horror movie kind of thing. If you listen to "Hangin' On" fast ... by the Supremes, it sounds very happy, but the lyrics aren't happy at all. If you lived through that situation, the lyrics are definitely not happy.

The Vanilla Fudge version appears in the series finale of the television show The Sopranos (2007), at the conclusion of episode 1 of season 7 of the television series Mad Men (2015), the film War Dogs (2016), the video game Mafia III (2016), the film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) and its soundtrack, and over the closing credits of the "Intervention" (2022) episode of That Damn Michael Che. It Also appears in the snowboarding film by Burton "One World" (2020).

Personnel

Carmine Appice – drums, vocals