Supremes – "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (1966)

Let me get over you

The way you've gotten over me

Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” was the lone Motown song in the inaugural group of songs inducted into the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME last year.

This year’s class includes two Motown classics: Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” by the Supremes.

“You Keep Me Hangin’ On” was a classic Motown song that was a #1 hit for the Supremes.  It was written and produced by Motown’s legendary Holland-Dozier-Holland production team, and I think it’s the best song the Supremes ever did.  It has a little more punch than most of their songs.

Last year, I included Vanilla Fudge’s cover of “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” in the initial class of the OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” ALBUM TRACKS HALL OF FAME 

The Vanilla Fudge version of the song is such a stick of dynamite that it’s easy to overlook just how good the original recording of the song was.  

It’s flawlessly performed and produced – what Supremes hit wasn’t?  But thanks to the speeded-up tempo and the anxiety and frustration in Diana Ross’s voice, the song gets under the listener’s skin.  

Come on, buddy . . . just be a man about it . . . and set her free!

Click here to listen to “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.”

Click on the link below to buy the song from Amazon: