You Keep Me Hangin' On (2:42)

“You Keep Me Hangin’ On” is a 1966 number-one hit song originally recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label.

Written and produced by Motown’s main production team Holland-Dozier-Holland, the song became The Supremes’ eighth number-one single, topping the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for two weeks in November 1966, and the number one the soul chart for four weeks. The track is one of the more oft-covered songs in the Supremes canon. They performed the song on the ABC variety program The Hollywood Palace on Saturday, October 29, 1966.

Musicians such as Wilson Pickett, Rod Stewart, Melanie Safka, Gov’t Mule, Colourbox, Madness have all recorded versions of the song, but the three most successful remakes were recorded by the late-1960s rock band Vanilla Fudge, 1980s pop singer Kim Wilde, and 1990s country singer Reba McEntire.

While both are very much rooted in rhythm & blues, the Supremes’ previous single, “You Can’t Hurry Love,” showcased a gospel music feel, while “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” leans more towards proto-funk. Songwriter Lamont Dozier got most of his inspiration for the song’s Morse code-like guitar line from listening to the “news flash” signal over the radio, and he and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland integrated the idea into a song.

Many elements of the recording, including the guitars, the drums, and Ross’s lead vocal, were multitracked (the parts were recorded multiple times and the takes layered over one another). This was all done to create a fuller sound than the previous Supremes records.