Hold On, I'm Comin' (song)

"Hold On, I'm Comin'" (officially registered as "Hold On, I'm Coming",^[1] and shown on the original single release as "Hold On! I'm a Comin'")^[2] is a 1966 single recorded by soul duo Sam & Dave, issued on the Atlantic-distributed Stax label in 1966.

The song was written by the songwriting team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter, who came up with the title of the song spontaneously when Hayes was trying to get Porter to hurry out of the Stax Studios restroom and get back to songwriting.^[3] The original title was "Hold On, I'm Comin'", but some radio stations objected to its "suggestive nature", and labels on most copies of the single gave the title as "Hold On! I'm A Comin'".^[4][5] Released as Stax 189 in the spring of 1966, the single peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B singles chart and at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.^[3]

Following the instrumental introduction, Sam sings the first verse and is joined by Dave for the chorus. Dave sings the second verse and is joined by Sam for the chorus. In the bridge section, Dave sings the first part and Sam sings the second part, which is followed by a brief instrumental passage. Sam sings the third verse and is joined by Dave for the chorus. The introduction is repeated in the chorus, with both Sam and Dave singing until the song fades out.

A revamped version of the song, "Hold On, Edwin's Coming", was recorded by Sam & Dave as a promotional single for Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards' third election campaign in 1982. Three years later, Dave Prater teamed with new singing partner Sam Daniels as "The New Sam and Dave Review" and recorded "Medley/Hold On, I'm Comin'" for Atlantic Records.

Personnel

• Vocals by Sam Moore and Dave Prater
• Instrumentation by Booker T. & the M.G.'s and the Mar-Keys Horns

Cover versions and samples

• Jazz drummer Art Blakey recorded a version on the 1966 album Hold On, I'm Coming.
• Checkmates, Ltd. released a version of the song on their 1967 debut album, Live! At Caesar's Palace.^[6]
• Main Attraction covered the song in 1968 in the album "And now the Main Attraction".
• Brian May recorded this song with the band 1984 at Thames Television in Broom Lane Studios, Teddington, England, 1n 1967.
• Tom Jones recorded this song on his 1967 album 13 Smash Hits.
• Maxine Brown and Chuck Jackson recorded a cover in 1967, which reached number 20 on the Billboard R&B chart and number 91 on the Billboard pop chart.
• Bill Cosby did a humorous interpretation of the song on his 1968 album Bill Cosby Sings Hooray for the Salvation Army Band!.
• Jazz flautist Herbie Mann recorded the song on his 1969 album Memphis Underground and his 1973 live album Hold On, I'm Comin'.
• George Benson covers the song on his 1976 album Good King Bad (1976).
• Bryan Ferry (formerly of Roxy Music) recorded a cover of the song on his 1978 album The Bride Stripped Bare.^[7]
• Precious Wilson of the group Eruption recorded the song in 1979.
• Boney M. included the song on the album Oceans of Fantasy.
• Canadian singer Karen Silver released a disco version in 1979, which reached number 15 on the Billboard disco chart.
• The British disco duo Blonde on Blonde song covered the song on their 1979 album And How!
• The song is played by Jake and Ellwood on their 8-track deck in the Bluesmobile in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers.
• Aretha Franklin covered the song on her 1981 album Love All the Hurt Away; her version earned her ninth Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.
• Sharon Benson released her version of the song as a single in 1983.
• Michael Bolton covered the song on his 1992 album Timeless: The Classics.
• Run C&W covered the song on for their 1993 album Into the Twangy-First Century.
• A cover version by the Neville Brothers was featured in the 1995 film Money Train and was also used in trailers for the 1996 film First Kid and the 1999 Pixar film Toy Story 2.
• Tina Turner sang the song on her 60th birthday special live show in 1999. She later included it on the limited-edition bonus disc of her album Twenty Four Seven. She also performed it on the first leg of her Twenty Four Seven Tour in 2000.
• B.B. King and Eric Clapton covered the song on their joint album Riding with the King, released in 2000
• Amerie sampled the song on her 2007 hit "Gotta Work".
• The song is featured on the soundtrack of the 2007 film American Gangster.
• The Temptations covered the song for their 2007 album Back to Front.
• Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac performed the song in the 2008 film Soul Men.
• The song is featured in the 2009 video game Skate 2 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
• The song is featured in the pilot episode of the 2009 television series White Collar.
• Casey James performed the song in the ninth season of American Idol.
• Hanson performed the song regularly through their summer 2010 tour for their album Shout It Out.
• The song is featured on the soundtrack of the 2010 film Due Date.
• Garth Brooks for the 2013 album Blue-Eyed Soul in the compilation Blame It All on My Roots: Five Decades of Influences.
• South African singer Arno Carstens recorded a version for his 2014 album Lightening Prevails.^[8]
• Italian singer Luca Ronka recorded a version for his 2015 album Soul Man.^[9]
• Performed at the October 19, 2015 Mark Twain Prize for Eddie Murphy by Sam Moore and Brittany Howard.

In popular culture

"Hold On, I'm Comin'" was used in the film The Blues Brothers, along with "Soothe Me", also performed by Sam & Dave. It was also heard in a 2013 Super Bowl commercial featuring Dwayne Johnson. It was used in a scene in the film American Gangster. The song is used in the video games Skate 2 (2009) and Mafia III (2016). UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler used it as his entrance song in his first title defense in UFC 189. The song was also used in the films Due Date (2010), Elvis & Nixon (2016) and in several episodes of White Collar (2010).

See also

• List of number-one R&B singles of 1966 (U.S.)

References

External links

• "Hold On, I'm Comin' (song)" at Discogs (list of releases)