HOLD ON, I'M COMIN'!

Sam & Dave

Oh you KNOW it when it came out and I don't recall us listening to almost anything else for a weekend or two!

On this day in music history: June 18, 1966 - “Hold On, I’m Comin’” by Sam & Dave hits #1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart for 1 week, also peaking at #21 on the Hot 100 on the same date. Written and produced by Isaac Hayes and David Porter, it is the first chart topping single for the dynamic R&B duo. The song’s title is inspired while working in the studio one day. Isaac Hayes yells at his songwriting partner David Porter to hurry up and come out of the bathroom, and Porter responds with “hold on, I’m comin’”! After hearing Porter utter the phrase, Hayes immediately thinks that it would make a good song title and they get right to work. The pair sit down at the piano and write the song in about five minutes. Recorded at Stax Studios in Memphis, TN, the track features Booker T. & The MG’s providing instrumental support. At first, the duo are not fond of the song, feeling that the title and lyrics are too “corny and hillbilly”. Sam Moore can be heard laughing out loud when Dave Prater sings the lyric “I’m on my way, your lover, if you get cold yeah, I will be your cover”, on the finished record. Released as a single in March of 1966, “Hold On, I’m Comin’” quickly rises up the charts, becoming their first R&B number one and first top 40 pop hit. The song is covered numerous times over the years with Sam & Dave’s original version featured in the films “The Blues Brothers” and “American Gangster”. 

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