"Hold On, I'm Comin" (officially registered as "Hold On, I'm Coming", and shown on the original

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

release as "Hold On! I'm Comin" and "Hold On! I'm a Comin") is a song first recorded in 1966 by

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

duo

Sam & Dave Sam & Dave were an American soul and R&B duo who performed together from 1961 until 1981. The tenor (higher) voice was Sam Moore (1935–2025) and the baritone/tenor (lower) voice was Dave Prater (1937–1988). Nicknamed "Double Dynamite", " ...

, issued in the same year on the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

-distributed

Stax Stax can refer to: * StAX, (Computer Programming) Streaming API for reading and writing XML in Java * Stax Ltd, a Japanese brand of electrostatic headphones * Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, ...

label. It was written by the songwriting team of

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records in the 1960s, serving as an in-house songwr ...

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. 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. Released as Stax 189 in the spring of 1966, the single peaked at number 1 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot R&B singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...

chart and at number 21 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

.Hogan, Ed (2006). " Review of "Hold On! I'm Comin'" ''Allmusic''. Retrieved 2008-3-30 Following the instrumental introduction,

Sam Moore Samuel David Moore (October 12, 1935 – January 10, 2025) was an American singer who was best known as a member of the soul and R&B duo Sam & Dave from 1961 to 1981. He was a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame (f ...

sings the first verse and is joined by

Dave Prater David Prater Jr. (May 9, 1937 – April 9, 1988) was an American Southern soul and rhythm & blues singer and musician, who was the deeper baritone/tenor vocalist of the soul vocal duo Sam & Dave from 1961 until his death in 1988. He is a member o ...

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 Edwin Washington Edwards (August 7, 1927 – July 12, 2021) was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1965 to 1972 and as the 50th governor of Louisiana for four terms (1972–1980, 1984–1988, and 1992–1996 ...

' third election campaign in 1982. Three years later, Dave 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

and

*Instrumentation by Booker T. & the M.G.'s and the Mar-Keys Horns

Cover versions and samples

* Maxine Brown and

Chuck Jackson Charles Benjamin Jackson (July 22, 1937 – February 16, 2023) was an American R&B singer who was one of the first artists to record material by Burt Bacharach and Hal David successfully. He performed with moderate success starting in 1961. Hi ...

recorded a cover in 1967, which reached number 20 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart and number 91 on the ''Billboard'' pop chart. *American singer

Sidney Barnes Sidney George Barnes (5 June 1916 – 16 December 1973) was an Australian cricketer and cricket writer, who played 13 Test cricket, Test matches between 1938 and 1948. Able to Batting order (cricket)#Opening batsmen, open the innings or B ...

recorded a disco version on his album "Foot Stompin' Music" in 1978. *Canadian singer Karen Silver released a disco version in 1979, which reached number 15 on the ''

'' disco chart. In

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

it reached number 72 on the pop chart, number 7 on the dance chart, and number 19 on the AC chart. *A cover version by The Neville Brothers was featured in the 1995 film

Money Train A money train is one or more railcars used to collect cash fare revenue from stations on a subway system and return it to a central location for processing. This train was typically used to carry money bags guarded by transit police to det ...

and was also used in trailers for the 1996 film

First Kid ''First Kid'' is a 1996 American slapstick comedy film directed by David Mickey Evans and starring Sinbad and Brock Pierce. It was mostly filmed in Richmond, Virginia. Plot Sam Simms is a Secret Service agent assigned by his superior, Wilkes, ...

and the 1999 Pixar film

Toy Story 2 ''Toy Story 2'' is a 1999 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios, and the first sequel to Toy Story. It is the second installment in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' franchise and was directed by J ...

. *

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

covered the song on her 1981 album ''

Love All the Hurt Away ''Love All the Hurt Away'' is the twenty-seventh studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin. It was released on August 11, 1981. This album is the singer's second release under the Arista Records label. The Arif Mardin-produced disc reach ...

''; the Queen of Soul's rendition earned an eleventh career

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

. It won for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. *

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, sh ...

and

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

included it on their 2000 collaborative album '' Riding with the King''. *Precious Wilson covered the song on 1979 album of

Boney M. Boney M. is a German reggae, funk and disco music group founded in 1974. It achieved popularity during the disco era in the second half of the 1970s. The band was created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary song ...

Oceans of Fantasy ''Oceans of Fantasy'' is the fourth studio album by Euro-Caribbean group Boney M. Released in September 1979, ''Oceans of Fantasy'' became the second Boney M. album to top the UK charts and features the hits " El Lute / Gotta Go Home" and " I'm B ...

, also released as a single.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{authority control 1966 songs 1966 singles Songs written by Isaac Hayes Songs written by David Porter (musician) Sam & Dave songs Soul songs Aretha Franklin songs Stax Records singles Atlantic Records singles RCA Records singles Presidential campaign songs