“You Keep Me Hangin’ On” is a 1966 song by The Supremes, a popular Motown group. It features staccato, repetitive guitar noise, and was recorded using multi-track, enabling the guitar to be primarily on the left track while the lead vocals are primarily on the right track. At least from what I understand. It has a clear sound that was unique for that time. Holland-Dozier-Holland was the songwriting/production team behind this track.
Only eight months later, the group Vanilla Fudge released their version of this song. As a rock band, the style is notably different than the originals, slower and much “heavier.” It begins with a slow drone of organ, then a build of a psychedelic-like guitar/drums jam, repeats this multiple times (depending on what version you’re listening to: the version on Spotify is trimmed to three minutes while on YouTube, it’s nearly seven minutes), and then finally the lyrics commence. It calls back to the Supreme’s staccato guitar trick, but doesn’t rely on it. Their band did this to various other popular tracks of the time, sadly never producing any great originals. Nevertheless, the success of their “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” cover made it one of the few songs to make the Billboard Hot 100 twice.
I enjoy both versions, but my personal preferences incline me more to the Vanilla Fudge’s version. It elevates the original to new heights and reminds me of the possibilities of song covers. For the past few years, I just assumed that copyright laws may have stifled modern groups from this formerly popular practice? But light research into this reveals some platforms will allow covers for “$12 per song per year” or 15% of profits. Artists with labels would be a different situation, I guess. Something to think about!