Etta James – Somethings Got A Hold On Me (Live)

When The Lord Became Love

Released in January 1962, “Something’s Got A Hold On Me” marked a pivotal shift in Etta James’ career, blending her gospel roots with secular R&B to create something entirely new. The single climbed to number four on the Billboard Hot R&B Sides chart and reached number 37 on the Billboard Hot 100, introducing mainstream audiences to James’ church-trained power. What most listeners didn’t realize was that they were hearing a sacred song reborn, its original line transforming divine possession into romantic obsession with just four words changed.

The track performed strongest on the R&B charts, where it spent weeks near the top throughout early 1962, eventually ranking number 14 on Cash Box’s Top R&B Records of 1962 year-end list. Cash Box called it a pulsating track with strong sales potential, praising James’ commanding vocal delivery. In the UK, the song received limited release but gained recognition among soul enthusiasts at a time when American R&B was beginning to influence British music culture. The single sold steadily through the spring and summer, becoming one of Chess Records’ most successful releases of the year and establishing James as more than just a ballad singer.

James adapted “Something’s Got A Hold On Me” from a traditional gospel song titled “Something’s Got A Hold On Me, It Must Be the Lord,” which she’d sung countless times in church as a child prodigy in Los Angeles. She co-wrote the secular version with Leroy Kirkland and Pearl Woods, changing the spiritual ecstasy of gospel worship into the overwhelming force of romantic love. James began singing in church at age five under her foster grandmother’s guidance, quickly becoming known as a gospel sensation in the city’s Black church communities. When asked years later if the song had a gospel sound, she laughed and admitted it was a gospel song that they’d simply adapted, swapping the Lord for love and calling it rock and roll.

The recording session took place in December 1961 at Chess Studios in Chicago with producers Leonard and Phil Chess overseeing the production. Riley Hampton’s Orchestra provided the backing, with Matt Murphy on guitar, John Young on piano, Reggie Boyd on bass, and Al Duncan on drums, while Hampton arranged the horn section that gave the track its driving power. James delivered her vocals with raw spontaneity, her ad-libs and emotional intensity amplifying the song’s gospel-blues fervor. Engineer Ron Malo captured the mid-tempo arrangement at roughly 150 beats per minute, with layered backing harmonies that recreated the call-and-response energy of a Sunday morning service. The final mix emphasized James’ nearly two-octave vocal range, from E3 to D-flat 5, showcasing the full power she’d developed singing in church.

“Something’s Got A Hold On Me” appeared as the third single from her self-titled 1962 album Etta James on Chess Records’ Argo label, with “Waiting For Charlie To Come Home” on the B-side. The album followed her breakout success with “At Last” in 1961, and this gospel-infused track proved James could deliver uptempo material with the same emotional depth as her ballads. Later that year, she released “Stop the Wedding,” another gospel-flavored hit that reached number six on the R&B chart. The song also appeared on her 1964 live album Etta James Rocks the House, recorded at the New Era Club in Nashville where she first performed it publicly on September 27, 1963.

The song’s afterlife has been remarkable. Belgian band Vaya Con Dios covered it on their 1990 album Night Owls, which sold around two million copies worldwide. Christina Aguilera recorded a powerful version for the 2010 film Burlesque, with critics calling it a show-stopper that suited her voice perfectly. But the most unexpected resurrection came through sampling. Pretty Lights used James’ vocal on “Finally Moving” in 2006, which led Swedish DJ Avicii to discover the sample and build his 2011 smash “Levels” around it. Flo Rida then sampled the same vocal hook for his 2011 number one hit “Good Feeling,” crediting nine songwriters including James, Kirkland, Woods, and Avicii. When James passed away in January 2012, Flo Rida dedicated his performances to her memory, bringing her voice to a generation that never knew the original.

James reflected on the song’s gospel origins with humor and honesty throughout her career. When Terry Gross asked about its church sound in 1994, she acknowledged the adaptation openly, saying she was one of the writers who just said okay, let’s go, rock and roll. The track stands as a perfect example of how gospel music shaped rhythm and blues in the early sixties, with James serving as one of the crucial bridges between sacred and secular Black music. Five decades after its release, those opening lines still carry the ecstatic power of both worship and desire, proving that sometimes the feeling is the same whether it’s the Lord or love that’s got hold of you.