"Bring It On Home to Me" is a 1962

1962 in music

-Events:*January 1 – The Beatles and Brian Poole and the Tremeloes both audition at Decca Records, a company which has the option of signing one group only...

 soul song written and recorded by R&B singer-songwriter Sam Cooke

Sam Cooke

Samuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...

. The song, about infidelity, was a hit for Cooke and has become a pop standard covered

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 by numerous artists of different genres. It is one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Cooke's recorded version has Lou Rawls

Lou Rawls

Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...

 singing responses as an uncredited background singer

Uncredited background singer

Uncredited background vocals are common in popular music, even when the unnamed performer adds significantly to the performance. It is uncommon for background singers to be credited. Usually credit is withheld so as to highlight the performance of the lead artist and sometimes the extra singer...

.

This song is considered by many historians of soul music

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

 to be the founding, or at least definitive soul song, as it provides the formula that is still popular today. Cooke's live version of this song that he performed in Miami, from the album Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963

Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963

Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 is a live album by soul singer Sam Cooke. Bruce Eder of Allmusic writes "it's one of the greatest soul records ever cut by anybody, outshining James Brown's first live album from the Apollo Theater and easily outclassing Jackie Wilson's live record from the...

, can be seen as his personal vision of what soul music should be, owing to the texture and emotion conveyed through his vocals that night, and that were probably standard in Cooke's near-nightly shows in primarily black clubs.

Cooke had been a fan of Charles Brown and recorded a number Brown tunes on his live 1963 Night Beat album.

Smokey Robinson

Smokey Robinson

William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...

 and Bryan Adams

Bryan Adams

Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...

 dueted on "Bring It On Home To Me", live at the Apollo Theatre

Apollo Theatre

The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...

 Hall of Fame, Harlem, Manhattan, NYC, 1993

Single Release

"Bring It On Home to Me" backed with "Having a Party" was released in the U.S. on RCA Victor (cat.#8036) in May 1962. The latter track (a "feel good" number) charted first, peaking at #17 early in the summer of '62 before the lead track (and its deeper content) climbed the charts, reaching #13 later that summer. Lou Rawls

Lou Rawls

Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...

 features as a backing vocalist on both tracks.

Covers

The most significant covers of the song include the hit versions by

• The Animals
  The Animals
  The Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London...
  
  , Eddie Floyd
  Eddie Floyd
  Eddie Lee Floyd is an American soul/R&B singer and songwriter, best known for his work on the Stax record label in the 1960s and 1970s and the song "Knock on Wood".-Biography:...
  
  , Ben Mills
  Ben Mills
  Benjamin Collett Mills is a British singer who finished in third place in the third UK series of TV talent show The X Factor in 2006. He signed a five-album record deal with Sony BMG. His album, Picture of You, was released on 12 March 2007, the same date as the debut album from The X Factor...
  
  
• Lou Rawls
  Lou Rawls
  Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...
  
  , who sang background vocals on the original song, recorded his own charting version in 1970.
• Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee released a version of the song in their 1973 album Sonny & Brownie
  Sonny & Brownie
  Sonny & Brownie is an album by blues musicians Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. It was recorded at the Paramount Recording Studios in 1973 and re-released in 1988 with digital remastering by Rudy Van Gelder at the Van Gelder Recording Studio....
  
  .
• In 1976, Mickey Gilley
  Mickey Gilley
  Mickey Leroy Gilley is an American country music singer and musician. Although he started out singing straight-up country and western material in the 1970s, he moved towards a more pop-friendly sound in the 1980s, bringing him further success on not just the country charts, but the pop charts as...
  
   would hit number one on the country chart with his cover
• Tab Benoit
  Tab Benoit
  Tab Benoit is an American blues guitarist, musician and singer. He plays a style that is a combination of blues styles, primarily Delta blues. He plays a Fender Telecaster electric guitar and writes his own musical compositions. Benoit graduated from Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma,...
  
   sings a popular Blues rendition of this song on his album Brother To The Blues.
• In the United Kingdom
  United Kingdom
  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
  
  , The Faces
  Faces (band)
  Faces are an English rock band formed in 1969 by members of the Small Faces after Steve Marriott left that group to form Humble Pie...
  
   released this song as part of a medley with "You Send Me
  You Send Me
  -Background:Cooke made a demo recording of "You Send Me" featuring only his own guitar accompaniment in the winter of 1955. The first recording of the track was made in New Orleans in December 1956 in the same sessions which produced "Lovable", the first release outside the gospel field for Cooke...
  
  " and charted it on the UK Singles Chart
  UK Singles Chart
  The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
  
   at #7 as a double A-side with "Farewell
  Farewell (Rod Stewart song)
  "Farewell" is the name of a song written by Martin Quittenton and Rod Stewart. Stewart released it on his 1974 album Smiler. Among the musicians featured were Ray Jackson of Lindisfarne on mandolin, and Dick Powell on violin....
  
  ". Rod Stewart later covered this song as a medley with Cookes "You Send Me" on his solo album Smiler.
• Wilson Pickett
  Wilson Pickett
  Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
  
   covered this song on 1968's I'm In Love.
• Otis Redding
  Otis Redding
  Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
  
   covered this song with Carla Thomas
  Carla Thomas
  Carla Thomas is an American singer, who is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. She is the daughter of Rufus Thomas.-Childhood:...
  
  .
• Paul McCartney
  Paul McCartney
  Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
  
    recorded this song twice: First in 1988 for his album Снова в СССР, and again in 2006 with George Benson
  George Benson
  George Benson is a ten Grammy Award winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist....
  
   and Al Jarreau
  Al Jarreau
  Alwin "Al" Lopez Jarreau is a seven-time Grammy Award winning jazz singer.- Background :Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, the fifth of six children. His web site refers to Reservoir, Inc., the name of the street where he lived. His father was a Seventh-Day Adventist Church minister and singer, and...
  
   for the album Givin It Up (For Love)
  Givin It Up (For Love)
  Givin' It Up is a first-time recording/collaboration between seasoned and highly celebrated jazz artists-vocalist Al Jarreau and guitarist George Benson. It contains signature classics previously recorded by both veteran artists and original music of which both gentlemen masterfully contribute...
  
  .
• John Lennon
  John Lennon
  John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
  
   covered the song on his album Rock 'n' Roll
  Rock 'n' Roll (John Lennon album)
  Rock 'n' Roll is a 1975 album of late 1950s and early 1960s songs covered by John Lennon. Recording the album was problematic and spanned a year. Though critically derided, it reached #6 in both the United Kingdom and the United States.-History:...
  
  in 1975.
• Rod Stewart
  Rod Stewart
  Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
  
   did the song for his album Smiler
  Smiler (album)
  Smiler is Rod Stewart's fifth album, and final album for Mercury Records, released in 1974 . It became the first album by Rod Stewart as a solo artist to become critically panned. Although it reached number 1 in the UK album chart, it stalled at number 13 in the US...
  
  in 1974.
• Van Morrison
  Van Morrison
  Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
  
  's highly acclaimed, 1974 live album, It's Too Late to Stop Now
  It's Too Late to Stop Now
  It's Too Late to Stop Now is a live album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1974 . Frequently named as one of the best live albums ever recorded, It's Too Late to Stop Now was recorded during what has often been said to be Morrison's greatest phase as a live...
  
  contained his personal version (he was going through a divorce battle at the time) of this song.
• The Dixie Chicks
  Dixie Chicks
  The Dixie Chicks are an American country band which has also successfully crossed over into other genres. The band is composed of founding members Martie Erwin Maguire and Emily Erwin Robison, and lead singer Natalie Maines...
  
   performed it bluegrass
  Bluegrass music
  Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
  
   style on their debut album, Thank Heavens for Dale Evans
  Thank Heavens for Dale Evans
  Thank Heavens for Dale Evans is the debut album by American country band the Dixie Chicks. The group's original membership of Robin Lynn Macy, Laura Lynch, Martie Erwin, and Emily Erwin , would survive intact for only this album and the following Little Ol' Cowgirl, from 1989 to 1992, before first...
  
  , and would later record "You Send Me
  You Send Me
  -Background:Cooke made a demo recording of "You Send Me" featuring only his own guitar accompaniment in the winter of 1955. The first recording of the track was made in New Orleans in December 1956 in the same sessions which produced "Lovable", the first release outside the gospel field for Cooke...
  
  " for their second album, Little Ol' Cowgirl
  Little Ol' Cowgirl
  Little Ol' Cowgirl is the second album by American country band Dixie Chicks, released in 1992 . As with their previous album, it produced no chart singles...
  
  .
• Sonny & Cher
  Sonny & Cher
  Sonny & Cher were an American pop music duo, actors, singers and entertainers made up of husband-and-wife team Sonny and Cher Bono in the 1960s and 1970s. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector....
  
   recorded it as a B-side to "Little Man"
• Spanish rock
  Spanish rock
  Spain has produced a great variety of rock and roll.There have also been a number of acts who have incorporated the Celtic musical heritage of that region into Celtic rock sung in Spanish, like Celtas Cortos....
  
   band Topo made a Spanish version of the song called Tráeme tu amor.
• Another cover is included as a hidden song on The Von Bondies
  The Von Bondies
  The Von Bondies were an American alternative rock band. The group disbanded in July 2011. Its most recent members were Jason Stollsteimer on vocals and lead guitar, Christy Hunt on rhythm guitar and Leann Banks on bass guitar...
  
   album Lack of Communication
  Lack of Communication
  Lack of Communication is the first album by garage rock revival band The Von Bondies. It was produced by Jack White of The White Stripes, a band that also had the Von Bondies open their shows for them during one of their tours...
  
  , with Marcie Bolen
  Marcie Bolen
  Marcie Bolen is an American guitarist from Detroit, Michigan. She grew up in Southgate, Michigan and went to school for art and cosmetology.-Musical career:...
  
   on lead vocals.
• Bon Jovi
  Bon Jovi
  Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...
  
   performed a live cover of this song with Steve Perry
  Steve Perry (musician)
  Stephen Ray "Steve" Perry is an American singer and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Journey from 1977–1987 and 1995–1998. Perry had a successful solo career throughout the late 1980s and early '90s.Perry's voice has garnered acclaim from musical peers and music...
  
  
• Britt Daniel
  Britt Daniel
  John Britt Daniel is the co-founder, lead singer and guitarist of the Austin, Texas, rock band Spoon.-Biography:Britt Daniel was born in Galveston, Texas, and grew up in Temple, Texas, in a household of five children...
  
  , lead vocalist of indie-rock band Spoon
  Spoon (band)
  Spoon is an American rock band formed in Austin, Texas. The band is composed of Britt Daniel ; Jim Eno ; Rob Pope and Eric Harvey .-History:...
  
  , recorded a cover of this song for the Portland, OR based covers compilation Bridging the Distance.
• Eddie Floyd
  Eddie Floyd
  Eddie Lee Floyd is an American soul/R&B singer and songwriter, best known for his work on the Stax record label in the 1960s and 1970s and the song "Knock on Wood".-Biography:...
  
   and Duffy
  Duffy (singer)
  Aimée Ann Duffy , known as Duffy, is a Welsh singer-songwriter. Her 2008 debut album Rockferry entered the UK Album Chart at number one. It was the best-selling album in the United Kingdom in 2008 with 1.68 million copies sold...
  
   performed on Jools Holland
  Jools Holland
  Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, The Who, David Gilmour and Bono.Holland is a...
  
  's Hootenanny
  Hootenanny
  Hootenanny is an Appalachian colloquialism that was used in early twentieth century America to refer to things whose names were forgotten or unknown. In this usage it was synonymous with thingamajig or whatchamacallit, as in "hand me that hootenanny." Hootenanny was also an old country word for...
  
  .
• Dave Mason
  Dave Mason
  David Thomas "Dave" Mason is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic...
  
   (a co-founder of Traffic
  Traffic (band)
  Traffic were an English rock band whose members came from the West Midlands. The group formed in April 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason...
  
  ) covered the tune on his 1974 solo album Dave Mason.
• Sister Hazel
  Sister Hazel
  Sister Hazel are an alternative rock band from Gainesville, Florida, whose style also blends elements of folk rock, pop, classic rock 'n' roll and southern rock. Their music is characterized by highly melodic tunes and generally optimistic lyrics. The band's instrumentation often features abrupt...
  
   included a version on their debut self titled album Sister Hazel
  Sister Hazel (album)
  Sister Hazel is the self-titled and first studio album by Sister Hazel. It was originally released in 1994 and re-released in 2005. It is also referred to as "White".# "Feel It" - 4:39# "Sometimes" - 5:19# "All For You" - 3:24...
  
  in 1994 (remastered and re-released in 2005)
• M. Ward
  M. Ward
  Matthew Stephen Ward, known by his stage name M. Ward, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who rose to prominence in the Portland, Oregon music scene. In addition to his solo work he is known as a member of She & Him and Monsters of Folk.-Career:...
  
   and Zooey Deschanel
  Zooey Deschanel
  Zooey Claire Deschanel is an American actress, musician, and singer-songwriter. In 1999, Deschanel made her film debut in Mumford, followed by her breakout role as young protagonist William Miller's troubled older sister Anita in Cameron Crowe's 2000 semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous...
  
   of the group She & Him
  She & Him
  She & Him is an American indie pop duo consisting of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward . The band's first album, Volume One, was released on Merge Records in March 2008...
  
   regularly perform a cover of this song live at their concerts, including an in-studio session at KEXP-FM on June 29, 2007.
• The New Standards
  The New Standards
  The New Standards is a minimalist jazz trio formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2005 and composed of Chan Poling , John Munson and Steve Roehm...
  
   included a version on their 2008 album Rock and Roll.
• Joey Ramone
  Joey Ramone
  Joey Ramone was an American vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist in the punk rock band the Ramones. Joey Ramone's image, voice and tenure as frontman of the Ramones made him a countercultural icon.-Early life:Joey Ramone was born Jeffry Hyman to parents Noel and Charlotte Hyman...
  
   who has said himself to be a very big Sam Cooke fan had covered this song live a number of times. One recording performed with The Resistance is featured on a bootleg of Rock For Choice 1993.
• Jimmy Barnes
  Jimmy Barnes
  James Dixon Swan , better known as Jimmy Barnes, is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer-songwriter. His father Jim Swan was a prizefighter and his older brother John Swan is also a rock singer. It was actually John who had encouraged and taught Jim how to sing as he wasn't really interested at...
  
   included a version of it on his album Soul Deep
  Soul Deep (Jimmy Barnes album)
  Soul Deep is the fifth album by Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes. It was his sixth consecutive Australian No. 1 album. The album was a collection of soul covers and featured duets with Johnny Farnham and Diesel...
  
  as a duet with Johnny Diesel
  Johnny Diesel
  Johnny Diesel is an Australian musician, who has released material as leader of Johnny Diesel & the Injectors, under his birth name, or by the epithet Diesel...
  
  
• Aretha Franklin
  Aretha Franklin
  Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
  
   included a cover of the song on her 1969 album Soul '69
  Soul '69
  Soul '69 is a 1969 album of cover material released by Aretha Franklin. The album charted at #1 on Billboards R&B albums chart and at #15 on Billboards Top Albums, launching two unsuccessful singles, "Tracks of My Tears" which reached #21 on "Black Singles" and #71 on "Pop Singles" and "Gentle on...
  
  .
• Michael Bolton
  Michael Bolton
  Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
  
   covered the song on his 1992 album Timeless: The Classics.
• Delta Spirit
  Delta Spirit
  Delta Spirit is a band from San Diego, California. The group combines unconventional instruments such as trash cans lids and orchestral bass drums, multi-instrumentalism and spiritually themed lyrics into a hybrid of rock and northern soul...
  
   cover the song live, as an intro to their song Trashcan, from their album, Ode to Sunshine.
• Robson & Jerome
  Robson & Jerome
  Robson & Jerome were an English pop duo in the 1990s, featuring TV actors Robson Green and Jerome Flynn, who were best known for their British TV series Soldier Soldier....
  
   covered the song on their 1996 album Take Two
• Status Quo recorded the song for their 1991 album Rock 'til You Drop
  Rock 'Til You Drop
  Rock 'til You Drop is the twentieth studio album by English rock band Status Quo.-CD Tracklisting:# Like a Zombie 5:03# All We Really Wanna Do 3:47# Fakin' the Blues 4:29# One Man Band 4:31...
  
  .
• R Kelly covered this song on Later...with Jools Holland

Sam Cooke version

Year	Chart	Position
1962	Black Singles Chart	#2
1962	Pop Singles Chart Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	#13

The Animals version

Year	Chart	Position
1965	Pop Singles Chart Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	#32
1965	UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	#7
1965	Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...	#7
1965	Netherlands Netherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...	#3
1965	Sweden Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....	#1

Eddie Floyd version

Year	Chart	Position
1968	Black Singles Chart	#4
1968	Pop Singles Chart Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	#17
1968	Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...	#24

Lou Rawls version

Year	Chart	Position
1970	Black Singles Chart	#45
1970	Pop Singles Chart Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	#96

Mickey Gilley version

Chart (1976)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	1
U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1