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Hold Me is the second track on the worldwide re-issue of Jevetta Steele’s first solo album Here It Is (Jevetta Steele is also part of the group The Steeles). At around the same time as the album’s release, Hold Me was released as a promo-only single in the USA, but there was no commercial release of the single.
Prince taught the song to the band at a rehearsal at Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, Minnesota, on 27 December 1990, before a studio recording was made on 31 January 1991 (on the same day as the re-recording of Darkside as Blood On The Sheets). The song may have been considered for Diamonds And Pearls at one point but rejected because of its similarities with the title track.
More work was done on the track in October 1991, when it was send to Clare Fischer to add an orchestral arrangement to it. Around this time the track was offered to Anita Baker, who turned it down, before Prince offered it to Jevetta Steele, who presumably overdubbed her vocals in late 1991.
In late 1993, the song was tried out during early sessions for Mayte’s first album at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota, and was included as the ninth track on an early version of the album, which was titled Latino Barbie Doll at the time. The track was removed when the album evolved into Child Of The Sun, however.
Prince’s original 1991 version was released in October 2023 as the eighth track of Vault Tracks part 2, one of the discs with previously unreleased tracks included with the Diamonds And Pearls Super Deluxe Edition.
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