Erma Franklin
Hold On, I'm Coming / Light My Fire

Listening notes

Erma Franklin's name is perhaps most readily associated with her 1967 recording of "Piece of My Heart," a track that predates Janis Joplin's widely celebrated cover and stands as a reminder of Franklin's significant but often underacknowledged place in soul music history. This single, released on the Dinked label in 2016 under catalog number DINK-004, brings together two of her recordings under the genres of funk, soul, and funk/soul.

The A-side presents "Hold On, I'm Coming," running just over three minutes at 3:01. The song, originally recorded and made famous by Sam and Dave in 1966, is a recognized title within the soul canon. The B-side offers Franklin's take on "Light My Fire," clocking in at 2:40 — a considerably compressed rendering when set against the version most listeners will know from The Doors, whose 1967 album cut extended well beyond six minutes.

Dinked, a subscription-based record label operating out of the United Kingdom, has built its catalog around limited vinyl releases, typically tied to independent record store culture. This release carries the catalog designation DINK-004, placing it among the label's early output.

What the pairing of these two tracks does, at minimum, is document Franklin working across material that was circulating widely during the late 1960s. Both songs carry strong associations with other artists, which makes Franklin's versions points of comparison for those interested in how soul singers engaged with the broader popular repertoire of the era.

This is an unreviewed draft. All claims should be independently verified before publication, including details about Dinked's operational model and the originating recordings of both tracks.