How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) was written in 1964 by the crack Motown songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland. It was inspired by Jackie Gleason’s catch phrase, which is the bit that’s not in parenthesis.

HDH wrote this insanely catchy song for the great  Marvin Gaye, so that’s where we begin.

Joe Williams jazzes up the joint with this swinging recording.

James Taylor had a monster hit with his cover in 1975:

FCH semi-regular Joan Osborne dropped the parenthesis when she recorded How Sweet It Is in 2002.

5th Dimension mainstays Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr. with their sweet take on this week’s song.

Finally, Jerry Garcia jamming on the Gaye-HDH classic:

What would the Friday Cocktail Hour be without an instrumental version of the week’s tune? This time, the keyboard player for Motown’s house band, Earl Van Dyke.

That’s it for this week. Let’s drink to the inspiration for this week’s tune, Jackie Gleason. It’s what Fast Eddie and Minnesota Fats would want. Never argue with them.