Stay in My Corner

The song is credited to Wade Flemons, Bobby Miller and Barrett Strong, with Miller producing. The Dells first recorded it in 1965 for Vee-Jay, where it reached number 23 on the R&B chart. The better-known version was recorded in 1967 and released on Cadet in 1968, with "Love Is So Simple" on the back. It runs 6:10 on the album, reached number one on the R&B chart and number 10 on the Hot 100, and was the first R&B number one and first pop top ten for the group. Johnny Carter and Marvin Junior share the lead.

Cadet was reluctant to issue the full-length track as a single, and one account says stations received edited promotional copies; a reader comment on a 2005 essay describes a roughly three-minute radio edit that fades before the sustained note. Writer Kalamu ya Salaam called it the ultimate slow-drag song, "six minutes of bliss." The Dells re-recorded it later, and a version appears on The Five Heartbeats soundtrack (Virgin, 1991). Patti LaBelle covered it on her 1994 album Gems.