• Writers: Don Barnes, Jeff Carlisi, and Jim Peterik
• Producer: Rodney Mills
• Recorded: Fall 1980
• Released: Early 1981
• Players:
  Don Barnes–vocals, guitar
  Donnie Van Zant–vocals
  Jeff Carlisi–guitar, vocals
  Larry Junstrom–bass
  Steve Brookins–drums
  Jack Grondin–drums
• Album: Wild-Eyed Southern Boys (A&M, 1981)
• Also On:
  Flashback: The Best Of 38 Special (A&M, 1987)
  Live At Sturgis (CMC International, 1999)
  20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best Of 38 Special (A&M, 2000)
  Anthology (Hip-O, 2001)
  The Very Best Of The A&M Years (1977-1988) (Interscope, 2003)
• Formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1975, 38 Special took their lead from Southern rock forebears such as the Allman Brothers Band (from which they borrowed the two-drummer lineup idea) and Lynyrd Skynyrd. 38 Special singer Donnie Van Zant is the younger brother of original Skynyrd frontman Ronnie Van Zant.
• The band released two albums prior to Wild-Eyed Southern Boys. Both did poorly, though the title track to Rockin’ Into The Night received some radio play and even made its way up to Number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
• Singer-guitarist Don Barnes says the group felt some pressure for the third album — “At the time we were thinking, ‘What does it take?’ We’re all here in poverty. We’re trying to play from our heart and do everything we can, but it’s just not working. So do we look around and change our formula a little bit or whatever? And Donnie was the one that suggested maybe I sing a few songs.”
• Barnes says “Hold On Loosely” was based on the failing relationship with his first wife that he was going through at the time: “At the time she was trying to keep me under her thumb, and I was trying to be somebody. It became quite a bit of a rub in our relationship. It was something I thought about. It was a nice couplet — ‘You need to loosen your grasp on me a little bit. I’m trying to make it good for all of us, for the family.’” They divorced in 1982.
• Barnes says the bridge line — “And my mind goes back to a girl I left some years ago” — is also true: “That was someone who told me about the best way to have a relationship is to let each other be independent, to be interdependent. A lot of people have come up to us and said, ‘That’s a great piece of advice. I’ve always wanted to tell my husband or wife that, but I didn’t quite know how to tell ’em.’”
• Musically, Barnes and lead guitarist Jeff Carlisi wrote the song with Jim Peterik of Survivor: “Instrumentally, that was a bit of a Cars influence at the time,” says Barnes. “They were doing the ‘Just What I Needed’ song. It’s basically eighth notes. In 38 Special, a lot of the songs were built on eighth notes, the thump-thump-thump of the guitar.”
• “Hold On Loosely” was a Top 30 hit in the spring of 1981 and established a commercial foothold for 38 Special that set up the multimillion-selling success of their next album, Special Forces.
• Wild-Eyed Southern Boys was the group’s first million-seller.

FAST FORWARD:

• After peaking in the early ’80s, 38 Special’s commercial fortunes waned.
• Barnes left the band in 1988, then rejoined in 1993.
• In 2002, the band took a creative detour and scored the movie Super Troopers.