Those moments in the S & G song always sounded odd to me, and effective. Giving a syllable several beats is a powerful tool in song: Springsteen in "Wreck on the Highway" opens "Last night, I *was* out driving", with a couple of beats for was, which also sounds weird, almost archaic, and fits the mood. "Love" is a word singers often give multiple beats to, Van Morrison for instance. Harmony vocals - the gospel/soul tradition - have a lot of room to vary beat counts between lead and backing vocalists. Aretha in "Don't Play That Song" sings "It fills my heart with pain" and her echo goes "It hurts!"
Jackson Frank does a whole cadenza on "same" to close his song "Blues Run the Game", produced and later covered by S & G. It's quite lovely.
Cheers,
John
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