Good Lovin'
| "Good Lovin'" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Young Rascals | ||||
| from the album The Young Rascals | ||||
| B-side | "Mustang Sally" | |||
| Released | February 21, 1966 | |||
| Format | 7" single | |||
| Recorded | February 1, 1966 | |||
| Genre | Rhythm and blues, blue-eyed soul | |||
| Length | 2:28 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Writer(s) |
Rudy Clark Arthur Resnick | |||
| Producer(s) | The Rascals, Arif Mardin, Tom Dowd | |||
| The Young Rascals singles chronology | ||||
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"Good Lovin'" is a song written by Rudy Clark and Arthur Resnick that was a number one hit single for The Young Rascals in 1966.
Original version
The song was first recorded in early 1965 by Canton, Ohio, R&B singer Limmie Snell under the name "Lemme B. Good". About a month later the song was redone—with considerably rewritten lyrics—by R&B artists The Olympics; this version reached number 81 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart.
The Young Rascals' version
The tale is told that Rascal Felix Cavaliere heard it on a New York City radio station and the group added it to their concert repertoire. Co-producer Tom Dowd captured this live feel on the recording, even though the group did not think the performance held together well. "Good Lovin'" rose to the top of the Billboard Pop Singles chart in the spring of 1966 and represented the Young Rascals' first real hit.
"Good Lovin'" is one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, and was ranked #333 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.[1] Writer Dave Marsh placed it at number 108 in his 1989 book The Heart of Rock and Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made, saying it is "the greatest example ever of a remake surpassing the quality of an original without changing a thing about the arrangement," and that "'Good Lovin' all by itself is enough to dispel the idiotic notion that rock and roll is nothing more than white boys stealing from blacks."
Later versions
The song has since been performed and recorded by a number of artists. "Good Lovin'" was the title song of a 2008 album by Australian singer David Campbell.
The most-known later version was by the Grateful Dead, who made it a workhorse of their concert rotation, appearing almost every year from 1969 on.[2] It was sung in their early years during the 1960s by Ron "Pigpen" McKernan and later by Bob Weir. The Weir rendition was recorded for the group's 1978 Shakedown Street album and came in for a good amount of criticism: Rolling Stone said it "feature[d] aimless ensemble work and vocals that Bob Weir should never have attempted."[3]
Film and television appearances
The Rascals' "Good Lovin'" was used in 1983 the film The Big Chill. The false ending was used for dramatic effect, in which the character Chloe says about the character who committed suicide, while the song is playing in the background, "Alex and I made love the night before he died, it was fantastic." Everyone in the car with her is surprised by the comment, which ends at the exact moment of the pause in the song.
And it was used, in the 1990 film Joe Versus the Volcano, just as Joe hooks a huge shark.
The song is included in the 1993 film Grumpy Old Men.
It was also featured in the 1986 third season "Atomic Shakespeare"/Taming of the Shrew episode of Moonlighting, with Bruce Willis singing the Cavaliere vocal, as well as the 1987 first season Wiseguy episode "No One Gets Out of Here Alive".
The song was also used as the theme for the 1989 television series, Doctor Doctor.
The song plays during a mind-movie flashback (titled “Viet Cong Lookout”) of an experience at a bar during the Vietnam War that the character Johnny Marinville (Tom Skerritt) has in Stephen King’s film Desperation.
This song was featured in the film More American Graffiti.
The song was even featured on the end credits of the 2003 family comedy Good Boy!.
References
- ↑ "Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. April 7, 2011. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
- ↑ "Good Lovin'" The Grateful Dead Discography.
- ↑ Gary Von Tersch, "Shakedown Street", Rolling Stone, March 8, 1979.
| Preceded by "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration" by The Righteous Brothers |
Billboard Hot 100 number-one single April 30, 1966 |
Succeeded by "Monday, Monday" by The Mamas & the Papas |
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