Good Lovin'
Encyclopedia
"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.
under the name "Lemme B. Good". About a month later the song was redone -- with considerably rewritten lyrics -- by R&B/novelty artists The Olympics
, but this version was only moderately successful at best, reaching number 81 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart
.
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.
Divining a mixture of garage rock
and white soul, the Rascals' "Good Lovin'" jumped out of radios with a "one - two - three" count-in, high-energy instrumentation, and insistent call-and-response vocals from Cavaliere and the band:
These were followed by an organ break from Cavaliere, and a full stop false ending
that was suddenly popular at the time (cf. "Rain
" and "Monday, Monday
") — all in two and a half minutes. "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. It was also the first of three #1 hits for the group.
"Good Lovin'" is one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, and was ranked number 325 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. 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."
The song has since been performed and recorded by a number of artists, including Tommy James and the Shondells (1966), Herbie Mann
(1966), The Who
(1965), and Bobby McFerrin
(several versions). "Good Lovin'" was the title song of a 2008 album by Australian singer David Campbell. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band used it, with a prolonged instrumental introduction, as a 'signs collection song' during their 2009 Working On A Dream Tour
, and was so featured on the London Calling: Live in Hyde Park
concert DVD.
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. 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."
There is also a salsa music version recorded in 1986 by "Miguel Oscar y La Fantasía".
. 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 Vs. The Volcano, just as Joe hooks a huge shark.
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.
Also, 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.
Rudy Clark
Rudy Clark is an American songwriter about whom little biographical information seems to be known. Supposedly a former mail carrier hailing from New York City, he was most active from the early 1960s through the early 1970s...
and Arthur Resnick that was a number one hit single for The Young Rascals in 1966.
Original versions
The song was first recorded in early 1965 by Canton, Ohio, R&B singer Limmie SnellLimmie Snell
Limmie Snell was an American soul singer, born in Dalton, Alabama. He grew up in Canton, Ohio, and attended McKinley Senior High School, but did not graduate....
under the name "Lemme B. Good". About a month later the song was redone -- with considerably rewritten lyrics -- by R&B/novelty artists The Olympics
The Olympics (band)
The Olympics were an American doo-wop group, formed in 1957 by lead singer Walter Ward . The group included Eddie Lewis , Charles Fizer , Walter Hammond and Melvin King and except for Lewis were friends in a Los Angeles, California, high school...
, but this version was only moderately successful at best, reaching number 81 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
.
The tale is told that Rascal Felix Cavaliere
Felix Cavaliere
Felix Cavaliere is an American songwriter, singer, music producer, and musician.Although he was a member of Joey Dee and His Starlighters best known for their hit "Peppermint Twist", he is best known for his association with The Young Rascals during the 1960s. The other members of The Rascals...
heard it on a New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
radio station and the group added it to their concert repertoire. Co-producer Tom Dowd
Tom Dowd
Tom Dowd was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multi-track recording method. Dowd worked on a virtual "who's who" of recordings that encompassed blues, jazz, pop, rock and soul records.- Early years :Born in Manhattan, Dowd grew...
captured this live feel on the recording, even though the group did not think the performance held together well.
Divining a mixture of garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
and white soul, the Rascals' "Good Lovin'" jumped out of radios with a "one - two - three" count-in, high-energy instrumentation, and insistent call-and-response vocals from Cavaliere and the band:
- I was feelin' ... so-oo bad,
- I asked my family doctor just what I had.
- I said, "Doctor, [Doc-turrr ...]
- "Mister M.D., [Doc-turrr ...]
- "Now can you tell me,
- What's ailin' me??" [Doc-turrr ...]
These were followed by an organ break from Cavaliere, and a full stop false ending
False ending
A false ending has two contexts; in literature it is a narrative device where the plot seems to be heading to its conclusion, but in reality, there's still more to the story. In a musical composition, it is a complete stop of the song for one or more seconds before continuing.The presence of a...
that was suddenly popular at the time (cf. "Rain
Rain (The Beatles song)
"Rain" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles, credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was first released in June 1966 as the B-side of the "Paperback Writer" single...
" and "Monday, Monday
Monday, Monday
"Monday, Monday" is a 1966 song written by John Phillips and recorded by The Mamas & the Papas for their 1966 album If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears. It was the group's only number one hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100....
") — all in two and a half minutes. "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. It was also the first of three #1 hits for the group.
"Good Lovin'" is one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, and was ranked number 325 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. Writer Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on...
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 "
Later versions
Herbie Mann
Herbert Jay Solomon , better known as Herbie Mann, was a Jewish American jazz flutist and important early practitioner of world music...
(1966), The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
(1965), and Bobby McFerrin
Bobby McFerrin
Robert "Bobby" McFerrin, Jr. is an American vocalist and conductor. He is best known for his 1988 hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy". He is a ten-time Grammy Award winner.-Life:...
(several versions). "Good Lovin'" was the title song of a 2008 album by Australian singer David Campbell. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band used it, with a prolonged instrumental introduction, as a 'signs collection song' during their 2009 Working On A Dream Tour
Working on a Dream Tour
The Working on a Dream Tour was a concert tour by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which began in April 2009 and ended in November 2009...
, and was so featured on the London Calling: Live in Hyde Park
London Calling: Live in Hyde Park
London Calling: Live in Hyde Park is a full concert video of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band in their Working on a Dream Tour performance of June 28, 2009, at the Hard Rock Calling music festival in Hyde Park, London. It was released a year later, on Blu-ray and DVD.The work takes it name...
concert DVD.
The most-known later version was by the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
, who made it a workhorse of their concert rotation, appearing almost every year from 1969 on. It was sung in their early years during the 1960s by Ron "Pigpen" McKernan and later by Bob Weir
Bob Weir
Bob Weir is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead...
. The Weir rendition was recorded for the group's 1978 Shakedown Street
Shakedown Street
Shakedown Street is the tenth studio album by the Grateful Dead. It was released on November 15, 1978 by Arista.The album was released for the first time on CD in 1990 by Arista Records before being re-released in 2000 by BMG International. It was then remastered, expanded, and released as part of...
album and came in for a good amount of criticism: Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
said it "feature[d] aimless ensemble work and vocals that Bob Weir should never have attempted."
There is also a salsa music version recorded in 1986 by "Miguel Oscar y La Fantasía".
Film and television appearances
The Rascals' "Good Lovin'" was used in the film The Big ChillThe Big Chill (film)
The Big Chill is a 1983 American comedy-drama film directed by Lawrence Kasdan, starring Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly, and JoBeth Williams. It is about a group of baby boomer college friends who reunite briefly after 15 years due to...
. 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 Vs. The Volcano, just as Joe hooks a huge shark.
It was also featured in the 1986 third season "Atomic Shakespeare"/Taming of the Shrew episode of Moonlighting
Moonlighting (TV series)
Moonlighting is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 3, 1985, to May 14, 1989. The network aired a total of 66 episodes...
, with Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
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.
Also, the song plays during a mind-movie flashback (titled “Viet Cong Lookout”) of an experience at a bar during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
that the character Johnny Marinville (Tom Skerritt
Tom Skerritt
Thomas Roy "Tom" Skerritt is an American actor who has appeared in over 40 films and more than 200 television episodes since 1962.-Early life:...
) has in Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
’s film Desperation.