"Good Lovin" is a song written by Rudy Clark and Arthur Resnick that was a #1 hit single for

the Young Rascals ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

in 1966.

Original version

The song was first recorded by Lemme B. Good (stage name of singer Limmie Snell) in March 1965 and written by Rudy Clark. The following month it was recorded with different lyrics by R&B artists The Olympics, produced by

Jerry Ragovoy Jordan "Jerry" Ragovoy (September 4, 1930 – July 13, 2011) was an American songwriter and record producer who wrote several pop songs including the instrumental " Time Is on My Side" (under the pseudonym of Norman Meade for Kai Winding), which ...

; this version reached #81 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart.

The Young Rascals' version

The tale has been told that Rascal

Felix Cavaliere Felix Cavaliere (born November 29, 1942) is an American musician. He is best known for being the co-lead vocalist and keyboard player for The Young Rascals. Although he was a member of Joey Dee and the Starliters, known for their hit " Pepperm ...

heard The Olympics' recording on a

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

radio station and the group added it to their concert repertoire, using the same lyrics and virtually the same arrangement as The Olympics' version. Co-producer

Tom Dowd Thomas John Dowd (October 20, 1925 – October 27, 2002) was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multitrack recording method. Dowd worked on a veritable "who's who" of recordings ...

captured this live feel on their 1966 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 The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

, and was ranked #333 on

Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring song ranking compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2 ...

list. Writer

Dave Marsh Dave Marsh (born ) is an American music critic and radio talk show host. He was an early editor of '' Creem'' magazine, has written for various publications such as ''Newsday'', ''The Village Voice'', and ''Rolling Stone'', and has published num ...

placed it at #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."

Charts

Other versions

British group Brian Poole and the Tremeloes released their version in 1965, before the Young Rascals single. In June 1965,

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

recorded a live version for the radio program '' Top Gear''. Tommy James and the Shondells released a version on their 1966 album ''Hanky Panky''. Gilberto Cruz Sextet covered the song for their LP ''The Groovy Sounds'', the first LP recorded by Cotique Records, a label founded by George Goldner for

salsa music Salsa music is a style of Latin American music, combining elements of Cuban and Puerto Rican influences. Because most of the basic musical components predate the labeling of salsa, there have been many controversies regarding its origin. Most ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

The Residents The Residents are an American art collective and art rock band best known for their avant-garde music and multimedia works. Since their first official release, ''Meet the Residents'' (1974), they have released over 60 albums, numerous music vid ...

recorded a cover of the song for the album '' The Third Reich 'n Roll'' as a part of "Hitler was a Vegetarian".

Mary Wells Mary Esther Wells (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992) was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s. Along with the Supremes, the Miracles, the Temptations, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and the F ...

included her version of the song on her 1966 album '' The Two Sides of Mary Wells''. "Good Lovin was the title song of a 2008 album by Australian singer David Campbell. A popular version was by the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

, 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 and early 1970s by

Ron "Pigpen" McKernan Ronald Charles McKernan (September 8, 1945 – March 8, 1973), known as Pigpen, was an American musician. He was a founding member of the San Francisco Sound, San Francisco band the Grateful Dead and played in the group from 1965 to 1972. ...

and later by

Bob Weir Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with the Other Ones, later known as the Dead ...

. The Weir rendition was recorded for the group's 1978 '' Shakedown Street'' album and came in for a good amount of criticism: ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' said it "feature aimless ensemble work and vocals that Bob Weir should never have attempted." On November 11, 1978, the Grateful Dead performed it on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

''.

John Paul Young John Inglis Young, Order of Australia, OAM (born 21 June 1950), known professionally as John Paul Young, is an Australian pop singer who is best known for having a worldwide hit with "Love Is in the Air (song), Love Is in the Air" in 1978. His ...

covered the song on his album '' The Singer'' (1981).

Bobby McFerrin Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. (born March 11, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, and conductor (music), conductor. His Vocal pedagogy, vocal techniques include singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in Pitch (music), pitch—fo ...

recorded a version for his '' Simple Pleasures'' album in 1988.

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

performed a version in 2009 at the London Calling: Live in Hyde Park concert.

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.. In the '' Moonlighting'' episode "Atomic Shakespeare," (S3, E7), David Addison (

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting (TV series), Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and has appeared in over one hundred films, gaining ...

) performed the song in-character as Petruchio, in the episode's parody of ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunke ...

''. A cover of the song "Good Lovin was used in 1988 the film '' Salsa''. In The '' Step by Step'' TV show , season 1 Episode 17 of episode "Boys in the Band" originally Broadcast on February 14, 1992 Suzanne Somers Sings the Song On the May 21, 2018, episode of reality television singing competition show '' The Voice'', Team Alicia (Keys) member Britton Buchanan performed the song as his cover performance during the finale. His performance charted in the top ten on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

and contributed to his second-place finish behind Team Kelly (Clarkson) finalist Brynn Cartelli.

Certifications

References

{{authority control 1965 singles 1966 singles Songs written by Rudy Clark Songs written by Artie Resnick The Olympics (band) songs The Rascals songs Grateful Dead songs Tommy James and the Shondells songs Hanson (band) songs Song recordings produced by Arif Mardin Song recordings produced by Tom Dowd Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Atlantic Records singles Decca Records singles 1965 songs