"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.
The song was first recorded in 1965 by R&B/novelty
artists The Olympics, but 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). The Grateful Dead made it a workhorse of their
concert rotation, sung in their early years by Ron "Pigpen"
McKernan and then later sung by Bob Weir. The Weir rendition
was recorded for the group's 1978
Shakedown Streetalbum and came in for a good amount of
criticism:
Rolling Stonesaid it "feature[d] aimless ensemble work
and vocals that Bob Weir should never have attempted." "Good
Lovin'" was the title song of a 2008 album by Australian singer
David Campbell.
The Rascals' "Good Lovin'" was also featured in the 1986
third season "Atomic Shakespeare"/
Taming of the Shrewepisode of , with Bruce Willis
singing the Cavaliere vocal, as well as the 1987 first season
Wiseguyepisode "No One Gets Out of Here Alive".