The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time 1955 to 2005: Number 595

Number 595

Rascals

"Good Lovin'"

(1966)
.

Genre:Rock

2007 is a fascinating time, don't you agree? Here we have a country gripped with mania over a phone, a solitary phone, called iPhone.Yet America has it's own issues with a pointless war and what should be, a President facing impeachment. One can only have a view that indeed mania should be focused on a phone to ease the burden of what it is to be American. I apologise now if any American finds this offensive, but i cannot understand how a country like America can invent a wonderful TV show like Star Trek, with the premise of multi ethnics, peace and exploring, yet had voted for a President with hidden agendas inspired by wealth & power. This song by the Rascals made me think of this thought as it was released in 1966 it is also another point of time when America had conflict. I hope one day Americans remember what they built their country on....Freedom.

May be, i think to much, must be time for a Wii & Good Lovin'.

The history of '60s rock is littered with stories of great rock classics -- the Savages' album, the Thirteenth Floor Elevators' first two albums, the first two Chocolate Watch Band albums -- that should have been better known than they were. The Young Rascals is that rare example of a genuinely great album that got heard and played, and sold and sold. Apart from the presence of a hit ("Good Lovin'") to drive sales, every kid (and his girlfriend) in any aspiring white rock band on the East Coast in 1966 seemingly owned a copy. And it's easy to see why -- the Rascals' debut couples a raw garage band sound with compelling white soul more successfully than just about any record since the Beatles' Please Please Me.

The band had three powerful singers in Felix Cavaliere, Eddie Brigati, and Gene Cornish, and an attack honed in hundreds of hours of playing dance clubs on Long Island and New York City. The result is a record without a weak moment or a false note anywhere in its 35 minutes: "Do You Feel It" shows them crossing swords stylistically with Smokey Robinson & the Miracles; "Just a Little" and "Like a Rolling Stone" show off their folk-rock chops; and "Slow Down," "Good Lovin'," "Mustang Sally," and "In the Midnight Hour" are all '60s rock & roll classics in these versions. "Like a Rolling Stone," in particular, now seems all the more compelling, pointing the way toward a future that included Hendrix's version of "All Along the Watchtower." The CD is one of Warner Special Products' better sounding reissues, having been remastered by Rhino's Bill Inglot. The original album was on Atlantic, and was one of the label's best-sellers of the mid-'60s. ~ [Bruce Eder, All Music Guide]

For The Beatles see Number 947 & Number 894
For Jimi Hendrix see Number 718

What does Rolling Stone think about Young Rascals?
The Rascals should probably be considered one of the best white hard rock bands recording in the rhythm and blues idiom; after all, vocalist Felix Cavaliere not only has an honest full voice, but with Eddie Brigati he has also penned some minor rhythm and blues classics, "Groovin'" in particular. In spite of this fact critical attention recently has tended to ignore the Rascals, and not entirely without justification. Time Peace, a collection of the Rascals' "greatest hits" offers an opportunity to review in retrospect just exactly what the Rascals have contributed to rock music.

The group's second single, "Good Lovin'," introduced Cavaliere as lead singer; his voice has more range and depth than Brigati's, and on "Good Lovin'" he uses it to fine effect. Cavaliere is no Stevie Winwood, but in many ways he is closer to the spirit of rhythm and blues than Winwood; like Winwood, his phrasing and vocal quality distinguish him, among white rhythm and blues singers. The several efforts by the Rascals immediately succeeding "Good Lovin'" were all more or less stylistically akin: the early Rascal originals were credible genre pieces, but little more. The listener feels keenly the unimaginative rhythm work that is the curse of so many white rhythm and blues bands; the Rascals employ few of the little syncopations and rhythmic off-accents that are generally one of the main factors in gracefully forcing the heavy rhythm and blues rhythm to swing.edited [RS33-1969] read the rest here
For Steve Winwood see Number 622

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number 325 and the Album ranked at Number (However a whole album?)

This song has a crowbarred rating of 72.3 out of 108