Good Times (Sam Cooke song) explained

Good Times
Type:single
Artist:Sam Cooke
B-Side:Tennessee Waltz
Released:July 9, 1964
Recorded:December 20 and 21, 1963 and February 2, 1964, RCA Studio CA
Label:RCA 8368
Producer:Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore
Prev Title:(Ain't That) Good News
Prev Year:1964
Next Title:That's Where It's At
Next Year:1964

"Good Times" is a song written and recorded by Sam Cooke, released as single in 1964.

Critical reception

In a retrospective review in 1971, music critic Dave Marsh wrote that "at his very best, Cooke utilized a perfect lyrical sentimentality... listen to 'Good Times' – It might be one o'clock and it might be three/Time don't mean that much to me/Ain't felt this good since I don't know when/And I might not feel this good again/So come on baby, let the good times roll/We gonna stay here til we soothe our soul. That summed up perfectly what rock and roll was about, and still is, in so many ways."[1]

Personnel

Featured musicians are John Ewing (trombone), Edward Hall (drums and percussion), John Pisano (guitar), Clifton White (guitar) and Johnnie Taylor (back-up vocals).

Chart positions

Sam Cooke

The Sam Cooke version of the song hit number one on the Cash Box R&B chart and number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100.[2]

Dan Seals version

Good Times
Type:single
Artist:Dan Seals
Album:On Arrival
B-Side:"Bop"[3]
Released:March 25, 1990
Genre:Country
Length:3:51
Label:Capitol
Producer:Kyle Lehning
Prev Title:Love on Arrival
Prev Year:1990
Next Title:Bordertown
Next Year:1990

Dan Seals' version was a Number One hit on Billboards Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in mid-1990, and is the second single from his 1990 album On Arrival. His version stayed at number 1 for two weeks, and was his last number 1 hit, as well as his last top 40 hit of his career.[3]

Year-end charts

Chart (1990)Position
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[4] 32
US Country Songs (Billboard)[5] 25

Aretha Franklin version

Aretha Franklin covered the song for her 1967 album I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You.[6] It was described by Rolling Stone as the album's "party starter" and by AllMusic as "on par with the original recording".[7] Franklin changed the line "Come on baby and let the good times roll" to "Get in the groove and let the good times roll" in order to reference the phrase "getting into the groove" (meaning being attached to or participating in the music) and as a nod to the grooves of a disc recording.[8]

Popular culture

Notes and References

  1. Marsh . Dave . Dave Marsh . March 1971 . Sam Cooke: 'This is Sam Cooke' . . June 22, 2018 . . subscription .
  2. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 134.
  3. Book: Whitburn, Joel. Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. 2008. 372. 978-0-89820-177-2.
  4. Web site: RPM Top 100 Country Tracks of 1990. RPM. December 22, 1990. August 23, 2013.
  5. Best of 1990: Country Songs . . . 1990. August 23, 2013.
  6. Web site: Dolan . Jon . 2018-08-17 . Aretha's Greatest Albums: 'I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You' (1967) . 2024-05-03 . Rolling Stone . en-US.
  7. Book: Bogdanov, Vladimir . All Music Guide to Soul: The Definitive Guide to R&B and Soul . 2003 . Hal Leonard Corporation . 978-0-87930-744-8 . 256 . en.
  8. Feld . Steven . 1988 . Aesthetics as Iconicity of Style, or 'Lift-up-over Sounding': Getting into the Kaluli Groove . Yearbook for Traditional Music . 20 . 75 . 10.2307/768167 . 0740-1558.
  9. https://vimeo.com/33236694 Video