Gimme Some Lovin'

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"Gimme Some Lovin'"
Gimme Some Lovin'.jpg
Netherlands single picture sleeve
Single by The Spencer Davis Group
B-side"Blues in F"
Released28 October 1966 (1966-10-28)[1]
Recorded9–10 and 14 June, 21 September 1966[1]
Genre
Length2:58
LabelFontana U.K.
United Artists U.S.
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
The Spencer Davis Group singles chronology
"When I Come Home"
(1966) 		"Gimme Some Lovin'"
(1966) 		"I'm a Man"
(1967)
Audio sample
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"Gimme Some Lovin'"
Gimme Some Lovin' - Blues Brothers.jpg
Single by Blues Brothers
from the album The Blues Brothers soundtrack
B-side"She Caught the Katy"
ReleasedMay 1980
Genre
LabelAtlantic U.S.
Songwriter(s)
Blues Brothers singles chronology
"Rubber Biscuit"
(1979) 		"Gimme Some Lovin'"
(1980) 		"Who's Making Love"
(1980)
Limited edition release
Gimme Some Lovin' - Blues Bros.jpg

"Gimme Some Lovin'" is a song written by Steve Winwood, Spencer Davis and Muff Winwood,[citation needed] although solely credited to Steve Winwood on the UK single label, and performed by the Spencer Davis Group. Live recordings are included on the Traffic albums Welcome to the Canteen and The Last Great Traffic Jam.

Background[]

As recalled by bassist Muff Winwood, the song was conceived, arranged, and rehearsed in just half an hour. At the time, the group was under pressure to come up with another hit, following the relatively poor showing of their previous single, "When I Come Home", written by Jamaican-born musician Jackie Edwards, who had also penned their earlier number one hits, "Keep On Running" and "Somebody Help Me". The band auditioned and rejected other songs Edwards offered them, and they let the matter slide until, with a recording session looming, manager Chris Blackwell took them to London, put them in a rehearsal room at the Marquee Club, and ordered them to come up with a new song.

"We started to mess about with riffs, and it must have been eleven o'clock in the morning. We hadn't been there half an hour, and this idea just came. We thought, bloody hell, this sounds really good. We fitted it all together and by about twelve o'clock, we had the whole song. Steve had been singing 'Gimme, gimme some loving' - you know, just yelling anything, so we decided to call it that. We worked out the middle eight and then went to a cafe that's still on the corner down the road. Blackwell came to see how we were going on, to find our equipment set up and us not there, and he storms into the cafe, absolutely screaming, 'How can you do this?' he screams. Don't worry, we said. We were all really confident. We took him back, and said, how's this for half an hour's work, and we knocked off 'Gimme Some Lovin' and he couldn't believe it. We cut it the following day and everything about it worked. That very night we played a North London club and tried it out on the public. It went down a storm. We knew we had another No. 1."[4]

Differences in recordings[]

The original UK version, which is the 'master' take of the song, differs in several respects from the version subsequently released in the US on the United Artists label. First, the UK version has a different lead vocal track that includes the following lyrics in the second verse:

"My head's a-spinning And I'm floating to sound, Too much is happening 'cause you're not around"

These lyrics do not appear on the US single. Also, the original UK recording is a touch slower, and lacks the 'response' backing vocals in the chorus, some percussion, and the "live-sounding" ambience of the US single. These additional overdubs (which were performed by some of the future members of Traffic), and the 'tweaking' of the recording's speed to create a brighter sound, were the work of producer Jimmy Miller, who remixed the song for its US release. (The US version has more often been used on reissue CDs, even those coming from Europe.) The single features the sound of the Hammond organ.

Personnel[]

The Spencer Davis Group[]

Blues Brothers cover[]

In 1980, The Blues Brothers covered "Gimme Some Lovin'". The song is from the movie soundtrack The Blues Brothers. Their version reached number 18 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number 16 on Cash Box.[5] On WLS-AM in Chicago, the song peaked at number three.[6]

Chart history[]

In 1966, "Gimme Some Lovin'" reached number two in the UK Singles Chart and number seven in the US.[7] The song is ranked number 247 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[8]

Spencer Davis Group
Chart (1966–67) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[9] 6
Canada RPM Top Singles 1
Ireland (IRMA)[10] 7
New Zealand (Listener) 5
South Africa (Springbok) [11] 18
UK[7] 2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[12] 7
U.S. Cash Box Top 100 [13] 5
Blues Brothers
Chart (1980) Peak
position
Canada RPM Top Singles [14] 22
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[12] 18
U.S. Cash Box Top 100 [15] 16

Notable cover versions[]

  • Also in 1978, the group Kongas released a disco version of "Gimme Some Lovin'" under the title "Africanism / Gimme Some Lovin'". The song reached number 84 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 3 on Billboard's Dance / Disco Chart.
  • Olivia Newton-John also included a cover on her 1978 album, Totally Hot.
  • Terry Reid, covered the song for the Days of Thunder soundtrack.
  • British group Thunder's heavy rock influenced cover reached number 36 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1990.

Commercial usage[]

  • The Spencer Davis Group version appears in a 2018 TV commercial for Walmart.[16]
  • The U.S. version was also used in the 1986 motion picture Iron Eagle during a jet fighter attack scene, but was not included in the associated soundtrack produced by Capitol Records.
  • The song is used over a touch football game in the 1983 film The Big Chill.
  • The song plays over a montage of NASCAR races in the 1990 action film Days Of Thunder.
  • It was also used during the closing credits of the 2004 film The Flight of the Phoenix.
  • The song was used in the 1996 film Sleepers during a scene where Lorenzo "Shakes" Carcaterra flees from a hot dog seller.
  • The song was used in the 1996 film Striptease during a scene where Paul Guber is taken to the Eager Beaver strip club.
  • The song is used as the background sound to the car's street chase sequence on the 1999 film Notting Hill.
  • The song is also used in the 1999 movie EDtv when Ed played by Matthew McConaughley is chasing Shira played by Jenny Elfman
  • The original Spencer Davis Group's version is used as background music in the 2013 movie Rush in the scene of the first race, when James Hunt and Niki Lauda are racing for the first time in the same race.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Willa Dean Parker and Rose Banks as successor to Homer Banks v. Mervyn Winwood, Spencer Davis, Steve Winwood, The Spencer Davis Group, Kobalt Music Publishing, And Universalsongs of Polygram International, Inc" (PDF). Loeb & Loeb LLP. In The United States District Court Middle District of Tennessee Nashville Division. 17 October 2018. Archived from the original on 7 February 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  2. ^ Uslan, Michael; Clark, Dick; Solomon, Bruce (1981). Dick Clark's the First 25 Years of Rock & Roll. Dell Publishing Company. p. 203. ISBN 978-0-440-51763-4.
  3. ^ Paymer, Marvin E. (July 1993). Facts behind the songs: a handbook of American popular music from the nineties to the '90s. Garland Pub. p. 247. ISBN 978-0-8240-5240-9.
  4. ^ Muff Winwood, quoted by John Bell, liner notes to Eight Gigs A Week: The Spencer David Group - The Steve Winwood Years (Island Records, 1996)
  5. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 8/02/80". Tropicalglen.com. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  6. ^ "WLS MUSICRADIO 89". Oldiesloon.com. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 143. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  8. ^ "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 7 April 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  9. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  10. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Gimme Some Lovin'". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  11. ^ "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Rock.co.za. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  13. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 3/04/67". Tropicalglen.com. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  14. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  15. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 7/26/80". Tropicalglen.com. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  16. ^ "Walmart Grocery Pickup TV Commercial, 'Thanksgiving Meal Gimme Some Lovin' Song by the Spencer Davis Group". ispot.tv. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
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