rolling stones oh baby we got a good thing goin' 1964Can You Hear the Music?

ROLLING STONES SONGS: ‘OH BABY (WE GOT A GOOD THING GOIN’)’ (1964)

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Rolling Stones songs: Oh Baby (We Got A Good Thing Goin’)
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MORE ROLLING STONES SONGS 1962-PRESENT

So maybe I knew her/ Once upon a time/ But that’s all in the past, babe/ Baby let me know you’re mine, all mine, all mine…

Written by: Ozen
Recorded: RCA Studios, Hollywood, USA, Nov. 2-3 1964
*Data taken from Martin Elliott’s book THE ROLLING STONES COMPLETE RECORDING SESSIONS 1962-2012


From the Rolling Stones – All the Songs, The Story Behind Every Track book:
Barbara Lynn Ozen is a singer and guitarist from Beaumont, Texas, who spent a lot of time listening to the bluesmen of the South, such as Jimmy Reed, Guitar Slim, and Brenda Lee. Under the aegis of the renowned New Orleans producer Huey P. Meaux, she recorded “You’ll Lose a Good Thing” at Cosimo Matassa’s J&M Studios (with Dr. John on piano), which climbed to number 1 on the R&B chart and number 8 on the Billboard pop chart. This song, covered not long after by Aretha Franklin, was to propel her to the forefront of the rhythm ’n’ blues scene.

“Oh, Baby (We Got a Good Thing Going)” is one of Barbara Lynn Ozen’s most important songs. The Rolling Stones recorded it on November 2, 1964. Their version is striking. Originally a rhythm ’n’ blues song with horns, they transform it into a rock ’n’ roll number carried by Keith and Brian’s guitars while Mick sings: You may talk all about me/And scandalize my name/But deep down inside me/I know I’m the only man.

Recorded during the Stones’ first session at the RCA Studios in the presence of Dave Hassinger, who would stick with the group until Between the Buttons (1967), “Oh, Baby (We Got a Good Thing Going)” is one of a number of songs the group learned on the spot in the studio. Of such tracks Keith Richards would later say: “we’d do ’em as quickly as possible.” The result is of good quality, however, with the Stones imparting a very Chuck Berry feel to the Barbara Lynn song, thanks not least to Keith generously firing out guitar licks on his 1959 Gibson Les Paul.

It is also the lead guitarist who opens the number with a very good intro that is quite different from the horn opening of the original version, and from the very moment the group launches into the first bar, the Stones seem perfectly in control. Brian Jones delivers a solid rhythm part in pure rock ’n’ roll tradition on his Vox “Teardrop,” supported by Bill Wyman’s purring bass, a boogie-woogie piano part played most definitely this time by Ian Stewart, and the incomparable swing obtained by Charlie Watts from his Ludwig drum kit. As for Mick, he is completely in his element. The result is convincing, although perhaps lacking a touch of passion that would enable “Oh, Baby (We Got a Good Thing Going)” to really catch fire.