The Song I'm Diggin' Right Now-Goin' Back

Carole King and Gerry Goffin wrote this tune that reflects back nostalgically on the loss of innocence that we all feel at one time or another. As I watch my kids grow up and enter their teen years, this song hits home. I am working on a project of attempting to gather up all our "pre-digital" photos from the various boxes and nooks and crannies in our home where they have been stuffed. Some of these photos haven't been seen in nearly 10 years, since they were brought home form the photo developers. This song runs through my head as I catalog these pictures.

"Goin' Back" is one of the great Goffin-King songs, which has caused it to attract numerous cover versions, yet it has never been a big hit. The average listener has probably never even heard this song so it is possible to hear it with a sense of fresh discovery. And if I can turn one reader into a fan of this classic, then I am doing my job.

Carole's version above was not recorded by her until her "pre-Tapestry" album writer. Goldie and the Gingerbreads did it first in the UK but it was withdrawn shortly after it's release.

The version by Dusty Springfield, the  first of the truly great versions, came out in 1966 and hit #10 on the UK charts but was never a single her.

The Byrds recorded what was probably my favorite version released as a single back in the era when the Byrds couldn't buy a hit and it only scraped the Billboard Hot 100 at #89. Great Gary Usher production with cello's underpinning one of my favorite Roger McGuinn 12 string Rickenbacker solos.

I have included above the cool video of them lip synching the tune on the old Smother's Brothers show. Gene Clark had returned to the Byrds replacing David Crosby who quit when the group decided to record what he considered Brill Building fluff and place it on the Notorious Byrd Brother's LP instead of his song "Triad" which I consider a good move! By which I mean "Goin' Back" was the much better tune than the slightly odious "Triad" and it was also a good movie for Crosby as it freed him up for the major stardom of CSN.

The take above is from the album and really demonstrates Gary Usher's fine production of this lost Byrd's classic!

Finally, what inspired me to survey this tune is the version by Nils Lofgren, best known nowadays as one of the two guitarists in Bruce's E Street Band, but a fine performer and recording artist in his own right, especially with his under-rated band "Grin." Heard this tune on Sirius Deep Tracks as I was pulling into the Y in Royal Oak last night. It's from 1975 and it caps off this version of "What Song Is Mark Diggin' Right  Now?