A groovy situation

February 15th, 2009 in Soul by lpcoverlover | 5 Comments

Barbara Lewis “Workin’ On A Groovy Thing”  Atlantic Records  (1968)  Listen up: workin-on-a-groovy-thing

Patti Drew “Workin’ On A Groovy Thing” Capitol Records (1968)  Listen up: workin-on-a-groovy-thing

One of my favorite soul songs, “Workin’ On A Groovy Thing” was actually written by Neil Sedaka.  It was first recorded by Chicago songstress Patti Drew for Capitol Records in 1968.  Barbara Lewis’ version (top) followed Patti’s that same year.   (The next year it became a bigger hit for “The 5th Dimension” which, as they did with others’ songs many times,  charted with a “poppier” version.)

Which one do you think is groovier?

(21 votes, average: 3.86 out of 5)

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5 Comments

1. #1 Ritchie says:
   February 16th, 2009 at 7:15 am

   Agreed. Both Patti and Barbara are terrific vocalists. Loved Patti’s voice since “Tell him” by the Drew-vels and Barbara’s since “Hello stranger.” I’ll just say the arrangement on Lewis version is a bit more to my taste and the song’s advantage.

2. #2 Retro Hound says:
   February 16th, 2009 at 10:40 am

   I like both of them, but Patty Drew’s is more to my liking.

3. #3 scotty g. says:
   February 18th, 2009 at 9:56 am

   Double the pleasure! Love ‘em both, but if I had to choose, I’d go with Patti.

4. #4 vicente carrari says:
   February 18th, 2009 at 2:40 pm

   Doesn’t this look like Caetano Veloso’s Qualquer Coisa?

5. #5 Richard Astley-Clemas says:
   October 12th, 2009 at 8:15 am

   None of ‘em.Sedaka’s version is the best because he’s a Genius