Good Times (Sam Cooke song)

"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."

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

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.

Dan Seals version
Dan Seals' version was a Number One hit on Billboard's 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.

Aretha Franklin version
Aretha Franklin covered the song for her 1967 album ''I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You.  It was described by Rolling Stone'' as the album's "party starter" and by AllMusic as "on par with the original recording". 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.

Popular culture

 * In 2011, Nike used the song in a commercial featuring Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant during their "Basketball Never Stops" ad campaign during the 2011 NBA lockout.