Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?
| "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by The Lovin' Spoonful | ||||
| from the album Do You Believe in Magic | ||||
| B-side | "Didn't Want to Have to Do It" | |||
| Released | April 30, 1966 | |||
| Genre | Folk rock | |||
| Length | 2:00 | |||
| Label | Kama Sutra 209 | |||
| Writer(s) | John Sebastian | |||
| Producer(s) | Erik Jacobsen | |||
| The Lovin' Spoonful singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?" is a song written by John Sebastian and first released by his band The Lovin' Spoonful on their 1965 debut album Do You Believe in Magic. It was the second single released from the album and the most successful, reaching #2 on the American Billboard charts on the week of June 11, 1966 (#1 being "Paint It Black" by The Rolling Stones). It also reached #2 in Canada. In New Zealand, the song charted at #5.[1]
The song has continued to be popular and has been included in many compilations of music of the period. In 1996, Denny's restaurants used the song for their $1.99 breakfasts.[2]
The Christian parody band ApologetiX included a parody, "Did You Ever Ask Where Cain Got His Wife?" on their 2010 album Soundprooof.
In the 1999 film Dudley Do-Right, this song is given a big-band style arrangement, and it starts off with a swing dance battle between Snidely Whiplash and Dudley for Nell Fenwick, and evolves into a big production number. The lead vocals in this version are by Steve Tyrell.
Notable covers
- The Knack on a 1966 UK single (This was not the "My Sharona" The Knack, this was an earlier British band)
- A sound-alike version in the style of the Lovin' Spoonful's version was used in the 1966 British Antonioni film Blowup. No artist is credited on the soundtrack CD.
- Bud Shank on his 1967 album A Spoonful of Jazz
- Dick Rosmini on his 1969 album A Genuine Rosmini
- The Good Brothers on their 1980 album Best of the Good Brothers: Live
- Curtis Stigers on his 2003 album You Inspire Me
- Thao with the Get Down Stay Down on the 2009 Thao/The Thermals Record Store Day Split 7"
- Richard Barone on his 2016 album Sorrows & Promises, featuring John Sebastian on autoharps and harmonica.
References
- ↑ "flavour of new zealand - search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 2016-09-29.
- ↑ "Music Viewpoint;Restart Me Up;In Today'S Music For Advertising, Everything Old Is New, And Everything New Is Old. What'S Goin' On? | Opinion - Adage". Creativity-online.com. 1996-05-01. Retrieved 2016-09-29.