Go Now
{{short description|1964 single by Bessie Banks}}
{{for|the 1995 television film|Go Now (film)}}
{{distinguish|text=If You Gotta Go, Go Now, a song by Bob Dylan}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Go Now
| cover = Go Now - Bessie Banks.jpg
| alt =
| border = yes
| type = single
| artist = Bessie Banks
| album =
| B-side = It Sounds Like My Baby
| released = January 1964
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
| length = {{Duration|m=2|s=40}}
| label = {{hlist|Tiger|Blue Cat}}
| writer = {{hlist|Larry Banks|Milton Bennett}}
| producer = Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
| prev_title = Do It Now
| prev_year = 1963
| next_title = I Can't Make It (Without You Baby)
| next_year = 1967
}}
"Go Now" is a song composed by Larry Banks and Milton Bennett and first recorded by Bessie Banks, released as a single in January 1964. The best-known version was recorded by the Moody Blues and released the same year.
Bessie Banks version
The song was first recorded by Larry Banks's former wife, Bessie Banks. A 1962 demo recording by Bessie of the song was heard by songwriters and record producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who re-recorded it in late 1963, with arrangement by Gary Sherman and backing vocals from Dee Dee Warwick and Cissy Houston.{{cite web |last=Patience |first=Stephen |title=Go Now: Bessie Banks (1964) |url=http://www.stephenpatience.co.uk/Reviews/Go_Now.html}}{{cite web |url=http://www.northernsoultrain.co.uk/artists/bessiebanks.html |title=Bessie Banks: The Original "Go Now" Girl (1959-1976) |work=Northernsoultrain.co.uk}} The single was first released in early 1964 on their Tiger label, and later reissued on the Blue Cat label, the R&B/soul imprint of Red Bird.{{cite web|url=http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=619206 |title=SoundClick artist: Larry and Jaibi – Classic Soul/R&B, from my parents, Larry Banks and Jaibi(Joan) C. Banks |publisher=Soundclick.com |date=February 26, 1992 |access-date=April 5, 2014}}{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/americansingingg00warn |url-access=registration |title=American Singing Groups: A History from 1940 to Today |first=Jay |last=Warner |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |date=April 30, 2007 |page=[https://archive.org/details/americansingingg00warn/page/204 204] |isbn=978-0634099786}} Her version reached No. 40 on the Cashbox R&B singles chart.{{cite book |title=Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004 |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=45}}
Bessie Banks later commented:
I remember 1963 Kennedy was assassinated; it was announced over the radio. At the time, I was rehearsing in the office of Leiber and Stoller. We called it a day. Everyone was in tears. "Come back next week and we will be ready to record 'Go Now{{'"}}; and we did so. I was happy and excited that maybe this time I'll make it. 'Go Now' was released in January 1964, and right away it was chosen Pick Hit of the Week on W.I.N.S. Radio. That means your record is played for seven days. Four days went by, I was so thrilled. On day five, when I heard the first line, I thought it was me, but all of a sudden, I realized it wasn't. At the end of the song it was announced, "The Moody Blues singing 'Go Now'." I was too out-done. This was the time of the English Invasion and the end of Bessie Banks’ career, so I thought. America's DJs had stopped promoting American artists.
Banks' recollections are questionable, because her single was released in the US in January 1964, and The Moody Blues' version was not released until November 1964 in the UK and January 1965 in the US.
The Bessie Banks version is included on the soundtrack of the film Stonewall (1995) and on the "Red Bird Story". The Red Bird Story: 1962-66, 60 original recordings by the original artists, 2 CD discs, Charly, SNAX 626CD, 2011
The Moody Blues version
{{more citations needed section|date=September 2013}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Go Now
| cover = Gonow2.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = The Moody Blues
| album = The Magnificent Moodies
| B-side = {{unbulleted list|"It's Easy Child" (UK)|"Lose Your Money" (US)}}
| released = {{start date|1964|11|13|df=yes}}
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Pop{{cite book |chapter=The Moody Blues|last= Evans|first=Paul|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |year=2004 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |edition=4th |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |pages= 556–557}}
| length = {{duration|m=3|s=00}}
| label = {{hlist|Decca (UK)|London (US)}}
| writer = {{hlist|Larry Banks|Milton Bennett}}
| producer = Denny Cordell
| prev_title = Steal Your Heart Away
| prev_year = 1964
| next_title = I Don't Want to Go On Without You
| next_year = 1965
}}
"Go Now!" (adding an exclamation mark) was made popular internationally later in 1964 when the Moody Blues, an English beat group from Birmingham, recorded it, with Denny Laine on guitar and lead vocals. When Laine first heard Bessie Banks's version, he immediately told the rest of the band that they needed to record the song.
=Promotion and chart success=
At the time the single was released, it was being promoted on television with one of the first purpose-made promotional films in the pop era, produced and directed by their co-manager Alex Wharton (the father of DJ Sonny Wharton). The song reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in late January 1965.{{cite book |last=Roberts |first=David |title=British Hit Singles & Albums |publisher=Guinness World Records Limited |location=London |edition=19th |year=2006 |page=174 |isbn=1-904994-10-5}} In the US, "Go Now!" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100 until mid-February 1965; it peaked at No. 10{{cite web|title=The Moody Blues Album & Song Chart History |url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/the-moody-blues/chart-history/5238?sort=date#/artist/the-moody-blues/chart-history/5238?sort=date |publisher=Billboard.com |access-date=April 5, 2014}} and No. 2 in Canada.{{cite web |title=RPM Top 40 Singles - March 22, 1965 |url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.5672.pdf}} Billboard described the song as having a "rare beat" and "interesting gospel-like piano support."{{cite news|newspaper=Billboard|access-date=April 2, 2021|date=January 23, 1965|page=14|title=Singles Reviews|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/60s/1965/Billboard%201965-01-23.pdf}} The next chart successes for The Moody Blues were "Nights in White Satin" and "Tuesday Afternoon" in 1968.
In a 2018 interview with author Robert Rodriguez on the podcast "Something About the Beatles", White Album engineer Chris Thomas recalled that George Harrison asked him to add a piano part to the Beatles song "Long Long Long" in the style of the Moody Blues' version of "Go Now".{{cite web |author=Something About The Beatles |title=Chris Thomas interview |url=http://somethingaboutthebeatles.com/154-chris-thomas-time/ |date=December 25, 2018 |access-date=April 29, 2019}}
Ultimate Classic Rock critic Nick DeRiso rated it as the Moody Blues' greatest song, saying that "Laine's scorching take on this old Bessie Banks track is as emotionally gripping as it is career-makingly important."{{cite web|title=Top 10 Moody Blues songs|author=DeRiso, Nick|publisher=Ultimate Classic Rock|accessdate=2023-02-02|date=August 31, 2013|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/top-10-moody-blues-songs/}} Classic Rock critic Malcolm Dome rated it as the Moody Blues' 10th greatest song, saying that it's "catchy yet also calmly intricate."{{cite web|title=The top 10 best Moody Blues songs|author=Dome, Malcolm|publisher=Louder Sound|work=Classic Rock|accessdate=2023-02-02|date=August 8, 2016|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-top-10-best-moody-blues-songs}}
=Later performances and popular culture=
The Moody Blues had little success with singles after "Go Now!" in the mid-1960s, which led to Laine's departure from the band, later being replaced by Justin Hayward. Bassist Clint Warwick had already departed the band by this time. Rodney Clark had replaced him for a while before they recruited John Lodge. With the new lineup, the Moody Blues continued to perform "Go Now!" for a short time, until they began writing their own material. Hayward sang the song during his first year with the band, and Ray Thomas attempted to sing it a couple of times.Moody Blues: Classic Artists (2006) (directed by Jon Brewer)
Laine continued to perform the song in concert during his years in Wings. On June 21–23, 1976, at The Forum in Inglewood, California, Laine performed "Go Now!" with the rest of the group, accompanying himself on piano; Paul McCartney was on bass and vocals, Linda McCartney on vocals, Jimmy McCulloch on lead guitar, and Joe English on drums. This version of "Go Now" appears on the Wings Over America live album and another live recording in a studio setting on One Hand Clapping recorded in 1974 but released in 2024. He also sang the song at the Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert 1986 raising money for the local children's hospital.
In January 1997, "Go Now" (without an exclamation mark) was released on The Very Best of the Moody Blues;{{cite web|title=Moody Blues {{!}} The Very Best of The Moody Blues |url=http://www.moodybluestoday.com/index.cfm?pid=400612 |publisher=Moodybluestoday.com (Official Fan Site) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719031518/http://www.moodybluestoday.com/index.cfm?pid=400612 |archive-date=July 19, 2011}} its release on this album was the first time it had been released on a Moody Blues compilation album. "Go Now" was also released on the subsequent Moody Blues two-disc compilation album Anthology.{{cite web|title=Moody Blues {{!}} Anthology |url=http://www.moodybluestoday.com/index.cfm?pid=400804 |publisher=Moodybluestoday.com (Official Fan Site) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719031524/http://www.moodybluestoday.com/index.cfm?pid=400804 |archive-date=July 19, 2011}}
Laine later covered "Go Now" in 2007 on his album Performs the Hits of Wings.{{cite web|title=Performs the Hits of Wings|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/performs-the-hits-of-wings-r1073182|work=Allmusic|access-date=December 28, 2011}} "Go Now!" was performed by Denny Laine with The Fab Faux on December 11, 2010, at Terminal 5 in New York City, and February 26, 2011, at the State Theatre in Easton, Pennsylvania.
The version by The Moody Blues was used on the satirical British television show Spitting Image in a scene concerning then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.{{cite web |last=Walters |first=Ben |date=February 10, 2011 |title=How will Meryl Streep's Margaret Thatcher compare to past portrayals of the Iron Lady? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2011/feb/10/meryl-streep-margaret-thatcher |access-date=April 5, 2014 |work=The Guardian}} It is also played over the closing credits of the films 45 Years (2015) and Bull (2021).
=Charts=
=Credits =
- Denny Laine: guitar, lead vocal
- Clint Warwick: bass guitar, backing vocal
- Mike Pinder: piano, backing vocal
- Ray Thomas: backing vocal
- Graeme Edge: drums, backing vocal
Other covers
- It was covered by Swedish pop band Lucas in 1967 as their debut single following their victory in Sveriges Radio's Pop Band Competition.{{cite web |title=Janne Lucas Persson |url=https://www.millners.nu/janne-lucas |work=millners.nu |access-date=July 31, 2021}} Recorded in September of that year and backed by a rendition of "Parchman Farm",{{cite web |title=Lucas - Go Now |url=https://www.svenskpophistoria.se/LUCAS/popup1_window.html |access-date=April 21, 2022 |website=www.svenskpophistoria.se}} the single managed to reach number four on Tio i Topp on October 28, 1967, and later also number 11 on Kvällstoppen on December 5 of that year.{{cite book |last1=Hallberg |first1=Eric |title=Eric Hallberg, Ulf Henningsson presenterar Tio i topp med de utslagna på försök: 1961 - 74 |last2=Henningsson |first2=Ulf |publisher=Premium Publishing |year=1998 |isbn=919727125X |location= |pages=}}{{cite book |last=Hallberg |first=Eric |title=Eric Hallberg presenterar Kvällstoppen i P 3: Sveriges radios topplista över veckans 20 mest sålda skivor 10. 7. 1962 - 19. 8. 1975 |publisher=Drift Musik |year=193 |isbn=9163021404 |location= |pages=}} Because of pianist Janne Lucas Persson's own interpretation of the song, it drove audiences wild; as a result it became one of the best-known songs in Sweden in 1968.{{cite web |title=Lucas historik |url=https://www.svenskpophistoria.se/LUCAS/info.html |access-date=April 21, 2022 |website=www.svenskpophistoria.se}} Both sides were featured on their eponymous debut album in 1969.{{cite web |title=Lucas - Lucas |url=https://www.svenskpophistoria.se/LUCAS/popup8_window.html |access-date=April 21, 2022 |website=www.svenskpophistoria.se}}
- In 1992, Tin Machine's cover was released on the covers compilation album, Ruby Trax.
- In 2008, the English soul and pop band Simply Red released a cover as the lead single of their fourth greatest hits, Simply Red 25: The Greatest Hits (2008).
See also
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- {{YouTube|TVVujedYHLM|"Simply Red - Go Now (Official Video)"}}
- {{discogs master|master=86598|name=The Moody Blues: Go Now!}}
- [http://www.dailymusicguide.com/Reviews/simply-red-go-now-single-review-07112008-1243.aspx Review of "Go Now"]
{{Moody Blues}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:The Moody Blues songs
Category:Paul McCartney and Wings songs
Category:UK singles chart number-one singles
Category:Song recordings produced by Denny Cordell
Category:Decca Records singles