♫ You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, music, music history

As I was writing my a.m. post (a bit of a rant, I must say) I was humming a song by The Supremes — “My World Is Empty Without You”.  I have no idea how I got from the Supremes to the Righteous Brothers in the course of a single hour, but somehow I did.  That’s what falling into a rabbit hole will do to you!  Anyway, I’ve only played this once before way back in 2020, so it’s fair game for a redux on this cold, soon-to-be-snowy night.

According to BMI music publishing, You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ was played on U.S. radio and television more times than any other song in the 20th century. It got over 8 million plays from the time it was released in 1964 until 2000. (This figure includes all versions, not only the Righteous Brothers)

The husband-and-wife songwriting team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil wrote this song at the request of Phil Spector, who was looking for a hit for an act he had just signed to his Philles label: The Righteous Brothers.

Inspired by Baby I Need Your Loving by The Four Tops, Mann & Weil came up with this song about a desperate attempt to rekindle a lost love.  The title You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ was just a placeholder until they could think of something better, but Spector thought it was great so they went with it. With most of the song written, Mann and Weil completed the song at Spector’s house, where Phil worked with them to compose the famous bridge (“Baaaby… I need your love…”).

The song was the first Righteous Brothers release on Philles, and it shot to #1, giving both the duo and the songwriting team of Mann & Weil their first #1 hit. It was Spector’s third #1 as a producer: he had previously hit the top spot with To Know Him Is To Love Him by The Teddy Bears and He’s A Rebel by The Crystals.

Phil Spector was determined to make this his finest production to date, and wanted it to be better than anything released by current top producers like Berry Gordy, George Martin, Andrew Loog Oldham and Brian Wilson. He chose the Righteous Brothers for their tremendous vocal talents, and enlisted his old Jazz guitar idol Barney Kessel to play on the song. Other musicians to play on the track included Los Angeles session pros Carol Kaye (acoustic guitar), Earl Palmer (drums) and Ray Pohlman (bass).  Cher, who did a lot of work with Spector early in her career, can also be heard on background vocals near the end of the song.

Phil Spector put a tremendous amount of effort (and about $35,000) into this production, but the final product was so unusual that he began to wonder if he had a hit. Seeking a second, third and fourth opinion, he played the song for the following people:

1) The song’s co-writer Barry Mann, who was convinced the song was recorded at the wrong speed. Spector called his engineer Larry Levine to confirm that it was supposed to sound that way.

2) His publisher Don Kirshner, who Spector respected for his musical opinion. Kirshner thought it was great, but suggested changing the title to “Bring Back That Lovin’ Feelin’.”

3) The popular New York disc jockey Murray the K.  Spector confided in Murray that the song was almost four minutes long (despite the label saying it was 3:05), and wanted to make sure he would play it. Murray thought the song was fantastic, but suggested moving the bass line in the middle to the beginning.

Spector heard all three opinions as criticism, and got very nervous. “The co-writer, the co-publisher and the number-one disc jockey in America all killed me,” Spector said in a 2003 interview with Telegraph Magazine. “I didn’t sleep for a week when that record came out. I was so sick, I got a spastic colon; I had an ulcer.”

When the song’s writers Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil sang this for the Righteous Brothers, low-voiced Bill Medley loved it, but Bobby Hatfield was puzzled, as the duo typically shared lead vocals and he was relegated to a minor part in this song. Hatfield asked, “What do I do while he’s singing the entire first verse?” Phil Spector replied, “You can go directly to the bank.”

According to Spector, The Righteous Brothers didn’t even want to record the song, as they fancied themselves more in the realm of rock and doo-wop.

Some of the artists who covered this include Elvis, Dionne Warwick, Hall and Oates, and Neil Diamond, among others. Warwick’s version hit #16 in 1969, Hall and Oates’ hot streak began when their remake hit #12 in 1980.

The song hit #1 in the U.S., Canada, and the UK.

You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’
The Righteous Brothers

You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips
And there’s no tenderness like before in your fingertips
You’re trying hard not to show it
But baby, baby I know it

You lost that lovin’ feelin’
Whoa, that lovin’ feelin’
You lost that lovin’ feelin’
Now it’s gone, gone, gone, whoa-oh

Now there’s no welcome look in your eyes when I reach for you
And now you’re starting to criticize little things I do
It makes me just feel like crying
‘Cause baby, something beautiful’s dyin’

You lost that lovin’ feelin’
Whoa, that lovin’ feelin’
You lost that lovin’ feelin’
Now it’s gone, gone, gone, whoa-oh

Baby, baby, I’d get down on my knees for you
If you would only love me like you used to do, yeah
We had a love, a love, a love you don’t find everyday
So don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t let it slip away

Baby, baby, baby, baby
I beg you please, please, please, please
I need your love, need your love
I need your love, I need your love
So bring it on back, so bring it on back
Bring it on back, bring it on back

Bring back that lovin’ feelin’
Whoa, that lovin’ feelin’
Bring back that lovin’ feelin’
‘Cause it’s gone, gone, gone
And I can’t go on, whoa-oh

Bring back that lovin’ feelin’
Whoa, that lovin’ feelin’
Bring back that lovin’ feelin’
‘Cause it’s gone, gone, gone

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Phil Spector / Barry Mann / Cynthia Weil
You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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41 thoughts on “♫ You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ ♫”

  3. Pingback: ♫ You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ ♫ | Filosofa’s Word | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

  4. In my world, this song was by Hall and Oates, period, and that stuck with me! This one is more…solemn plus slick to me, which is an odd combination to me. I can believe that they didn’t love it themselves and wanted more rock and doo-wop–thanks for posting it. These are very fun!

    Played more than any other song in the 20th century–that’s vast.

    Liked by 2 people

      • What we grew up with MAKES us so much, and I wonder about the poor kids who grew up with only rap and autotuned ‘music’ so offkey and weird, with nop one playing intrustmnts, and now they’ll get weird mishmashes of real songs messed with by AI and will think that it was truly done that way by the original folks–induced revisionism. Poor everyone.

        Liked by 1 person

        • Yes, poor everyone. I grew up with the Beatles and Rolling Stones, among others, but also with classical music and such as Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dean Martin, courtesy of my parents! Well-rounded! I’m no fan of rap or heavy metal, and I cringe at the thought of music generated by a computer, ie., A.I. And that … brings to mind a song that will fit perfectly into this week’s theme!!! Stay tuned on Tuesday!!!!

          Liked by 1 person

  5. I missed this the first time you played it. Nice redux! Their voices combine so well. I didn’t realize this was their first hit, but I can live with that. I can live with anything Righteous Brothers!

    Liked by 2 people

  6. As pop classics go, they don’t come much bigger than this. Superb song and performance. Here in the UK we also had Cilla Black squawking her way through it. Somehow she got to #2 but this is far and away the best version.

    Liked by 2 people

  9. Jill, great song. Two comments. First, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil’s songs were a key part of the Carole King musical “Beautiful.” The two had friendly competition with King and her husband’s songs.

    Second, this song was featured in the first “Top Gun” movie in a musical wooing scene of Kelly McGillis. Keith

    Liked by 2 people

  10. Nowadays, it seems as if the whole world has lost that lovin’ feeling
    And here, there, and everywhere we look, our soul world is reeling.
    We can look to heaven, or despair, or tear our hair and cuss….
    But “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in the stars, but in us.”

    Liked by 3 people

  11. This song was playing as background music at a local pizza hut the night George told me he was breaking up with me to go into the Army. I asked, did he feel what was being said in the song…he took a moment and said “No, I just thought it would be better for you if I don’t come back home again” It was towards the end of the Viet Nam conflict and so many recruits were being sent in for a final push. I told him his reason was invalid and I wouldn’t break up with him so he’d better comply with MY wishes instead. He (obviously) came home again.

    Liked by 3 people

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