My granny was ten in 1968, I was around six when I first heard it and that was in 2002. When Music is good, it transcends generations and time. When my babies are born, they'll be listening to the same tunes I did. ❤
Awwww that's great to hear cuz not too many of the younger people appreciate this old gold music I was born in 1965 so I grew up with this beautiful vibes 🎸💗🌟💗🌺🌼🌻
Breathtakingly beautiful. Quite possibly the most gorgeous recording ever made. It gives me tears, chills, and goosebumps with every listen -- despite being released decades before I was even born! Songs this great transcend time and will always emote epic joy.
i was all of 3 yo when this made the radio for the first time believe me not only do i agree w everything you said but i can add that, the sound really captures the actual feel of the year it came out i can soo recal this great recording back when it was brand new it was gogeous then and somehow even more so today...and yes they were better days back then the general feeling wasnt as ugly as it seems to be today despite vietnam going on on our tv sets every morning then again at night.. this was def in heavy rotation in 67/8 i still play it at least 20x a year it brings me right back to that era i wish you could have experienced this song back THEN great song tied with better times it was blissful if anything ever was
I did grow up with this music and it's GREAT to hear it again. A friend just shared it. Brings back GOOD memories!! We had some wonderful bands back in the day. Some are STILL singing yet. :)
Coming of age in the late 60s, I remember this song as an icon of that time. Although I was a Beatles kid, I had a fairly wide range of musical tastes for a 15 year old. Listening to this song brings up long buried memories of this great period in pop music. Looking back I appreciate this song more than when it was new to me. Great music and in my mind, way better than most of the stuff played on the top 40 now.
I’m just lucky to have been born in ‘71, after most of the great hits of the 60s had been released, and could hear them all, as a small child, because my mom played the local AM station on the radio, back in the 70s and early 80s. They have stuck with me ever since. Thanks mom! ❤
oddly i can see in nearly perfect pitch to the harmony parts meaning I could very easily rerecord this and have near perfect..i ouldnt bc once is enough and its too great to even need a redo i don't kno why but this song just bring tears rolling down my face..it always has..
@@lancejones8073 Manhattan transfer was around back then, or very shortly thereafter. They do what they do fine, I suppose. This outfit caught a space in time and it was and still is magical.
You're absolutely right Ken Mayfield there is something "hauntingly beautiful" about this great song. I don't know about you but I grew up in the 60s when this gem came out and I think that's part of the allure of this song. It takes me back to that time and back to my youthful days. It was a magical time for me. I'm 67 now and wouldn't change a thing about that time. Loved every moment 💯
I was in high school when this song came out on the radio in 1968. I immediately loved it and I still do all these years later in 2019. A timeless beauty of a song.
@@paulgentile1024 your right, I miss rock bands. Went to many concerts in the late 1960s and in the early 1970s so much great music. Today, very little so called music.
Hard to disagree with that. Elaine (Spanky) is one of a pantheon of amazingly talented female vocalists of the 1960s, including Cass Elliott, Judith Durham, Grace Slick, and Petula Clark.
Happy memories of riding in the car with my family, and this song was playing on the radio. How can that be 52 years ago? Great music, memories of happier, more carefree and innocent days.
Just a perfect song for the time....."Spanky" had a wonderful voice which was as clear as a bell and never wavered. Sadly the group fizzled out, but they had their moment in the sun. So many groups came and went.
The group did not fizzle out. In late 1968, the group's lead guitarist Malcolm Hale died at age twenty-seven from carbon monoxide poisoning due to a bad heating system.
Malcolm’s passing was a fatal blow to this band. He basically ran the show and the band’s genius was his genius. Total tragedy, he was one of the original members of the 27 club…
Harold, it's not just you! Whatever they're playing today can't be defined as "music". After the 70s, there wasn't much left for me musically. Thank goodness for youtube and everyone who posts these great videos.
@@lovesmusic36 I feel the same but I heard some pretty cool stuff in the 80s as well. It definitely had its own sound. To me, the music went downhill since. and today's stuff....forget it. We were just pain spoiled with music in the 60s and 70s.
@@blakkat4126 Yes, Tom, we were spoiled. I remember seeing the Beatles in person when I was 15. My ticket cost $5.50! I "saw" them but couldn't hear a thing with all the screaming! Maybe some very early 80s stuff was okay but it did go downhill. As far as today is concerned, there isn't anything, at least, nothing that I would classify as music. Hoping you're well. Best regards from Canada!
It was a great time to be a child. Despite all the ugliness in the world, there was still much beauty and color in every day life as well as music and film...for a time. But pretty soon the electric guitar and hard rock started to take over. The overall tone got angrier.
I never thought music would de-evolve to the point that it has. This is music which speaks to your soul with its creativity & harmonies. Truly an era perhaps the likes of which no one will hear again. It was wonderful & amazing.
Despite my being a 10-11 YO kid in 1968; songs like this make me misty eyed. Anymore, while in my car, I have my SiriusXM set to Ch 66, Watercolors; def Smooth Jazz but, a LOT of that format's song structure wouldn't been out of place, 50+ years ago.
Being 5 in the Summer of '68 was almost magical. I was allowed to go alone to the park 4 doors down, kids, Moms, Dads always there. Within 2 years I WASN'T allowed to go alone. Drugs, hippies, ne'er-do-wells hanging out. It was ok to go alone by the time I was 9, but less kids, sadder, anxious people. Still a magical time, but less so.
This is a superb arrangement with great harmonies, instrumentation and the fabulous vocals of Spanky Mcfarland , the pride of Peoria ILL. The group was very much underrated and were so very talented.I was a Sr. in College and remember this surreal exposition, as if it were being played on AM/FM.radio ..just yesterday !
Music is eternal. It doesn't go anywhere. So it really doesn't matter if you grew up listening to it or not. Someone born in 2021 can still enjoy this great song in a few years time
One of the most beautiful songs ever sung. Takes me back to my junior year in high school when I was totally in love (smitten) by this girl who was a year ahead of me. She never knew and I was too shy to ever let her know...I was in love for the first time. It still brings a smile to my face fifty years later and sometimes I wonder whatever happened to that girl I was so in love with. Songs have a way of being bookmarks in th pages of our lives and this song will always be special to me.
I remember 1968 when this song was new. I was 16 and really into this type of music along with the Beatles and other mind bending music even though I had no knowledge of mind altering drugs at the time. Innocent times for me. I still love the vibe!
I'm glad there are nearly 3 million views. This is a superb song. The key is C major but they float around with an ever-shifting mix of major and minor chords with added 7ths. The bare A that terminates the main part of the song is brilliant, as is the dreamy coda.
That clip is from the Smothers Brother show and was cutting edge for it's time. It was 1968. I was 19 and all things were possible. I've learned all things are not possible, but this song reminds me of when I was young enough not to realize it.
Tamara, I remember this from the Ed Sullivan show. When they appeared on the Smother's Brothers, it was the end of '68 and lead guitarist Malcolm Hale had died. Do you know for certain?
After 51 years, this marvelous and memorable song still gives me goosebumps!!! Thank you Spanky and Our Gang for the endless joy you and your memorable song have given all of us for so many years. Your music is timeless!!
Same. Always loved the song with the ending one of the most beautiful I've ever heard in the rock music era, even though it came out in one of the worst years in U.S. history, 1968.
freeguy77 Great points and comments! I also LOVE this ending and it IS one of the loveliest endings of any rock and roll song in any era! Songs like this are just not made anymore and what a shame! I have a niece who is 18 and she LOVES the oldies and hates today's so-called "music". And yes, the 1960's had HORRIFIC memories for us with the Vietnam war and protests going on and the killings of the two Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King. But thank God for all the memorable music from that decade that gave us endless happiness which helped us deal with the sadness, too, from the tragic events of this country and the world.
freeguy77 Doug Celeste Wow, it really does bring goosebumps -- and 1968 was a strange time. I'm not sure when in 1968 this song topped out, but I always associate it with the assassinations of MLK and RFK. Maybe it was the contrast between the sweetness/hope of the song and anger/despair of the time.
TIM: Thanks for your comments. So sad that you associate this MEMORABLE song with those awful events in 1968! I am different and remember this song for the loveliness that it continues to give me after almost 50 years! And it reminds me of being 15 years old and seeing the world through the rose-colored and innocent eyes that I had at that time. Sure, the 1960's was a VERY tumultuous decade in the USA with the Vietnam war affecting us in many ways and the the horrific events in this country in 1963 and 1968. But thank God for all that magical music of that decade which gave us some much-needed joy to help us deal with all the pain and sadness that we were experiencing. And so I try to focus on the joy of the song instead of the sadness in the year that it came out.
Doug Celeste Hi Doug! Life is so strange, isn't it? So full of contradictions and contrasts. This song, and many of the songs of that era, were not representative of the angst but of the hope that couldn't be extinguished. The music of groups like Spanky and Our Gang, the Association, the Fifth Dimension, the Buckinghams, the Mama's and the Papa's and so many others rang like church bells during an air raid. It was magical healing music. Even now, when I hear those songs, I am taken back to a time of personal innocence -- and can see myself as a child and realize that, at my core, I am still the same person. I love that music, but this particular song, for some reason, is particularly impactful emotionally. I suspect that part of it might be due to the fact that the oldies station, at least where I live, seems to have skipped the 1960's (maybe due to too many anti-war and pro-drug implications) and so the memories have not faded with constant repetition of these songs. I appreciate your seeing the beauty in these songs.
This song is from 68, I was born in 74, obviously way before my time. But some way somehow, I get a feeling of nostalgia, like I've been here before. That's the power of music! Timeless!
I never heard this song until the late 80’s and was instantly interested in hearing more from this band. Elaine MacFarlane was/is a very talented singer and this group doesn’t get enough attention for being as great as they were.
ya, Elaine has a first rate voice. she could have easily had a solo career, but it takes more than just a voice. You gotta have the desire, the drive, the management, the right songs etc; and it's usually at the expense of 'other' things like family etc; that most women prefer over a career
they had other hits, and they always lessened the instruments in their recordings, the emphasis was on the song and the vocals, in other words, the importance was in the music. 1966 through 1969 is a very important period for popular music.
We definitely need more music like this. Music shapes our train of thought. It's very therapeutic on all levels. Elaines voice and the group makes me long for hearing this song in particular. We don't want your beautiful music to ever leave us. Great talent! Not to be taken lightly!!!
After the 60s (unless you had the album) there was no way to hear the old songs again, especially if you were travelling. Around 2000 in Asia there was a retro station and this song came on. I couldn't believe it; I just froze in amazement and awe at how much it brought out the old feelings again. Something lost -- something found. Incredible production.
Thanx for your story Cliff. When I want to get a happy mood, I listen to this. There are so many songs of the sixties that are lost. Be safe my friend. Happy travels.
Timeless, and a totally underrated group! Perfect harmonies, this group brings me back to a gentle, clean, time in this country, real telent, not this crap they call music today! Every time I would hear this back in the 60', it would brighten up my day! Totally up lifting!
Thank you for posting this video! Spanky & Our Gang were at their peak in 1968 with strong performances, great material and and flawless studio production. The string arrangements are truly beautiful and their six part vocal harmonies are stunning. A true high-water mark in Music history!
I am so thankful that I came of age in the era of wonderful music like this when artists actually made their own music and needed talent to be a success. My carefree college days! "Spanky" McFarlane is still a beautiful lady of 78 now in 2020.
Beautiful tune! Harmonies over those lush chords. When songs could chart that had substance and musical quality and make you cry! What a musically better era!
@@morrisman64 triste (sad) what has become of our culture. degraded, destroyed, by rappers, hip-hoppers, and all of who satan has so cunningly devoured. Born in '52 and obviously, I stopped by because I enjoyed this song then and now.
Malcom Hale who died tragically at age 27 carbon monoxide poisoning was the musical arranger and lead Guitarist for Spanky group. He wrote out these great arrangements of the vocals
Kenny Hodges (on bass) was a great friend of mine. Such a funny, wonderful person. I miss him so much, but watching this video every now and then I get to see him doing what he loved and it helps a little. Damn, I wish he was still with us. Love you Kenny . . .
I always felt that acid rock killed the peace pop movement .... its a shame... although the peace pop movement came back after the hard rock phase in the early 70's it was not the same... it became too sophisticated...
Pretty girl, nice voice & a beautiful song--great combination. I really love this song. They should have been much bigger than they ever got. Someday was also a classic song of theirs.
Some of the most beautiful harmony you'll ever hear. Such warming memories of my childhood, a classic song. Elaine was 26 in this video and looked so hot. Today she's 72, wow how time flies.
I was in San Clemente CA, I was a Marine and just got orders to be deployed to Vietnam. Met a girl on the beach she was singing this song we spent my last days stateside then off to Nam! Never heard from her again, when I hear this song I think of her sweet voice and her tender heart.
I love" Spanky and Our Gang."- What beautiful harmonies Spanky Mc.Farland(sp?), and Our Gang, made." Lazy Day" is beautiful, and " Dictionary"; are unbelievable songs.Great musical talent can't be underrated.
@Carlito1988 - Yes! That's a great description! I call this song an 'anti-love song' because it's very beautiful, but, she sings 'I can't promise that I'll love you.' It's too honest to be a love song, more like a 'friend-zone' song. In 1968...maybe an 'experimenting' friend-zone song!? I put "You Showed Me" by The Turtles in this same category as well because it's slow and spacey. As J Oliver Hazley wrote here about 'musical sophistication' once being normal back then - he's correct, and, sadly, that, I believe, will remain a great and lost thing of the past.
CARLITO1988: You said so much so well in so few words and I agree with you 100%!!! Thanks for sharing the TRUTH! I seriously wonder if we will ever hear "haunting beauty" music like this again. Almost 50 years later and this song is still so magical! It takes me back to an innocent life and time as a teen that I have forever lost as an adult and that is just a sad reality of life. But listening to this lovely music is the closest thing for me to go back to that time and I will forever cherish the memories of songs like this.
After listening to this song a few times, I've found that it's quite addictive. It's very jazzy and 'popish' at the same time. The funny timings and syncopations make it cool to listen to.
I believe that this song was released in 1968, and I was eleven years old at that time. Listening to this song makes my scalp tingle; and the song brings back memories of my youthful years in Massachusetts!
I can relate about college. Slowly turned things around. The music definitely matters...it brings back people, places, events....it's important to remember. Take Care.
The 60s. What a decade including spanky & our gang...great song, saw them in '84. Put on a phenomenal show which took u back to May of 1968! Chills. 🎵🎶🎼💜👏🏻
Such a beautiful song that impressed me at the time as a shy 13 year old kid attracted to a cute girl in school. No other song touched my young heart like this one. It all blended so well in explaining how I felt. Brings back so clearly those sweet memories filled with tenderness and innocence.
I've loved this song ever since I first heard it on AM radio in my parents' 1966 Chevy ll Super Sport. What a wonderful song with the kind of heart that even a little child can love and understand...and, an adult, now 49, will always remember! :)
From 1:55 to the stunning end, an incredible, unforgettable sound of melody and harmonies! it peaked at #17 on Jun. 8, 1968. One of the truly great songs in the worst year for America since the Korean War (1950-53)!
This brightened my mood as I am alone in my tiny apartment for the COVID-19 self-quarantine. I was 13 when I listened to this song on my transistor radio.
I love u spanky and our gang. I can remember this song played along time. How wonderful the sixties were and seventies. What a joy your your band is to listen to
These Cats were very good, the harmonies man, you don't hear tunes this great anymore. Talent, pure talent, this is a period when REAL musicians were composing songs. This stuff puts me in a chill mode, time to smoke some grass man!
Always loved Elaine McFarlane's beautiful voice with all those male harmonies backing her up. Seeing her performing here is a real treat. A real beauty with a great smile. She always looks like she has a healthy sense of humor while having a good time.
I agree, and she was beautiful without makeup as in this video (especially as she's singing on stage).. Funny story as you mentioned 'Elaine'... I met her in '09 at a music convention in Philadelphia. She was promoting a new CD at that time and when I called her Elaine, she quickly corrected me as she prefers Spanky (even to this day)... Just a funny moment..
I just realized how much I miss this music and groups like Spanky who sang such beautiful songs. I was in college back then and it was such a better time
I saw Spanky & Our Gang open for The Lovin Spoonful at St. JOHN 'S UNIVERSITY IN 1968. It is one of those concerts that stay with you for a lifetime. Both bands were outstanding. I still remember how well Spanky & Our Gang sang Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" that night.
Still it sounds just as good when it came out . I'm still listening in 2020 you better believe it. Even with tears in my eyes, I love it is someone else out there listening with me. Thank you God so much...........,.
This is music from my teenage years.....the best years and music EVER. I remember this song but never saw them as a group. I'm in the UK now but way back in the 60s and 70s I was on the other side of the world in a country 30 years behind the UK. Thanks for posting this and for the nostalgia it evokes.
When I listen to this song, I close my eyes and pretend that I'm no longer in 2022, the era of Tinder, of hookups, and ghosting. I'm in a park or coffee shop in 1968 and a nice gentleman comes up to me and starts singing this song to me.
This song is so 1960's which many sang about love. What a wonderful era never to be again, and nothing will ever compare to it. Those who lived it were very lucky.
I had just turned 5 when this first hit the radio though I wish I could remember hearing when it first became a hit. I did not hear it until 1984 when WFIL in Philly had just become an oldies station. I have loved this song since I first heard it and oh my God the ending of the song is beyond stunning and beautiful. What an arrangement.
She has a Broadway quality voice. I was around when this on the charts I didn't pay enough attention to some of these acts back then. I've more recently come to realize I mostly overlooked some really talented female lead singers during the 60's and '70's. Along with Elaine, I've recently re-discovered Marilyn McCoo, Toni Tennille, Judith Durham, Mary Weiss, and I'm sure there's more.
It was a mystical time then. We were young and just married. Seems like nothing but great music then. Swallowing lumps listening to my youth played back.
The clothes, facial hair, and hair styles date the song, but for 2 and a half minutes you are transported to the days when you had to be able to sing to get a record on the radio. These folks nailed it and here we are about a half century later feeling the groove, unwinding, and thinking about how much simpler and easier it was back then.
AM gold! This song brings back fond memories of my childhood. My dad would take us to the drive inn. The year was 1968. I was nine. It was summer time. The little speaker hanging on the window was cranking out the soundtrack of my life. Life was good! There are so many great songs from that era that are forever embedded in my soul. This song is one of them. I feel so fortunate to have grown up during the richest musical era mankind has ever known.
Over 50 yrs old , still like this song . This talent doesn't exist anymore . Those were the days .
My granny was ten in 1968, I was around six when I first heard it and that was in 2002. When Music is good, it transcends generations and time. When my babies are born, they'll be listening to the same tunes I did. ❤
Awwww that's great to hear cuz not too many of the younger people appreciate this old gold music
I was born in 1965 so I grew up with this beautiful vibes 🎸💗🌟💗🌺🌼🌻
I wish every decade of my life could feel as good as the one listening to pioneers like Elaine McFarland AT 81 You're a beauty SPANKY!
Memories of my early years still listening in 2020 who else is loving this music??
They also had Sunday will Never be the Same?
Me!
@@jo-annehall4845 😃
@@amandanewton8757 😀
Amanda Newton
Wow ! Yeah, it was NORMAL back then !
What happened ?
Breathtakingly beautiful. Quite possibly the most gorgeous recording ever made. It gives me tears, chills, and goosebumps with every listen -- despite being released decades before I was even born!
Songs this great transcend time and will always emote epic joy.
i was all of 3 yo when this made the radio for the first time believe me not only do i agree w everything you said but i can add that, the sound really captures the actual feel of the year it came out i can soo recal this great recording back when it was brand new it was gogeous then and somehow even more so today...and yes they were better days back then the general feeling wasnt as ugly as it seems to be today despite vietnam going on on our tv sets every morning then again at night.. this was def in heavy rotation in 67/8 i still play it at least 20x a year it brings me right back to that era i wish you could have experienced this song back THEN great song tied with better times it was blissful if anything ever was
I did grow up with this music and it's GREAT to hear it again. A friend just shared it. Brings back GOOD memories!! We had some wonderful bands back in the day. Some are STILL singing yet. :)
Definitely one of the most beautiful songs and performances ever. I was 9 when this came out: Loved it then, love it now.
Coming of age in the late 60s, I remember this song as an icon of that time. Although I was a Beatles kid, I had a fairly wide range of musical tastes for a 15 year old. Listening to this song brings up long buried memories of this great period in pop music. Looking back I appreciate this song more than when it was new to me. Great music and in my mind, way better than most of the stuff played on the top 40 now.
That West Coast sound.
I’m just lucky to have been born in ‘71, after most of the great hits of the 60s had been released, and could hear them all, as a small child, because my mom played the local AM station on the radio, back in the 70s and early 80s. They have stuck with me ever since. Thanks mom! ❤
Their harmony is absolutely amazing!!! You don't hear real music like this anymore. I really miss those days.
oddly i can see in nearly perfect pitch to the harmony parts meaning I could very easily rerecord this and have near perfect..i ouldnt bc once is enough and its too great to even need a redo i don't kno why but this song just bring tears rolling down my face..it always has..
Try Manhattan Transfer or the Royal Bopsters to hear great harmony today. But remember - they do jazz!!
@@lancejones8073 Manhattan transfer was around back then, or very shortly thereafter. They do what they do fine, I suppose.
This outfit caught a space in time and it was and still is magical.
@@jg6698 I can't disagree!
This song has such a haunting quality about it, almost heaven sent. So sad that most members of this group are no longer with us.
Agree
We got spanky left as well as their drummer ...thats all.
You're absolutely right Ken Mayfield there is something "hauntingly beautiful" about this great song. I don't know about you but I grew up in the 60s when this gem came out and I think that's part of the allure of this song. It takes me back to that time and back to my youthful days. It was a magical time for me. I'm 67 now and wouldn't change a thing about that time. Loved every moment 💯
"Haunting" is exactly how I think of it too, especially the coda.
@@im7700 I feel you. I'm one year younger and I bought this 45 when it came out, and this is, as the youngsters say, hitting me right in the feels.
I was in high school when this song came out on the radio in 1968. I immediately loved it and I still do all these years later in 2019. A timeless beauty of a song.
Why cant they just stay forever young and keep on giving us music like this, spanky you're georgious
I like to think that is what heaven is like.
I hope I get there. 😇
Because through technology they figured out how to sell folks who have no talent
Yes, yes, and yes again❤️❤️❤️
@@paulgentile1024 your right, I miss rock bands. Went to many concerts in the late 1960s and in the early 1970s so much great music. Today, very little so called music.
Ain’t this melancholic truth so dang sweet?
Elaine McFarland's voice is another one of those unparalleled perfect-pitch voices coming out of the 60's and 70's
Hard to disagree with that. Elaine (Spanky) is one of a pantheon of amazingly talented female vocalists of the 1960s, including Cass Elliott, Judith Durham, Grace Slick, and Petula Clark.
Beautiful.
I rank Elaine MacFarlane's voice right up there with Mama Cass, Dusty Springfield, and Petula Clark.
one of the best voices out of the 70's was Karen Carpenter...highly underrated.
Joni Mitchell, along with the female singers in both Friends of Distinction as well as the 5th Dimension.
Happy memories of riding in the car with my family, and this song was playing on the radio. How can that be 52 years ago? Great music, memories of happier, more carefree and innocent days.
Those were the days, my friend . . .
Just a perfect song for the time....."Spanky" had a wonderful voice which was as clear as a bell and never wavered. Sadly the group fizzled out, but they had their moment in the sun. So many groups came and went.
The group did not fizzle out. In late 1968, the group's lead guitarist Malcolm Hale died at age twenty-seven from carbon monoxide poisoning due to a bad heating system.
Malcolm’s passing was a fatal blow to this band. He basically ran the show and the band’s genius was his genius. Total tragedy, he was one of the original members of the 27 club…
This is one of my old "go to" songs when I want to go back to the 60's. Never gets old, never loses its hold on me.
speedviper47 Same with me...this song has always smoothed out my wrinkles.
this was when music made you feel good and you could understand it.
I heard that, AMEN!
And you are so right.❤
Maybe music today is so f'd up because it reflects the times we're living in.
Well... As a kid and teen listening to this music.... I WILDLY misheard some of these song lyrics 😂😂😂 So very glad of the internets, lmao!
Love this music so much, tho.
I grew up during the 60s and wouldn't change a thing because I grew up with the greatest music of all time. Timeless classics.
Just me, or does this beat the crap out of most of today's "music"?
Harold, it's not just you! Whatever they're playing today can't be defined as "music". After the 70s, there wasn't much left for me musically. Thank goodness for youtube and everyone who posts these great videos.
@@lovesmusic36 I feel the same but I heard some pretty cool stuff in the 80s as well. It definitely had its own sound. To me, the music went downhill since. and today's stuff....forget it. We were just pain spoiled with music in the 60s and 70s.
@@blakkat4126 Yes, Tom, we were spoiled. I remember seeing the Beatles in person when I was 15. My ticket cost $5.50! I "saw" them but couldn't hear a thing with all the screaming! Maybe some very early 80s stuff was okay but it did go downhill. As far as today is concerned, there isn't anything, at least, nothing that I would classify as music. Hoping you're well. Best regards from Canada!
Anything's better than the decadence of the present!
Nope it’s definitely not just you bro
Reminds me of a better time what a great song.
I'm with you, love this song :) ......I'll take the 60's over 2020
You hit the nail on the head, great music, I really miss those days ! :(
It was a great time to be a child. Despite all the ugliness in the world, there was still much beauty and color in every day life as well as music and film...for a time. But pretty soon the electric guitar and hard rock started to take over. The overall tone got angrier.
@@valentinius62 Zeppelin hit the scene and made music much better you mean
@@KingpinTBM With all the songs they stole you mean.
I never thought music would de-evolve to the point that it has. This is music which speaks to your soul with its creativity & harmonies. Truly an era perhaps the likes of which no one will hear again. It was wonderful & amazing.
Yet, de-evolve it has. Thank goodness for the 60’s and 70’s.
1968 hot summer day laying in the sun listening to the radio and hearing this song forty some years later it's still good
Despite my being a 10-11 YO kid in 1968; songs like this make me misty eyed. Anymore, while in my car, I have my SiriusXM set to Ch 66, Watercolors; def Smooth Jazz but, a LOT of that format's song structure wouldn't been out of place, 50+ years ago.
I remember it well. Wonderful times...
Working my butt off $2/hr construction laborer
Being 5 in the Summer of '68 was almost magical. I was allowed to go alone to the park 4 doors down, kids, Moms, Dads always there. Within 2 years I WASN'T allowed to go alone. Drugs, hippies, ne'er-do-wells hanging out. It was ok to go alone by the time I was 9, but less kids, sadder, anxious people. Still a magical time, but less so.
Great era for music. The harmonies are exquisite and Spanky is an amazing singer. Great song and awesome band.
I remember loving this song when I was a kid! Spanky was an amazing vocalist! She had such a powerhouse voice! Absolutely incredible harmonies!
I love this band, I remember all their hits. Brings back memories of the late 60ies.
This is pure 60s Mamas and Papas, Fifth Dimension style harmony
I miss it a lot..
..and Spanky seems cool
Her voice kind of reminds me of Mama Cass. They both have deep, powerful voices.
so cool all the groups you named right on
Don't forget a group called Mercy with a classic song "Love Will Make You Happy."B.W.
@@madbrowniac7871 such a cool song thanks for reminding me about it
Well, it's funny that you mention the Mamas and the Papas, because the singer Elaine 'Spanky'McFarlane sangs Cass's parts in a later reunion of TMATP.
This is a superb arrangement with great harmonies, instrumentation and the fabulous vocals of Spanky Mcfarland , the pride of Peoria ILL. The group was very much underrated and were so very talented.I was a Sr. in College and remember this surreal exposition, as if it were being played on AM/FM.radio ..just yesterday !
I love this song,this era of music and I am still singing it today as I did as a child.❤
This song is gorgeous on so many levels!
The 60s music will never be duplicated for all its wonder and splendor defining an incredible time for some many reasons for so many.
best years of my life. 1963-1970. Then came Led Zeppelyn and music changed forever.
1964-1979 is the best era of music.
So glad I grew up in these times than now. This song still gives me chills.
well I still have the album so eat your heart out baby.
@@zurdoremi EATEN!!!!
Heard this early June 1968 at 11 yrs. old. Great tune!
Music is eternal. It doesn't go anywhere. So it really doesn't matter if you grew up listening to it or not. Someone born in 2021 can still enjoy this great song in a few years time
Same here! 🙂
Their best of many greats. Those harmonies are unreal. It's such a great melody. From 1968.
One of the most beautiful songs ever sung. Takes me back to my junior year in high school when I was totally in love (smitten) by this girl who was a year ahead of me. She never knew and I was too shy to ever let her know...I was in love for the first time. It still brings a smile to my face fifty years later and sometimes I wonder whatever happened to that girl I was so in love with. Songs have a way of being bookmarks in th pages of our lives and this song will always be special to me.
This song gives me goosebumps everytime I hear it. This is a classic masterpiece! I'm loving it in 2020.🥰
I remember 1968 when this song was new. I was 16 and really into this type of music along with the Beatles and other mind bending music even though I had no knowledge of mind altering drugs at the time. Innocent times for me. I still love the vibe!
I'm glad there are nearly 3 million views. This is a superb song. The key is C major but they float around with an ever-shifting mix of major and minor chords with added 7ths. The bare A that terminates the main part of the song is brilliant, as is the dreamy coda.
That clip is from the Smothers Brother show and was cutting edge for it's time. It was 1968. I was 19 and all things were possible. I've learned all things are not possible, but this song reminds me of when I was young enough not to realize it.
Tamara, I remember this from the Ed Sullivan show. When they appeared on the Smother's Brothers, it was the end of '68 and lead guitarist Malcolm Hale had died. Do you know for certain?
After 51 years, this marvelous and memorable song still gives me goosebumps!!! Thank you Spanky and Our Gang for the endless joy you and your memorable song have given all of us for so many years. Your music is timeless!!
Same. Always loved the song with the ending one of the most beautiful I've ever heard in the rock music era, even though it came out in one of the worst years in U.S. history, 1968.
freeguy77 Great points and comments! I also LOVE this ending and it IS one of the loveliest endings of any rock and roll song in any era! Songs like this are just not made anymore and what a shame! I have a niece who is 18 and she LOVES the oldies and hates today's so-called "music". And yes, the 1960's had HORRIFIC memories for us with the Vietnam war and protests going on and the killings of the two Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King. But thank God for all the memorable music from that decade that gave us endless happiness which helped us deal with the sadness, too, from the tragic events of this country and the world.
freeguy77 Doug Celeste Wow, it really does bring goosebumps -- and 1968 was a strange time. I'm not sure when in 1968 this song topped out, but I always associate it with the assassinations of MLK and RFK. Maybe it was the contrast between the sweetness/hope of the song and anger/despair of the time.
TIM: Thanks for your comments. So sad that you associate this MEMORABLE song with those awful events in 1968! I am different and remember this song for the loveliness that it continues to give me after almost 50 years! And it reminds me of being 15 years old and seeing the world through the rose-colored and innocent eyes that I had at that time. Sure, the 1960's was a VERY tumultuous decade in the USA with the Vietnam war affecting us in many ways and the the horrific events in this country in 1963 and 1968. But thank God for all that magical music of that decade which gave us some much-needed joy to help us deal with all the pain and sadness that we were experiencing. And so I try to focus on the joy of the song instead of the sadness in the year that it came out.
Doug Celeste Hi Doug! Life is so strange, isn't it? So full of contradictions and contrasts. This song, and many of the songs of that era, were not representative of the angst but of the hope that couldn't be extinguished. The music of groups like Spanky and Our Gang, the Association, the Fifth Dimension, the Buckinghams, the Mama's and the Papa's and so many others rang like church bells during an air raid. It was magical healing music. Even now, when I hear those songs, I am taken back to a time of personal innocence -- and can see myself as a child and realize that, at my core, I am still the same person. I love that music, but this particular song, for some reason, is particularly impactful emotionally. I suspect that part of it might be due to the fact that the oldies station, at least where I live, seems to have skipped the 1960's (maybe due to too many anti-war and pro-drug implications) and so the memories have not faded with constant repetition of these songs.
I appreciate your seeing the beauty in these songs.
This song is from 68, I was born in 74, obviously way before my time. But some way somehow, I get a feeling of nostalgia, like I've been here before. That's the power of music! Timeless!
This song came back into my mind from nowhere, and so I looked it up. What a song and what a melody! Wish I had a time machine!!!
I remember this song from when I was 7 years old. It's so beautiful still!! What a classic tune!
I never heard this song until the late 80’s and was instantly interested in hearing more from this band. Elaine MacFarlane was/is a very talented singer and this group doesn’t get enough attention for being as great as they were.
ya, Elaine has a first rate voice. she could have easily had a solo career, but it takes more than just a voice. You gotta have the desire, the drive, the management, the right songs etc; and it's usually at the expense of 'other' things like family
etc; that most women prefer over a career
@@darrettp that was my point
they had other hits, and they always lessened the instruments in their recordings, the emphasis was on the song and the vocals, in other words, the importance was in the music. 1966 through 1969 is a very important period for popular music.
@@zurdoremi I like to think that this was from a time when pop music was held to a higher standard. Definitely!
We definitely need more music like this. Music shapes our train of thought. It's very therapeutic on all levels. Elaines voice and the group makes me long for hearing this song in particular. We don't want your beautiful music to ever leave us. Great talent! Not to be taken lightly!!!
This song still moves me, the voices, the arrangement, love it
After the 60s (unless you had the album) there was no way to hear the old songs again, especially if you were travelling. Around 2000 in Asia there was a retro station and this song came on. I couldn't believe it; I just froze in amazement and awe at how much it brought out the old feelings again. Something lost -- something found. Incredible production.
I hear you Cliff Thank god for the internet I’m in SW Turkey
Thanx for your story Cliff. When I want to get a happy mood, I listen to this. There are so many songs of the sixties that are lost. Be safe my friend. Happy travels.
Such a beautiful memory of days gone by
Timeless, and a totally underrated group! Perfect harmonies, this group brings me back to a gentle, clean, time in this country, real telent, not this crap they call music today! Every time I would hear this back in the 60', it would brighten up my day! Totally up lifting!
Very underrated band. So much talent and all good things.
I agree with you Maria , and that goes for your little dog too !
Thank you for posting this video! Spanky & Our Gang were at their peak in 1968 with strong performances, great material and and flawless studio production. The string arrangements are truly beautiful and their six part vocal harmonies are stunning. A true high-water mark in Music history!
I am so thankful that I came of age in the era of wonderful music like this when artists actually made their own music and needed talent to be a success. My carefree college days! "Spanky" McFarlane is still a beautiful lady of 78 now in 2020.
Beautiful tune! Harmonies over those lush chords. When songs could chart that had substance and musical quality and make you cry! What a musically better era!
oh I love this song .. im a black girl born 1964
Black is beautiful. Stay well
Music includes all colours.
oh I love this song .. im a black guy born 1962
@@morrisman64 triste (sad) what has become of our culture. degraded, destroyed, by rappers, hip-hoppers, and all of who satan has so cunningly devoured. Born in '52 and obviously, I stopped by because I enjoyed this song then and now.
@@kennethj.benton8641 As time progress People and things seems to get worst. Thank god we enjoyed a more simpler time growing up
whenever i hear Spanky and our gang i am transported back to 1967/68,great music and the sun actually did shine in the U.K.
This song always relaxes me and puts me in a good state of mind. The 60's produced some of the best songs ever!
I tip my hat to whoever arranged their vocals.
Absolutely beautiful.
Jimmy Webb and Laura Nyro were two prolific songwriters; Burt Bacharach was another arranger/composer as well.
Malcom Hale who died tragically at age 27 carbon monoxide poisoning was the musical arranger and lead Guitarist for Spanky group. He wrote out these great arrangements of the vocals
@@alkitzman9179 RIP sir
YESSSSSSS I LOVE IT RIP AND THANK U
Kenny Hodges (on bass) was a great friend of mine. Such a funny, wonderful person. I miss him so much, but watching this video every now and then I get to see him doing what he loved and it helps a little. Damn, I wish he was still with us. Love you Kenny . . .
I always felt that acid rock killed the peace pop movement .... its a shame... although the peace pop movement came back after the hard rock phase in the early 70's it was not the same... it became too sophisticated...
Pretty girl, nice voice & a beautiful song--great combination. I really love this song. They should have been much bigger than they ever got. Someday was also a classic song of theirs.
This song takes me back to my childhood years in the late sixties; every time I listen to the song it makes my scalp tingle!
Some of the most beautiful harmony you'll ever hear. Such warming memories of my childhood, a classic song. Elaine was 26 in this video and looked so hot. Today she's 72, wow how time flies.
She and Lefty Baker sang lead-great song.
Ginger Bread It's a soda, Coca-Coda.
@@adambaum9732 9
A truly superb blending of voices.
Met Spanky at an autograph show in the NJ Meadowlands. Told me about her folk roots. Nice lady.
I was in San Clemente CA, I was a Marine and just got orders to be deployed to Vietnam. Met a girl on the beach she was singing this song we spent my last days stateside then off to Nam!
Never heard from her again, when I hear this song I think of her sweet voice and her tender heart.
I love" Spanky and Our Gang."- What beautiful harmonies Spanky Mc.Farland(sp?), and Our Gang, made." Lazy Day" is beautiful, and " Dictionary"; are unbelievable songs.Great musical talent can't be underrated.
Will never get tired of listening to the quintessential song of the '60s!!!
Has a haunting beauty you don't hear in music anymore...
+Carlito1988 Amen.
@Carlito1988 - Yes! That's a great description! I call this song an 'anti-love song' because it's very beautiful, but, she sings 'I can't promise that I'll love you.' It's too honest to be a love song, more like a 'friend-zone' song. In 1968...maybe an 'experimenting' friend-zone song!?
I put "You Showed Me" by The Turtles in this same category as well because it's slow and spacey.
As J Oliver Hazley wrote here about 'musical sophistication' once being normal back then - he's correct, and, sadly, that, I believe, will remain a great and lost thing of the past.
CARLITO1988: You said so much so well in so few words and I agree with you 100%!!! Thanks for sharing the TRUTH! I seriously wonder if we will ever hear "haunting beauty" music like this again. Almost 50 years later and this song is still so magical! It takes me back to an innocent life and time as a teen that I have forever lost as an adult and that is just a sad reality of life. But listening to this lovely music is the closest thing for me to go back to that time and I will forever cherish the memories of songs like this.
kicks my nuts
Carlito1988 brings back memories of my youth
They have an ethereal,soulful voices! I wished there were more singers today like them.
After listening to this song a few times, I've found that it's quite addictive. It's very jazzy and 'popish' at the same time. The funny timings and syncopations make it cool to listen to.
So you give more than guitar lessons? Thanks.
It sounds good to
You too huh.
I thought so also.
@Grateful Varmints Its the message that makes it so great
I believe that this song was released in 1968, and I was eleven years old at that time.
Listening to this song makes my scalp tingle; and the song brings back memories of my youthful years in Massachusetts!
Had such a horrible childhood; screwed college up, but for whatever reason, these old songs make me happy1
Me too sister blue-
Spanky Mc farland.
Sounds like cher bono
May 2019
Good childhood but horrible in college, tried to avoid the draft by attending, but Uncle Sam got me anyway.
You weren't alone, Sharon. God bless.
I can relate about college. Slowly turned things around. The music definitely matters...it brings back people, places, events....it's important to remember. Take Care.
Peace & love Sharon....💙💜💚💛❤
I absolutely love this song....and Spanky looks so very cute in this video...I can't help but smile every time I watch this....
Midnight Believer moi
The 60s. What a decade including spanky & our gang...great song, saw them in '84. Put on a phenomenal show which took u back to May of 1968! Chills. 🎵🎶🎼💜👏🏻
Such a beautiful song that impressed me at the time as a shy 13 year old kid attracted to a cute girl in school. No other song touched my young heart like this one. It all blended so well in explaining how I felt. Brings back so clearly those sweet memories filled with tenderness and innocence.
This is my kind of music. I grew up w this. It has feeling and emotion that moves you.
I've loved this song ever since I first heard it on AM radio in my parents' 1966 Chevy ll Super Sport.
What a wonderful song with the kind of heart that even a little child can love and understand...and, an adult, now 49, will always remember! :)
+classiclistener01 Nothing quite like the opening line, and the start of a great relationship between two people. So much hope and promise!
Well said, Carpenter! Maybe we are relatives!
Carlos Carpinteyro I am quite certain that we are related Carlos. God bless!
I would say you hit the nail on the head! ;-)
From 1:55 to the stunning end, an incredible, unforgettable sound of melody and harmonies! it peaked at #17 on Jun. 8, 1968. One of the truly great songs in the worst year for America since the Korean War (1950-53)!
This brightened my mood as I am alone in my tiny apartment for the COVID-19 self-quarantine. I was 13 when I listened to this song on my transistor radio.
I love u spanky and our gang. I can remember this song played along time. How wonderful the sixties were and seventies. What a joy your your band is to listen to
They appealed to every generation in their time. Such smooth voices--all.
These Cats were very good, the harmonies man, you don't hear tunes this great anymore. Talent, pure talent, this is a period when REAL musicians were composing songs. This stuff puts me in a chill mode, time to smoke some grass man!
Always loved Elaine McFarlane's beautiful voice with all those male harmonies backing her up. Seeing her performing here is a real treat. A real beauty with a great smile. She always looks like she has a healthy sense of humor while having a good time.
I agree, and she was beautiful without makeup as in this video (especially as she's singing on stage).. Funny story as you mentioned 'Elaine'... I met her in '09 at a music convention in Philadelphia. She was promoting a new CD at that time and when I called her Elaine, she quickly corrected me as she prefers Spanky (even to this day)... Just a funny moment..
I just realized how much I miss this music and groups like Spanky who sang such beautiful songs. I was in college back then and it was such a better time
I saw Spanky & Our Gang open for The Lovin Spoonful at St. JOHN 'S UNIVERSITY IN 1968. It is one of those concerts that stay with you for a lifetime. Both bands were outstanding. I still remember how well Spanky & Our Gang sang Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" that night.
I love the 60s.youll Never hear this acoustic sound again. Awesome harmony, sometimes I sit and listen to oldies all day. Nothing like it today!!!
That was a magical time that had its downs and ups but I'm glad I got to live through it because it will never come again.
Never is such a long time.
Still it sounds just as good when it came out . I'm still listening in 2020 you better believe it. Even with tears in my eyes, I love it is someone else out there listening with me. Thank you God so much...........,.
A great song from the past about how most of us felt about someone and great harmonies.
Or present tense feel about someone.
LOVE this song. ONE of the 60's BEST.
This is music from my teenage years.....the best years and music EVER. I remember this song but never saw them as a group. I'm in the UK now but way back in the 60s and 70s I was on the other side of the world in a country 30 years behind the UK. Thanks for posting this and for the nostalgia it evokes.
The concement Late 1960's group... The vocals of Spanky ....... Strong..... Forceful... Beautiful....
I have always loved this song.
When I listen to this song, I close my eyes and pretend that I'm no longer in 2022, the era of Tinder, of hookups, and ghosting. I'm in a park or coffee shop in 1968 and a nice gentleman comes up to me and starts singing this song to me.
This song is so 1960's which many sang about love. What a wonderful era never to be again, and nothing will ever compare to it. Those who lived it were very lucky.
I had just turned 5 when this first hit the radio though I wish I could remember hearing when it first became a hit. I did not hear it until 1984 when WFIL in Philly had just become an oldies station. I have loved this song since I first heard it and oh my God the ending of the song is beyond stunning and beautiful. What an arrangement.
She has a Broadway quality voice. I was around when this on the charts I didn't pay enough attention to some of these acts back then. I've more recently come to realize I mostly overlooked some really talented female lead singers during the 60's and '70's. Along with Elaine, I've recently re-discovered Marilyn McCoo, Toni Tennille, Judith Durham, Mary Weiss, and I'm sure there's more.
Elaine could sing! Such pure talent, and that's obvious- the male accompliment , the same. Such great harmony!😎
They were original and could sing with the best of them. Thank you for posting this wonderful singing group.
It was a mystical time then. We were young and just married. Seems like nothing but great music then. Swallowing lumps listening to my youth played back.
Memories of the 70's when this
music played. Love it!
One of songs of our lives from the 60s .Beautiful!
The clothes, facial hair, and hair styles date the song, but for 2 and a half minutes you are transported to the days when you had to be able to sing to get a record on the radio. These folks nailed it and here we are about a half century later feeling the groove, unwinding, and thinking about how much simpler and easier it was back then.
AM gold! This song brings back fond memories of my childhood. My dad would take us to the drive inn. The year was 1968. I was nine. It was summer time. The little speaker hanging on the window was cranking out the soundtrack of my life. Life was good! There are so many great songs from that era that are forever embedded in my soul. This song is one of them. I feel so fortunate to have grown up during the richest musical era mankind has ever known.
OMG, boys and girls and friends at home... Cass Elliot, Grace Slick, and Spanky McFarlane... What incredible voices!!!
Don't forget Marilyn McCoo
What a beauty ! What a lovely song ! a relief from todays drivel. I wish they were still here,
adding so much, if only they would listen !
This gorgeous song is waaay before my time, but whenever I’m somewhere and hear it, it gives me pause.
❤️🎶🎶🎶❤️