Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?

"Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?"
U.S. picture sleeve
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 1966[a]
Recorded	September 1965[4]
Studio	Bell Sound, New York City
Genre	Pop[5] folk rock[6]
Length	2:00
Label	Kama Sutra
Songwriter(s)	John Sebastian
Producer(s)	Erik Jacobsen
The Lovin' Spoonful U.S. singles chronology
"Daydream" (1966) "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?" (1966) "Summer in the City" (1966)
Audio
"Did You Ever Have to Make up Your Mind?" on YouTube

"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 number 2 on the American Billboard charts for the week of June 11, 1966 (number 1 was "Paint It Black" by the Rolling Stones).[7] It also reached number 2 in Canada. In New Zealand, the song charted at number 5.[8]

Billboard called the song an "easy rockin' ballad" that would be an "off-beat winner for the hot group."[9] Cash Box described the song as an "easy-going, lyrical blues-tinged item which claims that romantic decisions are extremely difficult to make."[10]

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.[11]

The song was used on an episode of The Wonder Years titled "Cocoa and Sympathy."

In the 1999 film Dudley Do-Right, the song is given a big-band-style arrangement, and it starts 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.

The Christian parody band ApologetiX included a parody, "Did You Ever Ask Where Cain Got His Wife?", on their 2010 album Soundprooof.

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance Chart (1966) Peak position Australia 17 Canadian R.P.M. 100[12] 6[b] Finland (Soumen Virallinen)[15] 26 New Zealand (Listener)[16] 5 U.S. Billboard Hot 100[17] 2 U.S. Cash Box Top 100[18] 4 U.S. Record World 100 Top Pops[19] 3

Year-end charts Chart (1966) Rank U.S. Billboard[20] 48

Notable covers and later remakes

• 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.[21]
• Bud Shank on his 1967 album A Spoonful of Jazz
• Dick Rosmini recorded it for his 1969 album A Genuine Rosmini
• The Good Brothers included it on their 1980 album Best of the Good Brothers: Live
• Curtis Stigers included it 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.
• The MonaLisa Twins made a live-action/animated music video with John Sebastian in 2019

Notes

1. Before the single's U.S. release in April 1966,[1] Quality Records issued it in December 1965 in select Canadian cities to test its potential performance in the American market.[2][3]
2. After the single's early release in some Canadian cities,[3][13] it reached number ten on RPM's chart in February 1966.[14] It reached number six that July after it was issued across the country.[12]

References

1. Savage, Jon (2015). 1966: The Year the Decade Exploded. London: Faber & Faber. p. 556. ISBN 978-0-571-27762-9.
2. Anon. (May 23, 1966). "Chris Montez – Top Seller for Quality Records" (PDF). RPM. p. 7 – via WorldRadioHistory.com.
3. Anon. (January 15, 1966). "Music Capitals of the World". Billboard. p. 28 – via Google Books.
4. Edmonds, Ben (2002). Do You Believe in Magic (Liner notes). The Lovin' Spoonful. Buddha Records, Kama Sutra Records. 74465 99730 2.
5. Perone, James E. (2018). Listen to Pop! Exploring a Musical Genre. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-4408-6377-6 – via Google Books.
6. Nelson, Paul (1980). "Folk Rock". In Miller, Jim (ed.). The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll (Revised and Updated ed.). New York City: Random House. pp. 231–234. ISBN 0-394-73938-8 – via the Internet Archive.
7. "The Hot 100 Chart". Billboard.
8. "flavour of new zealand - search listener". FlavourOfNZ.co.nz. Archived from the original on May 10, 2021. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
9. "Spotlight Singles" (PDF). Billboard. April 30, 1966. p. 18. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
10. "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. April 30, 1966. p. 18. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
11. "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. May 1, 1996. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
12. "RPM 100 (July 11, 1966)". Library and Archives Canada. 17 July 2013. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
13. "A New Lovin' Spoonful Single Available in Canada Only" (PDF). RPM. January 3, 1966. p. 6 – via WorldRadioHistory.com.
14. "RPM 100 (February 21, 1966)". Library and Archives Canada. 17 July 2013. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
15. Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. p. 105. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
16. "flavour of new zealand - search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Archived from the original on 2021-05-10. Retrieved 2016-09-29.
17. "The Lovin' Spoonful Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 21, 2022. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
18. "Cash Box Top 100 – Week of June 25, 1966" (PDF). Cash Box. June 25, 1966. p. 4.
19. "Record World 100 Top Pops – Week of January 22, 1966" (PDF). Record World. June 18, 1966. p. 21.
20. "Top Records of 1966". Billboard. December 24, 1966. p. 34.
21. https://www.discogs.com/Herbie-Hancock-Blow-Up/release/4895839 Track listing for Blowup soundtrack CD