This was a band I was never really able to get into, but I always loved this song, and...despite the fact that it's been way too overplayed over the years...still have a special place in my heart for it. I first heard it as a child late one night while driving along with my father in a desolate part of the NJ Shore. Considering the atmosphere, it was the perfect musical accompaniment for our spooky late-night ride. The wolf or coyote howl at the opening still chills me every time I hear it.

This is a very catchy song.Although it's old,I still end up singing along when it comes on the radio.

I'm a bit tired of it now, but I'd still give it a 4.5 This was a cover of a Joe South song that had also been a minor hit by a fellow named Billy Joe Royal, who had some success in the 60's. The song was a good example of 60's pop, with some memorable and very influential work on keyboards by Jon Lord and a repetitively catchy chorus. The song was covered in the late 90's by Kula Shaker, who had a British smash with it, and was clearly an inspiration to "The Only One I Know" by Charlatans U.K., who claimed to be insulted by the comparison, but then the lead singer of those hacks had the utter gall and lack of humility to say, and I'm paraphrasing, "I honestly feel that we have made the best music since the heyday of The Beatles and Stones." This song was a top 5 smash in the U.S., and their only other single to get that far was the famous "Smoke On The Water." Interestingly, while successful in the U.S., early Deep Purple were ignored in their homeland. It was, and is, rare for a British act to make it in America first without any previous tangible success at home. In fact, Deep Purple were scorned at home, with very low sales and disastrous concert appearances, like the terrible reception their appearance at the Sunbury festival got. At home, they were regarded as showoffs for being perhaps too much over the top when demonstrating their considerable musical ability. They were also regarded as Vanilla Fudge ripoffs for doing different approaches to cover songs. Ripoffs is a little harsh, but certainly they were influenced by the Long Island band, and thought of by many as an English answer to Vanilla Fudge. In America, conversely, this hit single and their first record sold quite well, and evidently they were, allegedly, booted from Cream's farewell tour for upstaging the headliners.