I don’t think I’ve heard this before but someone the other day mentioned it as a highlight of the album The Notorious Byrd Brothers, so I looked it up.

I tend to think of The Byrds as doing electrified Dylan songs and twangy 12-string country-tinged psychedelia but this is neither: it’s a charming song about the loss of childhood innocence written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King.

It had already been a top ten hit for Dusty Springfield when The Byrds released it as a single in 1967. In fact it had been recorded first by someone called Goldie but her version was withdrawn after Goffin and King took issue with her changes to their lyrics, so Carole recorded it herself – and then offered it to Dusty instead.

This version by The Byrds did not match her success, failing to chart at all here, but it does hint at the country influence The Byrds would explore on their next album, Sweetheart Of The Rodeo, after Gram Parsons joined the band.

Apparently, the song did not go down well with guitarist David Crosby, who thought it was lightweight fluff typical of the songwriting factory of the Brill Building, where it was composed by Goffin and King.

The row ended with Crosby being fired from the band and Goin’ Back becoming a single. It’s also been recorded by countless other musicians, including Nils Lofgren, who performed a memorable piano-based version – at odds with his reputation as a firebrand guitarist – on the OGWT in 1975.

Others include The New Seekers, Freddie Mercury (under the pseudonym Larry Lurex), Elkie Brooks and Diana Ross, Marianne Faithfull and Phil Collins, The Icicle Works and The Pretenders – on the Fever Pitch soundtrack – and, regrettably, Irish footballer Paul McGrath.