Tommy James & the Shondells' "Gettin' Together"

I'm part of the way through the Tommy James & the Shondells' compilation The Definitive Pop Collection.  At the very beginning of "Gettin' Together," there's a musical phrase that's reminiscent of the opening of the Spencer Davis Group's "Gimme Some Lovin'."  I think it's the interval of a fifth instead of the octave that's in "Gimme Some Lovin'," but I'm pretty sure that the rhythm of the two parts is the same.  Five quick notes and then a sixth lower note.

I looked up the dates, and it is possible that "Gettin' Together" was inspired by "Gimme Some Lovin'," as it's from 1967 and "Gimme Some Lovin'" is from 1966.

The Blues Brothers' "Gimme Some Lovin'"

I’m listening to the soundtrack to The Blues Brothers.  Their version of the Spencer Davis Group’s “Gimme Some Lovin’” is pretty good, but there was always something about it that bugged me that I couldn’t really put my finger on.  I finally realized what it is:  they change the melody.  They don’t always go up to the higher notes at the end of phrases (like “you better take it easy ‘cause the place is on fire”), and they’ve sort of ironed out the syncopation.  Those were two of the things that made the Spencer Davis Group’s version so great.

While I do like the Blue Brothers’ addition of horns, I feel that they’ve done it almost at the expense of the organ riff.  The organ part is still there, but it’s not emphasized like it is in the Spencer Davis Group’s version.  If they emphasized that organ part along with the horns, it could sound great.  Although my thinking that is probably just because I love the sound of Hammond organs so much.