He was born and grew up in Ocala, Florida, and sang in his local church as a child before forming his first blues group, The Teen Kings.
Band members included Mick Eve (tenor saxophone) (born Michael Eve, 21 December 1937, Walthamstow, North East London), Mike Carr (keyboards), Harry Beckett (trumpet), David Price (bass), Bill Stephens (drums), and Speedy Acquaye (congas).
Goins' single, released on the Parlophone label, was not a hit but remained popular among Mods and later Northern soul fans.
They also regularly played at top clubs in London, including the Flamingo and the Marquee, on bills with Jimi Hendrix, John Lee Hooker and others, as well as touring in Europe.
He released several funk records in Italy in the 1980s, including "You Don't Love Me" (credited as "Herbie") and "Scrap Rap" in 1983, "Hold On" (1984), and "I Feel Good" (1986).
He resumed performing in the late 1980s, leading the Herbie Goins Soul Band, mainly at festivals in Europe but also in the US and Britain, and also occasionally reunited for shows with Barber and Heckstall-Smith.