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Will You Love Me Tomorrow
"Will You Love Me Tomorrow", sometimes known as "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow",[3] is a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. It was first recorded in 1960 by the Shirelles for their album Tonight's the Night; released as a single that November, it became the first song by an African-American girl group to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[4] It has since been recorded by many other artists, including King on her 1971 album Tapestry. The Shirelles' versionBackgroundIn 1960, the American girl group the Shirelles released the first version of the song as Scepter single 1211, with "Boys" on the B-side, with both songs featured on their debut album Tonight's the Night. The single's first pressing was labeled simply "Tomorrow", then lengthened later. When first presented with the song, lead singer Shirley Owens thought it was "too country", but relented after a string arrangement was added. Session musicians on the recording included Paul Griffin on piano and Gary Chester on drums. Owens recalled on Jim Parsons' syndicated radio program Shake Rattle Showtime that some radio stations had banned the record because they felt the lyrics were too sexually charged. The song is in AABA form.[5] Release and legacyIn addition to reaching No. 1 in the United States Billboard Hot 100, the song reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B chart and No. 4 on the UK singles chart.[6] It reached No. 3 in New Zealand.[7] The song was ranked at No. 126 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[citation needed][when?] Billboard named the song No. 3 on its list of the "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time" in 2017.[8] In 1999, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[9] Chart history
Answer songsBertell Dache recorded an answer song entitled "Not Just Tomorrow, But Always" in 1960, which was arranged by Carole King.[citation needed] The Satintones, an early Motown group, also recorded an answer song called "Tomorrow and Always" (in two different versions), which used the same melody as the original but initially neglected to credit King and Gerry Goffin. Following a threat of litigation, later pressings of the record included proper credit. Eventually, it was withdrawn and replaced by the song "Angel" with the same B-side "A Love That Can Never Be".[17] The Satintones' versions are included in the box set The Complete Motown Singles, Volume 1: 1959–1961. Carole King versionBackgroundIn 1971, Carole King, who composed the music of the song, recorded a version of "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" for her second studio album Tapestry, with Joni Mitchell and James Taylor performing background vocals on separate audio channels.[18] King's version of the song was taken at a considerably slower tempo. David Hepworth analyzed it as "less like the pleas for gentleness on the part of a trembling virgin and more like a mature woman requiring parity in a relationship."[18] It gained considerable album-oriented rock airplay due to the large-scale commercial success of the album. The song became a feature of King's live shows. Taylor recreated his part during their joint arena-based Troubadour Reunion Tour of 2010. In the 2013 Broadway musical Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, the song is featured in part four times: once during its writing, once during King recording a demo of it, then with the Shirelles performing it, and then King singing and playing it later during an especially bad time in her marriage with Goffin. No other song is featured as frequently in the musical. Personnel
Notable cover versions
See alsoReferences
External links
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