Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow (1960)

"Will You Love Me Tomorrow" (sometimes titled "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow") 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 a girl group to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It has since been recorded by many other artists, including King on her 1971 album Tapestry.

The Shirelles' version

Background

In 1960, the American girl group the Shirelles released the first version of the song as Scepter single 1211, with "Boys" on the B-side, and 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.

Release and legacy

In 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. It reached No. 3 in New Zealand.

The song was ranked at No. 126 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Billboard named the song No. 3 on its list of the "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time" in 2017.

In 1999, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Answer songs

Bertell Dache recorded an answer song entitled "Not Just Tomorrow, But Always" in 1960, which was arranged by Carole King.

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 Eventually, it was withdrawn and replaced by the song "Angel" with the same B-side "A Love That Can Never Be". The Satintones' versions are included in the box set The Complete Motown Singles, Volume 1: 1959–1961.

Carole King version

Background

In 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. 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." 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

• Carole King – piano, vocals
• Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar – acoustic guitar
• Russ Kunkel – drums
• Charles "Charlie" Larkey – bass guitar
• Joni Mitchell – background vocals
• James Taylor – acoustic guitar, backing vocals

Notable cover versions

New Zealand band Larry's Rebels included a garage rock cover version on their 1967 debut album A Study in Black.

The Four Seasons included a cover on their compilation album Edizione D'Oro: The 4 Seasons Gold Edition – 29 Gold Hits and hit number 15 in Cash Box and number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the song in 1968.

Linda Ronstadt released a version on her 1970 album Silk Purse. It reached number 98 in Cash Box and peaked at number 111 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.

Roberta Flack's version from her album Quiet Fire hit number 76 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972 as "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow".

Smokey Robinson recorded a version for his 1973 album Smokey. This cover was later sampled on the Kanye West song "Devil in a New Dress" from his 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Melanie included a version on her album Madrugada which reached number 82 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973 and reached the top 40 in the United Kingdom in 1974.

Dana Valery recorded a dance version that hit number 95 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976.

The Michael Stanley Band included a version for their 1977 live album Stage Pass, recorded at Cleveland's Agora Ballroom.

Dave Mason recorded the song in 1978 for his album Mariposa de Oro, and had a number 39 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with his remake. It was his final top 40 hit on that chart.