I grew up listening to The Ronettes, The Shirelles, The Supremes, and The Vandellas, and many more Girl Groups in the early 1960s. I loved songs like “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” “Then He Kissed Me,” and “Be My Baby” and celebrated when those songs made it to Number One on the BILLBOARD charts.
As Laura Flam and Emily Sieu Liebowitz describe this musical era, the story of the Girl Group Sound was also a tale of race and power. The women singers, most of whom were Black and many of whom were only teenagers when their first songs were recorded, were cultivated, packaged, and marketed by a music industry that eventually cut them out of the lion’s share of their profits.
Although many of the Girl Groups would tour with Civil Rights leaders and performed at some of the earliest desegregated concerts, many of the singers found themselves cast aside by the record companies as trends shifted in favor of the largely white British Invasion bands of the mid to late ’60s.
While over Time the voices of the Girl Group Sound have become essential to the American musical canon, many of the singers remain all but anonymous to most listeners. Weaving together over 300 hours of interviews across more than 90 singers and music industry insiders, But Will You Love Me Tomorrow: An Oral History of the ’60s Girl Groups gives voice to the many women of the era who have long been consigned to silence.
But Will You Love Me Tomorrow captures a time when young girls found a brief moment in music history when artistic success was possible. The tales of their struggles and of the inequity faced by these women at that time make a compelling story. Do you have a favorite Girl Groups? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION — xi
The beginnings of the girl group sound: the 1950s — 1
The sound on the street: 1960-1963 –73
Hitsville USA, 1960-1963 — 137
Topping the charts: 1963-1964 — 175
Motown becomes the sound of young America: 1964-1966 — 235
The end of an era: 1965-1970 — 261
Motown outgrows Detroit: 1967-present — 303
Coming back together and saying goodbye: 1970-present — 353
Acknowledgements — 415
Bibliography — 417
Index — 423
Wonderful days!
Especially for a German teenager who was glued to his new FM radio and AFN (American Forces Network) – music totally different from the German Schlager Kitsch.
My favourite is still Da Doo Run Run – but of course I liked all of the somgs from the late 50s on.
Probably the Supremes—with or without Diana Ross. This book looks interesting—onto the ever-expanding Mount TBR it goes.
Deb, the interview format in this book can be a bit taxing.
Every so often I would browse YouTube and find myself falling down the infinite rabbit hole of 60’s Girl Groups and be lost for the entire day. Great stuff!
Jerry, I love dozens of Girl Group CDs and listen to them often! Great stuff, indeed!
My favorites would run to the Vandellas, the Jaynettes, and such arguable latter-day includable choruses as the Pointer Sisters and Labelle…though it might be a stretch to tag the latter as Girls.
Or the former!
Jaynetts, that was…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PePXnXxRGE
That was the first rock music I listened to and I bet I could sing most of them. In fact, last March, Jeff, Jackie and I did driving from the west coast of FL to the east coast.
Patti, like you, I know the words to the Girl Group hits!
I did love the girl groups but never bought any of their records. Go figure.
Beth, I might be able to fix that situation…
Hey, Darlene Love had to clean houses for a living before her recent comeback.
We have three Girl Groups CDs. The first to me was Arlene Smith & the Chantels in the ’50s, but my first was The Shirelles. So many others – The Chiffons, Martha & the Vandellas, The Crystals (sometimes really the Blossoms, with Darlene Love), The ShangriLas, the Ronettes, The Marvelettes (here’s a sure fire trivia winner: What was the first #1 Motown song? “Please Mr. Postman”), The Supremes, The Cookies (lead singer Earl-Jean McCrea had a child with Gerry Goffin, while both were married to others, him to Carole King. The group did the classic “Don’t Say Nothing Bad About My Baby” and “Chains,” latercovered by The Beatles.)
It would be impossible for me to pick one favorite. I will definitely read this one.
Jeff, those Girl Groups produced a lot of great music…but the got ripped of Big Time!
Here are can’t miss collections from Rhino Records (thpough a few songs are individuals rather than groups):
The Best of the Girl Groups Volume 1:
Leader of the Pack – The ShangriLas
He’s So Fine – The Chiffons
Chapel of Love – The Dixie Cups
The Boy From New York City – The Ad Libs
The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss) – Betty Everett
Sally, Go Round the Roses – The Jaynetts
Will You Love Me Tomorrow – The Shirelles
Remember (Walkin’ in the Sand ) – The ShangriLas
One Fine Day – The Chiffons
Party Lights – Claudine Clark
People Say – The Dixie Cups
He’s Got the Power – The Exciters
I Can’t Stay Mad at You – Skeeter Davis
I Wanna Love Him So Bad – The Jelly Beans (written by Jeff Barry & Elllie Greenwich)
Dream Baby – Cher (not the Roy Orbison song)
Baby It’s You – The Shirelles
Give Him a Great Big Kiss – The ShangriLas
I Can’t Let Go – Evie Sands (covered by The Hollies, and later Linda Ronstadt)
The Best of The Girl Groups Volume 2:
My Boyfriend’s Back – Th Angels
Sweet talkin’ Guy – The Chiffons
The Loco-Mpotion – Little Eva
A Lover’s Concerto – The Toys
The Kind of Boy You Can’t Forget – The Raindrops (actually Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich)
You Don’t Know – Ellie Greenwich
Chains – The Cookies
Popsicles and Incicles – The Murmaids (written by David Gates)
The One You Can’t Have – The Honeys
Tell Him – The Exciters
Don’t Say Nothin’ Bad (About My Baby) – The Cookies
I Met Him on a Sunday – The Shirelles
Wonderful Summer – Robin Ward
It Might as Well Rain Until September – Carole King
You Don’t Have to Be a Baby to Cry – The Caravelles
Easier Said Than Done – The Essex
I Love How You Love Me – The Paris Sisters
Johnny Get Angry – Joanie Sommers
Of course, several were written by Carole King & Gerry Goffiin – Will You Love Me Tomorrow, both Cookies songs, Onw Fine Day, I Can’t Stay Mad at You, The Loco-Motion
And the Exciters were a gender-mixed chorus…I think before checking the Essex were as well. A la the Mamas and the Papas. And thanks for the reminder of he Marvelettes!
Yup, in re the Essex: https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/the-essex-1962-1965/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KzRY2ando4 for the Exciters’ Original recording of “Doo Wah Diddy”….
Jeff, I love that Rhino THE BEST OF THE GIRL GROUPS CD!
Excellent music! How Cher and Skeeter Davis qualify as girl groups is beyond me but the rest are fine, except for the Jaynettes. I never liked Sally Go Round the Roses! I remember being at Bruce Taylor’s San Francisco row house where he had an old, ornate juke box! One of the records on it was Maybe, by the Chantels! Listening to it that way was a magic moment!
Bob, Cher and Skeeter sang backup to a number of singers and groups. Love that story about Bruce Taylor’s juke box!