Gerry Goffin
Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the US No.1 hits “Will You Love Me Tomorrow“, “Take Good Care of My Baby“, “The Loco-Motion“, and “Go Away Little Girl“. It was later said of Goffin that his gift was “to find words that expressed what many young people were feeling but were unable to articulate.”[1] Goffin was born in New York City.[3] As a boy, he wrote lyrics in his head, as a game.[4] In his teen years, he worked for his grandfather, a Russian-born Jewish furrier.[5]
At college he met Carol Joan Klein, who had started writing songs under the name Carole King. Soon he and Carole King established themselves as a successful writing team. The partnership’s breakthrough hit was “Will You Love Me Tomorrow“, for which Goffin wrote the lyrics. The song was recorded by the Shirelles and went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1961. Goffin and King formed one of the most successful songwriting partnerships of the period, with hit songs including: “Take Good Care of My Baby” (a hit for Bobby Vee), “Halfway to Paradise” (Tony Orlando, Billy Fury), “The Loco-Motion” (Little Eva, and later Grand Funk Railroad and Kylie Minogue), “Go Away Little Girl” (Steve Lawrence, and later Donny Osmond), “Don’t Say Nothin’ Bad (About My Baby)” (the Cookies), “It Might as Well Rain Until September” (Carole King), “One Fine Day” (the Chiffons), “Up on the Roof” (the Drifters and later James Taylor), “I’m into Something Good” (Herman’s Hermits, but recorded first by Earl-Jean McCrea under the name Earl-Jean), “Don’t Bring Me Down” (the Animals), “Oh No Not My Baby” (Maxine Brown, and later Rod Stewart), “Goin’ Back” (Dusty Springfield, The Byrds), “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” (Aretha Franklin), and “Pleasant Valley Sunday” (the Monkees).
Carole King
Widely regarded as a highly significant and influential musician, King is the most successful female songwriter of the latter half of the 20th century in the US, having written or co-written 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100.[5] King also wrote 61 hits that charted in the UK,[6] making her the most successful female songwriter on the UK singles charts between 1962 and 2005.[7]
King’s major success began in the 1960s when she and her first husband, Gerry Goffin, wrote more than two dozen chart hits, many of which have become standards, for numerous artists. She has continued writing for other artists since then. King’s success as a performer in her own right did not come until the 1970s, when she sang her own songs, accompanying herself on the piano, in a series of albums and concerts. After experiencing commercial disappointment with her debut album Writer, King scored her breakthrough with the album Tapestry, which topped the U.S. album chart for 15 weeks in 1971 and remained on the charts for more than six years.[8]
Yes, Carole, we will love you tomorrow!
(from Wikipedia: Many significant American and international publishing companies, music agencies, and record labels were based in New York, and although these ventures were naturally spread across many locations, the Brill Building was regarded as probably the most prestigious address in New York for music business professionals.
By 1962, the Brill Building contained 165 music businesses.[5] A musician could find a publisher and printer, cut a demo, promote the record and cut a deal with radio promoters, all within this one building. The creative culture of the independent music companies in the Brill Building and the nearby 1650 Broadway came to define the influential “Brill Building Sound” and the style of popular songwriting and recording created by its writers and producers.
In the Brill Building practice, there were no more unpredictable or rebellious singers; in fact, a specific singer in most cases could be easily replaced with another. These songs were written to order by pros who could custom fit the music and lyrics to the targeted teen audience. In a number of important ways, the Brill Building approach was a return to the way business had been done in the years before rock and roll, since it returned power to the publishers and record labels and made the performing artists themselves much less central to the music’s production.)