The Shirelles all-girl band took the early 60s by storm. They had classic vocals that endeared many fans to them. However, some critics argued that their ‘school’ vocals did not do justice to their sexually-themed songs – a fact that may have led to the slow exit of the band in the late 60s.
Before their gradual demise, The Shirelles produced a number of hit records, with two of their singles commanding the top spot in the charts. The Shirelles-Dixon combination was one made in heaven and the exit of the latter played a big part in the gradual demise of the band.
This is undeniably the biggest hit that The Shirelles ever released (You can also check out other tracks by The Shirelles). The song was written by Carol King and Gerry Goffin in 1961. Many people in the early 60s got to know The Shirelles better through this song than any other single that they had released before.
The writers of the song, Carol King and Gerry Goffin, were notable music writers who developed a lot of pieces for Don Kirshner, head of the Aldon Music group. The two found a note from Don Kirshner that asked them to write a song for The Shirelles and have it delivered the next day. They had to work overnight in order to come up with the song. The result was a perfect song that was touted as having all its lyrics hitting perfect melody – they named it Tomorrow.
They had to work overnight in order to come up with the song…
When Dixon received the song, he was overly excited about it. However, the girls were not. They felt that Tomorrow appealed to white audiences alone and did not cut across all divides of race. For instance, they felt it was too country for them. Upon further persuasion from Dixon and Greenberg, the girls finally decided to record the song. However, the title was changed from Tomorrow to Will You Love Me Tomorrow.
When Dixon received the song, he was overly excited about it…
If there was a song that The Shirelles did not expect to be a hit, then it was Will You Love Me Tomorrow. They felt that it only appealed to white audiences and would suffer the same fate of some of their previous singles. However, the song became a huge, phenomenal success overnight. Their pitch-perfect vocals went hand-in-hand with the lyrics and the instrumentals, very advanced for the period – they seemed almost futuristic at the time. Dixon did everything in his power to produce a perfect song that was executed in a magical way.
The single went on to reach number one on the music charts and propelled other songs by The Shirelles to fame as well. It also made The Shirelles the first African-American girl band and second all-girl band to have a number one single.
Dixon did everything in his power to produce a perfect song that was executed in a magical way.