What was Gerry Goffin and Carole King’s first hit as a songwriting duo?
For many reasons, the partnership between Gerry Goffin and Carole King was a match made in heaven.
The premise was clear. When they started creating music, it was to share words and ideas that many were feeling but unable to put into words. When they first met at college, things clicked pretty quickly, with King often writing music for Goffin’s lyrics. And although it worked, they likely didn’t know they’d end up becoming one of the most successful songwriting partnerships of the entire 1960s.
What they also likely didn’t realise was that they’d also inspired a surge of new songwriters. Stevie Nicks, for instance, used Goffin and King as her north star, using their craft to learn how to use her voice and create stories of her own. As she once said, “I started singing when I was in fourth grade: R&B, all the Shirelles’ songs and the Supremes and the Shangri-Las.”
She added, “All those amazing songs Carole King and Gerry Goffin wrote. That was my diving board for singing as a little girl. My grandfather was a country singer, but I said, ‘No, I’m full-on Top 40. I’m not country.’ I’m dancing to all this crazy R&B music, singing, “Sugar pie, honey bunch,” and my parents are asking, ‘Where did she come from? She’s an alien!’”
She also said that aspiring to be as good as Goffin and King is a lifelong process, and one that many just like her have chased for decades. What made Goffin and King’s work especially impactful wasn’t just how emotionally accessible it felt, but how personal it felt, too, for anybody who had ever struggled to put their experiences with love and loss into words.
What was Gerry Goffin and Carole King’s first hit?
Their first hit, ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’, is a prime example of this, tackling the paranoia of giving yourself over to someone you trust while not knowing if things will change come morning. King’s flawless vocal delivery also enhances this feeling of emotional vulnerability, tapping into a theme that many have felt going into a new relationship.
As she addresses in the lyrics, “Is this a lasting treasure / Or just a moment’s pleasure? / Can I believe the magic of your sighs? / Will you still love me tomorrow?”
Interestingly, the subject matter meant that some radio stations were initially reluctant to play it, but it clearly wasn’t enough to hinder its popularity. And even if it had impacted its success, it wouldn’t have taken away from how perfect its place on Tapestry was, rounding off an emotionally expressive masterpiece of a record with a solemn rumination on relationship anxiety.
When it came to putting the record together, adding the track in was a no-brainer. As producer Lou Adler put it, “The only thing we reached back for, which was calculated in a way, which of the old Goffin and King songs that was hit should we put on this album? And, that’s how we came up with ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.’ I thought that song fit what the other songs were saying in Tapestry. A very personal lyric.”
