But Will You Love Me Tomorrow?: An Oral History of the '60s Girl Groups

by Laura Flam, Emily Sieu Liebowitz

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

The 1960s girl group era has never been as comprehensively explored as it is in But Will You Love Me Tomorrow. This is a fascinating history, woven with first-hand accounts that tie together race, culture, gender and the power of a sound.

Featuring over 300 hours of new interviews with 100+ subjects, an oral history of the girl groups (such as The Ronettes, The Shirelles, The Supremes, and The Vandellas) that redefined the early 1960s

 


 The girl group sound, made famous and unforgettable by acts like The Ronettes, The Shirelles, The Supremes, and The Vandellas, took over the airwaves by capturing the mixture of innocence and rebellion emblematic of America in the 1960s. 

As songs like "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," "Then He Kissed Me," and "Be My Baby" rose to the top of the charts, girl groups cornered the burgeoning post-war market of teenage rock and roll fans, indelibly shaping the trajectory of pop music in the process. While the songs are essential to the American canon, many of the artists remain all but anonymous to most listeners. 

With more than 100 subjects that made the music, from the singers to the songwriters, to their agents, managers, and sound engineers—and even to the present-day celebrities inspired by their lasting influence–But Will You Love Me Tomorrow: An Oral History of 60s Girl Groups tells a national coming-of-age story that gives particular insight into the experiences of the female singers and songwriters who created the movement. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780306829772
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	09/05/2023
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	55,919
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Emily Sieu Liebowitz is the author of National Park (2018), longlisted for The Believer Book Award, and she is the recipient of fellowships from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Vermont Studio Center, and Wendy’s Subway. Her writing can be found in The Believer, The Brooklyn Rail, Poets & Writers, Poetry Magazine, and other publications. Liebowitz splits her time between Brooklyn, NY and her hometown of Hayward, CA.

Laura Flam is a lifelong New-Yorker, writer, interior designer and principal of the firm Reunion Goods & Services. She's based in New York City.
 

Editorial Reviews

Wall Street Journal, "Best Books of October"

People magazine, "Pick of the Week," "Must-Read Books for Fall (2023)"

Yahoo Entertainment, "The It List"

AARP's Senior Planet, "Book Club Pick"

Oakland Press, "15 Most Exciting Music Releases of the Fall"

“An utterly charming assembly of memories given tongue by the singers, songwriters, producers, and engineers who brought us the girl-group sound that still feels as fresh as the moment these records were cut.”—Wall Street Journal

“A treasure trove for music fans, offering a window into life beyond the spotlight.”—Washington Post

“Culled from more than 100 interviews, But Will You Love Me Tomorrow? gives these long-neglected artists their proper recognition — whether it’s celebrating their role in desegregating pop music by playing shows in front of integrated audiences or underscoring their bravery for touring in the Jim Crow South.”—People

“But Will You Love Me Tomorrow? weaves together an inside look at how the “Be My Baby” trio — not to mention the Shirelles, the Supremes, the Vandellas, and more — got their start and changed music history, as told by those who witnessed it all firsthand.”—Vulture (New York magazine)

“For more than a decade, all-female vocal groups created one pop hit after another... But Will You Love Me Tomorrow? gives them the respect they deserve and rarely received, even at their peak.”
 —New York Daily News

“Weighty and impressive.” —Houston Press

“I will never again hear [“Please, Mr. Postman”] without thinking of [songwriter Georgia Dobbin’s] teenage agony. But Will You Love Me Tomorrow? deepens one’s enjoyment of all such hits.”—Air Mail

“Flam and Leibowitz collect more than 100 interviews with singers, songwriters, managers, sound engineers, producers, and contemporary celebrities to provide a lively history of the making of some unforgettable songs and how the music of these groups shaped soul, rock, and popular music.”—No Depression

"A monumental and revealing book that paints a rich portrait of the brief-but-hugely influential girl group world of the late ’50s and 1960s. While the usual suspects—Phil Spector, Goffin & King, Leiber & Stoller—are given their due, the authors are more concerned with centering the experiences of the women who actually made up these groups. Their stories are fascinating and inspiring, offering an alternate history of their times, when their music provided the soundtrack to a tumultuous decade."—Aquarium Drunkard

"Engaging, enlightening and empowering."

—Right On! Digital

“[This book] has something for everyone and is both entertaining and essential reading."—Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

"[A] treasure trove of illuminating accounts directly from the girl-group members themselves."—New Jersey Monthly

"Loud, long-overdue applause for some of pop music’s most talented singers... This oral history, based on more than 100 interviews, offers a well-selected, lively collection of interviews, and the authors allow the primary players to tell their own stories. Readers will form a fellowship with each of these young women as they rehash their compelling careers... A fast-paced, welcome celebration of groups that have been 'at risk of erasure from the canon of pop music history.'"—Kirkus

"A noble effort that will likely appeal to music scholars and the genre's fans."—Library Journal

“Flam and Liebowitz's lively, entertaining oral history makes good use of dozens of interviews, most conducted recently but some from decades ago, to argue that 'girl groups' from the fifties and after have played an overlooked but key role in the evolution of pop music… They neatly weave together different voices to provide perspective on compelling subjects in music history such as the dissolution of the Supremes and producer Phil Spector’s influence. Anyone who ever swayed to 'Chapel of Love,' grooved to 'Dancing in the Street,' or mourned for the 'Leader of the Pack' will be enchanted by this volume’s clear-eyed nostalgia.”—Booklist

From the Publisher

★ 08/01/2023

Fans of 1960s girl groups most likely remember the Supremes, the Ronettes, and the Shirelles, but many other groups have seemingly been forgotten. Songs such as "He's a Rebel" and "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" were huge hits that helped bands such as the Crystals and the Shirelles to corner the market during the 1960s. Sadly, many of the artists who comprised those groups were young women who were considered interchangeable and fleeting investments. Writer/interior designer Flam and award-winning poet Liebowitz (National Park) believe the women of these singing groups, early influencers of the music and culture of today, deserve to be acknowledged. To create this fascinating and epic-sized oral history, the authors interviewed more than 100 people who sang, wrote, created, and popularized the genre, often left out of musical history. This book is also filled with reminiscences about the Brill Building, Phil Spector, Motown, and the early days of pop. VERDICT A noble effort that will likely appeal to music scholars and the genre's fans.—Rosellen "Rosy" Brewer

Library Journal

★ 2023-06-20
Loud, long-overdue applause for some of pop music’s most talented singers.

In this collaboration, Flam, a New York City–based writer and interior designer, and Liebowitz, author of the poetry collection National Park, unfold an extensive oral history of the many dynamic girl groups from roughly 1950 to 1970. These groups, usually comprised of young Black women, represent a powerful era of popular music that often goes unrecognized. Many readers may recognize such individuals as Darlene Love or Shirley Alston Reeves or recall groups singing backup for Sam Cooke, but the importance of these women to modern music has been downplayed. Groups like the Chantels, the Blossoms, the Shirelles, the Vandelles, and more performed an array of memorable songs. The authors state their purpose of applauding these young women who were often seen as “fleeting investments by a music industry that gave them remarkably shortened careers.” Many of them experienced extreme abusive control from management as well as racism while touring. This oral history, based on more than 100 interviews, offers a well-selected, lively collection of interviews, and the authors allow the primary players to tell their own stories. Readers will form a fellowship with each of these young women as they rehash their compelling careers. Famous songwriters and performers such as Cher, Carole King, and Whoopi Goldberg chime in to either build on a particular story or to explain the relevance of a specific musician or group. Goldberg sums it up well: “I think that particular time with The Supremes, The Marvelettes, and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, that was a really moving and shifting time in the country as well as in neighborhoods and realizing that there was no door that could keep you out if you were willing to knock the door open.”

A fast-paced, welcome celebration of groups that have been “at risk of erasure from the canon of pop music history.

Kirkus Reviews