(Gerry Goffin - Russ Titelman)
Australia
B-side on Columbia January 1966 by Beatles-influenced Adelaide band who had several hits around the country 1966-68 from a repertoire that included band originals (If She Finds Out, Young Girl, Cathy Come Home) as well as cover versions (Larry Williams’s Bad Boy, The Velvelettes’ Needle In A Haystack).
The A-side is You Got Soul (25 Sydney #29 Melbourne #25 Brisbane #8 Adelaide #14 Perth).
The Twilights relocated to Melbourne in 1965. After winning the national Hoadley’s Battle of the Sounds in July 1966 they recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London: see What’s Wrong With The Way I Live.
Sources, further reading: 1. Milesago’s detailed Twilights history adds a 1982 memoir by Twilights singer Glenn Shorrock and a personal appreciation by Paul Culnane. 2. The Twilights at Howlspace [archived]. 3. Ian McFarlane, The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock & Pop (1999), pp. 652-654.
(Gerry Goffin - Russ Titelman)
UK
Original version
#9 UK
Single on Parlophone January 1965.
Of the two writers, Gerry Goffin (1939–2014) is the better known, as songwriting partner with his wife Carole King.
Russ Titelman (b. 1944), a singer-guitarist-composer who was an early associate of Phil Spector, became known as a producer for the likes of Eric Clapton, Little Feat, George Harrison, and Brian Wilson. He also wrote a number of choice but often overlooked songs in the 60s, notably the sublime What Am I Gonna Do With You (Hey Baby), written with Gerry Goffin and recorded by The Inspirations, The Chiffons, Lesley Gore and Skeeter Davis.
See also Little Pattie – Little Things Like That, another Titelman co-composition.
Further reading: 1. Some Russ Titelman compositions are listed in a Spectropop post by Declan Meehan, for whom Titelman is one of the greatest unsung co-writers or writers… especially in the girl group genre. 2. Again at Spectropop, Mike Edwards also lists some of Titelman’s songs and co-writers. 3. Annotated playlist from a Spanish radio show dedicated to Titelman productions and compositions (at Flor de Pasion). 4. Timothy White interviews Russ Titelman (Billboard, 1996, reprinted at Spectropop.com
(Gerry Goffin - Russ Titelman)
USA
Later version
I’ll Be True To You is Yes I Will with a different title, taken from the lyrics: I’ll be true to you, yes I will.
This track on The Monkees’ first album The Monkees October 1966, was produced by Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart and Jack Keller
The song was selected by songwriter-producers Boyce and Hart when they were gathering material for The Monkees’ first recording sessions in preparation for the Monkees TV series that premiered in September 1966.
Media writer Tom Kemper notes that the song was inspired by the British Invasion, specifically the Beatles’ If I Fell from A Hard Day’s Night:
Boyce and Hart and their team of studio musicians treated it to a Beatles vibe with a steady beat, plucking and strumming the chords, layering a soft harmony under the lead vocals by Davy Jones.
Tom Kemper, The Monkees: Made in Hollywood (2023), p. 50
Pop Archives
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Website by Lyn Nuttall. © Lyn Nuttall 2004-2024. Chart positions courtesy of Gavin Ryan’s Australian Chart Books and Dean Scapolo’s Complete NZ Music Charts. Special thanks to Terry Stacey for information, corrections and suggestions. Thanks also to Tony Watson, Philippe Edouard, Dave Overett.., More…