Skeeter Davis: “I Can’t Stay Mad at You” (1963)
A mostly forgotten trinket from the pop music moment just before the Beatles.
If we rightly think of the Mick Jaggers and Paul McCartneys as rock and roll royalty, what ought we say about Carole King, who was crafting perfect pop songs like this one several years before even they came onto the scene?
King’s often-covered “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”, as recorded by the Shirelles, became pop’s first number one hit by a girl group–in 1960. If you want a short clinic on great pop songwriting just listen to any version of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and King’s own recording of “It’s Too Late” (with its jazzy sax solo). It just doesn’t get any better than that.
Granted, the sentiments of “I Can’t Stay Mad at You” are passe, but it’s charm is undying, like the innocence of a love story in an old black and white movie.
Every Moment Has A Song 
Jun 25, 2013 @ 07:39:22
So, let me get this straight… Carole King wrote this song? Not that I’m surprised that she could write a great song, because I would hardly call this her best, but it just shows that she was even more influential than I knew.
Great song, by the way. Very cute!
Jun 25, 2013 @ 07:51:33
Carole King wrote “The Loco-motion” too, and lots of other hits before making a name as a solo artist.