"I'll Be Doggone" is a 1965 song recorded by the American soul singer Marvin Gaye and released on the Tamla label. The song talks about how a man tells his woman that he'll be "doggone" about simple things but if she did him wrong that he'd be "long gone". The song was written by Miracles members Smokey Robinson, Pete Moore and Marv Tarplin, initially for The Temptations, who rejected the song.[1]

"I'll Be Doggone"
Single by Marvin Gaye
from the album Moods of Marvin Gaye
B-side"Forever"
ReleasedFebruary 26, 1965
RecordedJanuary 21, 23 & 29, 1965
StudioHitsville, USA, Detroit
GenreSoul
Length2:50
LabelTamla
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)William "Smokey" Robinson
Marvin Gaye singles chronology
"How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)"
(1964)
"I'll Be Doggone"
(1965)
"Pretty Little Baby"
(1965)

It became his first million-selling record and his first number-one single on the R&B chart, staying there for two weeks, and was the first song Gaye recorded with Smokey Robinson as one of the songwriters of the record. The song was co-written by Robinson's fellow Miracles members Pete Moore and Marv Tarplin. The Miracles also sang background on this recording, along with Motown's long-standing female back-up group, The Andantes, and Miracle Marv Tarplin played lead guitar. "I'll Be Doggone" gave Marvin his third top-ten pop hit, where it peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100, with that number matched by his follow-up record, "Ain't That Peculiar".[2] Billboard described "I'll Be Doggone" as a "powerful follow-up to 'How Sweet It Is,'" stating that "Gaye's wailing vocal performance is pitted against a driving dance beat backing."[3] Cash Box described it as "a rhythmic, chorus-backed bluesy tearjerker with a contagious repeating riff."[4] Record World said it is "up tempo and bright and bound to go far on charts."[5]

The song has since gone and been recorded by several other artists, including Paul Revere & the Raiders, Albert King and Solomon Burke. However, the most notable renditions of "I'll Be Doggone" were recorded by Swedish rock band Tages who managed to reach the Swedish top-10 with it in 1966 and Penny DeHaven who charted on the Billboard Country Chart with it in 1973.

Personnel

edit

Chart performance

edit

Tages version

edit
"I'll Be Doggone"
 
Single by Tages
B-side"Hitch Hike"
ReleasedMay 12, 1966[11]
RecordedMay 5, 1966[12]
StudioEuropafilm Studios, Stockholm
Genre
Length2:12
LabelPlatina
Songwriter(s)
  • Robinson
  • Moore
  • Tarplin
Producer(s)Anders Henriksson
Tages singles chronology
"So Many Girls"
(1966)
"I'll Be Doggone"
(1966)
"In My Dreams"
(1966)

Swedish rock band Tages recorded "I'll Be Doggone" as their seventh single in 1966.[13] The song had previously been in their setlist, and was their second cover song released as a single, after "Bloodhound" in November 1965.[14][15] The band recorded the track on May 5, 1966, at Europafilm Studios in the suburbs of Stockholm, Sweden with Anders Henriksson producing the record. The B-Side "Hitch Hike" was recorded in the same session, that song being co-written by Marvin Gaye. "I'll Be Doggone" is notable because it was one of Tages first singles to feature bassist Göran Lagerberg on lead vocals, in contrast with regular vocalist Tommy Blom. It was the group's antepenultimate rhythm and blues single (before "Dancing in the Street"[16] and "Doctor Feel-Good",[17] both in 1967 and 1968 respectively) and one of their last cover songs; almost all material after "I'll Be Doggone" are original compositions.[18]

Platina Records released "I'll Be Doggone" on May 12, 1966, a week after it was recorded.[11] Initial copies of the single had the title misprinted as "I'll Be Dog On", a mistake which was corrected the following day.[11] However, multiple copies of the misprinted label managed to reach the market.[11] "I'll Be Doggone" entered Kvällstoppen, the Swedish sales chart on June 7, 1966, at a position of number 15.[19] The following week, it reached number 13.[19] On June 21, 1966, it had reached its peak at number 10.[19] The following week, it had once again ascended to number 13, before reaching number 17 the week after.[19] "I'll Be Doggone" was last seen on the chart on July 7, 1966, at a position of number 17.[19] In total, it spent 6 weeks on the chart, of which one was in the top-10.[19] It fared better on the radio-chart Tio i Topp, where it stayed for 1 week, peaking at number 7.[20] Although this was an apparent hit single, it was a commercial failure for the band, as all their previous singles (with the exception of "The One For You") had reached the top-5 on Kvällstoppen.[21]

"I'll Be Doggone" did not appear on Tages 2 which was released only three months after single. The B-Side was not released on that album either. It got its first album release on the August 1967 compilation album The Best of Tages.[22][23] "Hitch Hike" was first released on an album on May 28, 1968, when it was featured on the compilation album Forget Him.[24][25] Both songs were later featured on the 1983 compilation album Tages – 1964–1968.[26][27] and on Don't Turn Your Back, an album which compiles the Tages 1964–1966 recordings in 1994.[28]

Personnel

edit

Chart performance

edit
Chart (1966) Peak

position

Sweden (Kvällstoppen)[29] 10
Sweden (Tio i Topp)[30] 7

Cover versions

edit

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Riley, Tim (2014-07-29). Fever: How Rock 'n' Roll Transformed Gender in America. St. Martin's Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-4668-7656-9.
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 225.
  3. ^ "Singles Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. March 13, 1965. p. 75. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  4. ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. March 20, 1965. p. 10. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  5. ^ "Singles Reviews" (PDF). Record World. March 13, 1965. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  6. ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1965-05-15). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  7. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 225.
  8. ^ Hoffmann, Frank W.; Hoffmann, Lee Ann (1983). The Cash Box Singles Charts, 1950-1981. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-1595-7.
  9. ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1965/Top 100 Songs of 1965". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  10. ^ "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 25, 1965". Archived from the original on 1 June 2015. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  11. ^ a b c d "Tages - I'll Be Dog On". www.svenskpophistoria.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  12. ^ "Tages - I'll Be Doggone". www.svenskpophistoria.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  13. ^ "Tages - Discography". www.svenskpophistoria.se. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  14. ^ "Tages - Bloodhound / Whatcha Gonna Do About It". Discogs. 19 November 1965. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  15. ^ "Tages - Bloodhound". www.svenskpophistoria.se. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  16. ^ "Tages - Dancing in the Street". www.svenskpophistoria.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  17. ^ "Tages - Doctor Feel-Good". www.svenskpophistoria.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  18. ^ Larkin, Colin (1998). The encyclopedia of popular music. Muze UK. ISBN 9781561592371.
  19. ^ a b c d e f "I'll Be Doggone av Tages". NostalgiListan (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  20. ^ "Tages - Tio i Topp". www.svenskpophistoria.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  21. ^ "Tages". NostalgiListan (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  22. ^ "Tages - The Best of Tages". www.svenskpophistoria.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  23. ^ "Tages - The Best Of Tages". Discogs. August 1967. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  24. ^ "Tages - Forget Him". www.svenskpophistoria.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  25. ^ "Tages - Forget Him". Discogs. 28 May 1968. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  26. ^ "Tages - 1964-1968". www.svenskpophistoria.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  27. ^ "Tages - 1964-68!". Discogs. 1992. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  28. ^ "Tages - Don't Turn Your Back". Discogs. 1994. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  29. ^ Hallberg, Eric. (1993). Eric Hallberg presenterar Kvällstoppen i P 3 : Sveriges radios topplista över veckans 20 mest sålda skivor 10. 7. 1962-19. 8. 1975. Värmdö: Drift Musik. ISBN 91-630-2140-4. OCLC 165178200.
  30. ^ Hallberg, Eric, 1949- (1998). Eric Hallberg, Ulf Henningsson presenterar Tio i topp med de utslagna på försök 1961-74. Henningsson, Ulf, 1965-, Kristianstads boktr.) (1. uppl ed.). Stockholm: Premium. ISBN 91-972712-5-X. OCLC 186200204.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  31. ^ Oermann, Robert K. (February 25, 2014). "[Updated] Lifenotes: Penny DeHaven Passes". MusicRow. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
  32. ^ "AllMusic Review". allmusic. Retrieved 1 February 2017.