Is This What I Get For Loving You?

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"Is This What I Get For Loving You?"
Single by The Ronettes
B-side "Oh, I Love You."
Released June 1965
Format 7" single
Genre Pop
Length2:40
Label Philles Records
Songwriter(s) Phil Spector
Gerry Goffin
Carole King
Producer(s) Phil Spector
The Ronettes singles chronology
"Born To Be Together"
(1965)		 "Is This What I Get For Loving You?"
(1965)		 "I Can Hear Music"
(1965)

"Born To Be Together"
(1965)		 "Is This What I Get For Loving You?"
(1965)		 "I Can Hear Music"
(1965)

"Is This What I Get For Loving You?" is a pop song written by Phil Spector, Carole King and Gerry Goffin [1] and recorded by 1960s girl group The Ronettes. The song featured Ronettes lead singer Ronnie Spector on lead vocals (credited as Veronica), and Ronettes Nedra Talley and Estelle Bennett on backing vocals. Released on Philles Records, reaching No. 75 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1965.

Phil Spector American record producer

Phillip Harvey Spector is an American record producer, musician, and songwriter who developed the Wall of Sound, a music production formula he described as a Wagnerian approach to rock and roll. Spector was dubbed the "First Tycoon of Teen" by writer Tom Wolfe and is acknowledged as one of the most influential figures in pop music history. After the 1970s, Spector mostly retired from public life. In 2009, he was convicted of second-degree murder and has remained incarcerated since.

Carole King American singer and songwriter

Carole King is an American singer-songwriter who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at the Brill Building and later as a solo artist. She is the most successful female songwriter of the latter half of the 20th century in the US, having written or co-written 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1955 and 1999. King also wrote 61 hits that charted in the UK, making her the most successful female songwriter on the UK singles charts between 1952 and 2005.

Gerald Goffin was an American lyricist. Writing initially with his wife Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the US No.1 hits "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", "Take Good Care of My Baby", "The Loco-Motion", and "Go Away Little Girl". It was later said of Goffin that his gift was "to find words that expressed what many young people were feeling but were unable to articulate."

Contents

Original recording

By 1965, the popularity of The Ronettes had seriously begun to decline. [2] 1964 had proven to be the group's most successful year, as they placed three songs "(The Best Part of) Breakin' Up" (US, #39), "Do I Love You?" (US #34), and "Walking in the Rain" (US #23) in the top forty on the Billboard charts. [3] Their first released single in 1965 was "Born To Be Together," which peaked only at number fifty-two. While achieving only a moderate success, "Born To Be Together" is notable for being the first single by The Ronettes to be issued as "The Ronettes featuring Veronica."

"Is This What I Get For Loving You?" was subsequently credited to "The Ronettes featuring Veronica" on the 45 label.

Moving in a different direction from the typical love songs usually recorded by the Ronettes, "Is This What I Get For Loving You?" was the only Ronettes single to revolve around the depression which sets in after the ending of a relationship. Their other singles, such as "Be My Baby", "Baby, I Love You", and "Do I Love You?", had featured a more up-beat, positive attitude towards love, while "Is This What I Get For Loving You?" moved The Ronettes into a different, more mature direction.

Be My Baby single by the Ronettes

"Be My Baby" is a song written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector. It was recorded on July 5, 1963 at Gold Star Studios Hollywood by American girl group the Ronettes and released as a single in August 1963 and later placed on their 1964 debut LP Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes featuring Veronica. Ronnie Spector is the only Ronette to appear on the single; her future husband Phil produced their elaborately layered recording in what is now considered a quintessential example of his Wall of Sound production formula.

Baby, I Love You 1963 single by The Ronettes

"Baby, I Love You" is a song originally recorded by The Ronettes in 1963 and released on their debut album Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes (1964). The song was written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector, and produced by Spector.

"Do I Love You?" is a 1939 popular song written by Cole Porter, for his musical DuBarry Was a Lady, where it was introduced by Ronald Graham and Ethel Merman. A different song by the same name - written by Phil Spector, Vini Poncia, and Peter Andreoli a.k.a. Peter Anders - was a hit record for the Ronettes in 1964.

Unfortunately, this attempt to bring a more mature image of the group proved to be unsuccessful. "Is This What I Get For Loving You?" became one of The Ronettes most unsuccessful singles, peaking only at a disappointing seventy-five. [4]

Chart position

Single Chart Position
Billboard 100 		Chart Position
Cashbox 100 		Year
"Is This What I Get For Loving You?" 75 92 1965

Marianne Faithfull version

"Is This What I Get For Loving You?"
Single by Marianne Faithfull
B-side "Tomorrow's Calling"
Released February 1967
Format 7" single
Genre Pop
Length3:50
Label Decca
Songwriter(s) Phil Spector
Gerry Goffin
Carole King
Producer(s) Andrew Loog Oldham
Marianne Faithfull singles chronology
"Counting"
(1966)		 "Is This What I Get For Loving You?"
(1967)		 "Something Better"
(1969)

"Counting"
(1966)		 "Is This What I Get For Loving You?"
(1967)		 "Something Better"
(1969)

In 1966, "Is This What I Get For Loving You?" was recorded by Marianne Faithfull with Andrew Loog Oldham producing: released February 1967, the single reached #43 in United Kingdom, #42 in Australia and #125 in US. It was her last charting single of the sixties.

Marianne Faithfull British singer, songwriter and actress

Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single "As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British Invasion in the United States.

Andrew Loog Oldham British record producer

Andrew Loog Oldham is an English record producer, talent manager, impresario and author. He was manager and producer of The Rolling Stones from 1963 to 1967, and was noted for his flamboyant style.

Other versions

The song has also been recorded by David Johansen on his 1982 concert album Live It Up and - in Dutch as "Ik was zo graag bij jou gebleven" - by Yasmine on her 1995 album Portfolio.

David Johansen American singer

David Roger Johansen is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the seminal proto-punk band the New York Dolls. He is also known for his work under the pseudonym Buster Poindexter.

<i>Live It Up</i> (David Johansen album) album from David Johansen

Live It Up, released in 1982, was the first live album released by David Johansen as a solo artist. Johansen did release a limited and promotional live album, The David Johansen Group Live in 1978, but the album was not officially released until 1993. Additionally, by the time Live It Up was released, various bootlegs of Johansen's first band, the New York Dolls, were being heavily traded. The impact of the New York Dolls, as both an influential band and as a live act, was becoming a legend in the late-1970s and early-1980s when Johansen was trying to start his solo career. However, his three previous solo albums were not selling as well as expected, therefore, Johansen turned to touring and selling his stage show.

Hilde Rens, better known by her stage name Yasmine, was a Belgian singer, presenter and television personality.

References

  1. ↑ BMI entry for song
  2. ↑ Spector, Ronnie (2004). Be my baby : how I survived mascara, miniskirts, and madness, or my life as a fabulous Ronette. New York: New American Library. p. 113. ISBN   0-451-41153-6.
  3. ↑ Spector, Ronnie (2004). Be my baby : how I survived mascara, miniskirts, and madness, or my life as a fabulous Ronette. New York: New American Library. pp. 330–334. ISBN   0-451-41153-6.
  4. ↑ Spector, Ronnie (2004). Be my baby : how I survived mascara, miniskirts, and madness, or my life as a fabulous Ronette. New York: New American Library. p. 333. ISBN   0-451-41153-6.
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