RIP, Gerry Goffin

Yesterday, the music world lost one of its great songwriters, not just of the Brill Building era (although he certainly qualifies in that particular category) but of all time. Gerry Goffin was 75, but over the course of three-quarters of a century, he collaborated with numerous writers – among them Barry Goldberg, Barry Mann, Michael Masser, Russ Titelman, and, of course, Carole King, to whom he was married from 1959 to 1968 – and composed more hit singles than most people even realize.

Born on February 11, 1939, in Brooklyn, New York, Goffin began his songwriting career in earnest after marrying King, with the success of their composition “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” providing them with a foothold in the music industry which led to further success with such songs as “Take Good Care of My Baby,” “Some Kind of Wonderful,” “The Loco-Motion,” “One Fine Day,” “Up on the Roof,” “I’m Into Something Good,” and a number of songs for the Monkees, including “Pleasant Valley Sunday” and “Porpoise Song.” Some of Goffin’s hits with other writers included “Who Put the Bomp (in the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)” with Mann and, with Masser, “Theme from Mahogany,” “Saving All My Love for You,” “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love,” and “Miss You Like Crazy.”

To celebrate Goffin’s career, we’ve put together a playlist featuring some of the aforementioned songs, along with a few others you may not recall. All told, it still makes for a lot of good listening, and it’ll serve to help you realize just what a treasure we’ve lost.