"I'll Be Doggone" is a 1965 song recorded by American

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

singer

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

and released on the

Tamla Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

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

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...

Warren Moore A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Anglo ...

and

Marv Tarplin Marvin Tarplin (June 13, 1941 – September 30, 2011) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist for the Miracles from the 1950s through the early 1970s. He was one of the group's original members and co-wrote several of their bigges ...

, initially for

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

, who rejected the song. 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

as one of the songwriters of the record. The song was co-written by Robinson's fellow Miracles members Pete Moore and

. 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 "Ain't That Peculiar" is a 1965 song recorded by American soul musician Marvin Gaye for the Tamla (Motown) label. Background The single was produced by Smokey Robinson, and written by Robinson, and fellow Miracles members Bobby Rogers, Pete Moo ...

". ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' 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." ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' described it as "a rhythmic, chorus-backed bluesy tearjerker with a contagious repeating

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

." The song has since gone and been recorded by several other artists, including

Paul Revere & the Raiders Paul Revere & the Raiders (also known as Raiders) were an American rock band formed in Boise, Idaho, in 1958. They saw considerable U.S. mainstream success in the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s. The band was known for including Revolu ...

Albert King Albert Nelson (April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), known by his stage name Albert King, was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps b ...

and

Solomon Burke Solomon Vincent McDonald Burke (born James Solomon McDonald, March 21, 1936 or 1940 – October 10, 2010) was an American singer who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues as one of the founding fathers of soul music in the 1960s. He has been ...

. However, the most notable renditions of "I'll Be Doggone" were recorded by

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

rock band

Tages Tages was claimed as a founding prophet of Etruscan religion who is known from reports by Latin authors of the late Roman Republic and Roman Empire. He revealed a cosmic view of divinity and correct methods of ascertaining divine will concerni ...

who managed to reach the Swedish top-10 with it in 1966 and

Penny DeHaven Penny DeHaven (born Charlotte DeHaven; May 17, 1948 – February 23, 2014) was an American country and gospel music singer. At the beginning of her career, she recorded as Penny Starr. She was born in Winchester, Virginia, United States, she ...

who charted on the

Billboard Country Chart Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

with it in 1973

Personnel

*Lead vocals by

*Background vocals by

The Miracles The Miracles (also known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group that was the first successful recording act for Berry Gordy's Motown Records, and one of the most important and most influential groups ...

(

Claudette Rogers Robinson Claudette Annette Rogers Robinson ( Rogers; born June 20, 1938) is an American singer, best known as a member of the vocal group The Miracles from 1957 to 1972. Her brother Emerson "Sonny" Rogers was a founding member of the group, which befor ...

, Pete Moore,

Ronnie White Ronald Anthony White (April 5, 1939 – August 26, 1995), usually referred to as Ronnie White, was an American singer, best known as the co-founder of The Miracles and its only consistent original member. White was also known for bringing Stevi ...

, and

Bobby Rogers Robert Edward Rogers (February 19, 1940 – March 3, 2013) was an American musician and tenor singer, best known as a member of Motown vocal group the Miracles from 1956 until his death. He was inducted, in 2012, as a member of the Miracles to t ...

) &

The Andantes The Andantes were an American female session group for the Motown record label during the 1960s. Composed of Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps, the group sang background vocals on numerous Motown recordings, including songs by Mar ...

(Marlene Barrow, Jackie Hicks and Louvain Demps) *Guitar by

of The Miracles *Other instrumentation by

The Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Tages version

rock band

recorded "I'll Be Doggone" as their seventh single in 1966. The song had previously been in their setlist, and was their second cover song released as a single, after bloodhound in November 1965. The band recorded the track on May 5, 1966, at Europafilm Studios in the suburbs of

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

with Anders Henriksson producing the record. The B-Side "

Hitch Hike Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free. Nomads hav ...

" was recorded in the same session, that song being co-written by

. "I'll Be Doggone" is notable because it was one of Tages first singles to feature bassist

Göran Lagerberg Göran Bertil Lagerberg (; born 20 September 1947) is a Swedish musician and singer-songwriter, best known as the bass guitarist and co-lead vocalist in Swedish rock band Tages and later progressive rock act Kebnekajse. In the 1990s, he was a ...

on lead vocals, in contrast with regular vocalist

Tommy Blom Tommy Albert Blom (3 March 1947 – 25 May 2014) was a Swedish singer, songwriter and musician. He was a member of the band Tages in the 1960s. In the mid 1990s, he started hosting Vinyl 107. In 2008, he lost that job because "he was too old", but ...

. It was the group's antepenultimate

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

single (before "

Dancing in the Street "Dancing in the Street" is a song written by Marvin Gaye, William "Mickey" Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter. It first became popular in 1964 when recorded by Martha Reeves & The Vandellas whose version reached No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 ...

" and "Doctor Feel-Good", both in 1967 and 1968 respectively) and one of their last cover songs; almost all material after "I'll Be Doggone" are original compositions.

Platina Records Platina Records (Platina Skivor) was a Swedish independent record label founded in 1964 by businessman and songwriter Evert Jakobsson. The label saw great success throughout the mid-1960s with rock acts such as Tages, before turning to dansband m ...

released "I'll Be Doggone" on May 12, 1966, a week after it was recorded. Initial copies of the single had the title misprinted as "I'll Be Dog On", a mistake which was corrected the following day. However, multiple copies of the misprinted label managed to reach the market. "I'll Be Doggone" entered Kvällstoppen, the Swedish sales chart on June 7, 1966, at a position of number 15. The following week, it reached number 13. On June 21, 1966, it had reached its peak at number 10. The following week, it had once again ascended to number 13, before reaching number 17 the week after. "I'll Be Doggone" was last seen on the chart on July 7, 1966, at a position of number 17. In total, it spent 6 weeks on the chart, of which one was in the top-10. It fared better on the radio-chart ''

Tio i Topp ''Tio i Topp'' (English: ''Ten At The Top'') was a Swedish record chart and radio program broadcast by Sveriges Radio P3 between the years of 1961 and 1974. It was launched to combat pirate radio charts and was the first official Swedish record cha ...

'', where it stayed for 1 week, peaking at number 7. 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. "I'll Be Doggone" did not appear on ''

Tages 2 ''Tages 2'' (commonly referred to as ''LP 2'' or just ''2'') is the second studio album by the Swedish rock band Tages, released on 4 August 1966 by Platina Records. Often considered their artistic breakthrough, six out of twelve tracks are origin ...

'' 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''. "Hitch Hike" was first released on an album on May 28, 1968, when it was featured on the compilation album ''Forget Him.'' Both songs were later featured on the 1983 compilation album ''Tages – 1964–1968.'' and on ''Don't Turn Your Back'', an album which compiles the Tages 1964–1966 recordings in 1994.

Personnel

– lead vocals, bass guitar *

Danne Larsson Dan "Danne" Tage Bexér (né Larsson; born 11 January 1948) is a Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist and businessman who is best known for being the rhythm guitarist in the Swedish rock band Tages (band), Tages, and subsequently Blond, between 196 ...

– rhythm guitar *

Anders Töpel (Per-Inge) Anders Töpel (16 January 1947 – 10 April 2014) was a Swedish guitarist, best known for being the lead guitarist of the Swedish rock group Tages. Early life Töpel was born in Gothenburg, Sweden. He befriended Tommy Blom as a child ...

– lead vocals *

– tambourine, percussion * Freddie Skantze – drums

Chart performance

Cover versions

covered the song in their 1966 studio album ''

Just Like Us! ''Just Like Us!'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Paul Revere & the Raiders. Produced by Terry Melcher and released on January 3, 1966, by Columbia Records, it featured the U.S. hit single " Just Like Me". Unlike their later albu ...

''. *In 1973,

released a Country version on a single only (''Billboard'' country chart #67). *

covered the song on his 1972 album '' I'll Play the Blues for You''. *

Twiggy Dame Lesley Lawson (''née'' Hornby; born 19 September 1949) is an English model, actress, and singer, widely known by the nickname Twiggy. She was a British cultural icon and a prominent teenaged model during the swinging '60s in London. ...

covered it in her album ''Please Get My Name Right'' (1977). *

Bob Weir Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead ...

covered the song on his 1978 solo album ''

Heaven Help the Fool ''Heaven Help The Fool'' is the second solo album by Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir, released in 1978. It was recorded during time off from touring, in the summer of 1977, while Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart recovered from injur ...

''. He also performed it live with his band frequently during that time. *

covered the song on his 1969 album ''Proud Mary''.

References

{{authority control 1965 singles Marvin Gaye songs Songs written by Smokey Robinson Songs written by Warren "Pete" Moore 1973 singles Songs written by Marv Tarplin Song recordings produced by Smokey Robinson Tamla Records singles 1965 songs 1966 singles Tages (band) songs Platina Records singles

Personnel

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Tages version

Personnel

Chart performance

Cover versions

See also

References