"Maybe" is a song with words and music originally credited to End Records owner

George Goldner George Goldner (February 9, 1918 – April 15, 1970) was an American record label owner, record producer and promoter who played an important role in establishing the popularity of rock and roll in the 1950s, by recording and promoting many ...

and "Casey". The co-writing credit was later transferred to Richard Barrett. Arlene Smith, lead singer of

the Chantels ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

, is believed to be an uncredited co-writer. The song was first recorded by the Chantels on October 16, 1957, in a

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

style with Barrett playing piano, and released in December 1957. It climbed the charts in January 1958, reaching No. 15 in the ''

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 adverti ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

and No. 2 in the ''Billboard'' R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent ...

. It was subsequently described as "arguably, the first true glimmering of the

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of wh ...

sound". ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' ranked it No. 199 on its list of

The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...

. It was also included in

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in '' Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981). ''Billboard'' named the song No. 60 on its list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.

References

External links

Chantels – History of Rock
1957 songs 1958 singles 1964 singles 1970 singles The Chantels songs The Shangri-Las songs Songs written by Richie Barrett Songs written by George Goldner End Records singles Red Bird Records singles Song recordings with Wall of Sound arrangements {{1950s-pop-song-stub