"I'm Gonna Love You Too" is a song written by Joe B. Mauldin, Niki Sullivan and

Norman Petty Norman Petty (May 25, 1927 – August 15, 1984) was an American musician, record producer, publisher, and radio station owner. He is considered to be one of the founding fathers of early rock & roll. With Vi Ann Petty—his wife and vocalist—he ...

, originally recorded by

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texa ...

in 1957 and released as a single in 1958. It was covered 20 years later by American new wave band Blondie and released as the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

in the U.S. from their

multi-platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

1978 album ''

Parallel Lines In geometry, parallel lines are coplanar infinite straight lines that do not intersect at any point. Parallel planes are planes in the same three-dimensional space that never meet. '' Parallel curves'' are curves that do not touch each oth ...

''.

Song history

There is controversy about the authorship of the song.

Jerry Allison Jerry Ivan Allison (August 31, 1939 – August 22, 2022) was an American musician. He was best known as the drummer for the Crickets and co-writer of their hits "That'll Be the Day" and "Peggy Sue", recorded with Buddy Holly. His only solo cha ...

has stated that Buddy Holly was the actual author of the song. William Ruhlmann noted:

The song is credited to Joe B. Mauldin, Holly's bass player; Norman Petty, his producer; and Nikki Sullivan, his sometime rhythm guitarist (who was not heard on the recording). There have long been questions about the songwriting credits assigned to the original songs Holly recorded, and Jerry Allison, his drummer, has gone on record stating that "I'm Gonna Love You Too" actually was written primarily by Holly, with Allison composing the bridge. Certainly the song sounds characteristic of the man who wrote "That'll Be the Day." It is another up-tempo number with an infectious tune and boastful lyrics that only thinly veil heartbreak.

Of the song's credited authors, two (Mauldin and Sullivan) were members of Holly's band

The Crickets The Crickets were an American rock and roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed by singer-songwriter Buddy Holly in January 1957. Their first hit record, "That'll Be the Day", released in May 1957, peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' Top ...

; the third, Petty, was Holly's first manager and also his recording engineer. Holly included the song on his self-titled second album. It was released as a single on

Coral Records Coral Records was a subsidiary of Decca Records that was formed in 1949. Coral released music by Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, the McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer. Coral issued jazz and swing music in the 1940s, but after Bob Thiele became head ...

, but failed to crack the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Holly continued to sell regionally in the upper midwest USA after his death and when rereleased, "I'm Gonna Love You Too" was a substantial 'regional' hit in Minneapolis and surrounding markets in 1964. When the song was recorded an actual cricket was in the studio. As the song is ending and fading out, you can hear the cricket chirp a couple of times.

Blondie version

The biggest hit from Blondie's previous album, ''

Plastic Letters ''Plastic Letters'' is the second studio album by American rock band Blondie, released in February 1978 by Chrysalis Records. An earlier version with a rearranged track listing was released in Japan in late December 1977. Overview This is the ...

'', was "

Denis Denis may refer to: People * Saint Denis of Paris, 3rd-century Christian martyr and first bishop of Paris * Denis the Areopagite, Biblical figure * Denis, Bishop of Győr (13th century), Hungarian prelate * Denis, son of Ampud (died 1236), bar ...

", a cover of Randy & the Rainbows' 1963 song "Denise", so

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British independent record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ell ...

chose "I'm Gonna Love You Too" as the lead single to promote Blondie's ''Parallel Lines'' in the U.S. This turned out to be a miscalculation as "I'm Gonna Love You Too" failed to chart in the U.S. – a stark contrast to the subsequent breakthrough U.S. singles from ''Parallel Lines'', namely "

Hanging on the Telephone "Hanging on the Telephone" is a song written by Jack Lee. The song was released in 1976 by his short-lived US West Coast power pop band the Nerves; in 1978, it was recorded and released as a single by American new wave band Blondie. Blondie ...

", " Heart of Glass" and "

One Way or Another "One Way or Another" is a song by American rock band Blondie from their 1978 album ''Parallel Lines''. Lyrically, the song was inspired by Blondie frontwoman Deborah Harry's experience with a stalker in the early 1970s, an incident which for ...

". In The Netherlands, it was the first single from the album as well, being released in September 1978, where it peaked at No. 6. The song was eventually released as a single in a few other countries in late 1979 as the fifth or sixth single from ''Parallel Lines'', after other songs from the album had completed their run in the charts. ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' said that Blondie "added their own signature sound o the Buddy Holly originalfor a cross-decade effect."

Release history

US 7" (CHS 2251) #"I'm Gonna Love You Too" ( Joe B. Mauldin,

, Niki Sullivan) – 2:03 #"Just Go Away" (

Debbie Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble, July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie (band), Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1 ...

) – 3:21 Holland 7" (15729) #"I'm Gonna Love You Too" ( Joe B. Mauldin,

, Niki Sullivan) – 2:03 #"Fan Mail" (

Jimmy Destri Jimmy Destri (born James Mollica, April 13, 1954) is an American musician, and the original and longest-serving keyboardist for the band Blondie. Background Destri is of Italian descent. His father was a novelist who also wrote screenplays an ...

) – 2:35

Chart information

Other versions

Adam Faith Terence Nelhams Wright (23 June 1940 – 8 March 2003), known as Adam Faith, was an English singer, actor, and financial journalist. As a British rock and roll teen idol, he scored consecutive No. 1 hits on the UK singles chart with " What ...

included the song on his self-titled album released in 1961. The song was covered by

the Hullaballoos The Hullaballoos were one of the original British Invasion bands. They are best known for their 1965 cover of Buddy Holly's " I'm Gonna Love You Too". Biography The Hullaballoos were created in September 1964, but had been working in the UK f ...

in 1964 in a version that reached No. 56 in the U.S.

Jimmy Gilmer The Fireballs, sometimes billed as Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, were an American rock and roll group, particularly popular at the end of the 1950s and in the early 1960s. The original line-up consisted of George Tomsco (lead guitar), Chuck T ...

The Fireballs The Fireballs, sometimes billed as Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, were an American rock and roll group, particularly popular at the end of the 1950s and in the early 1960s. The original line-up consisted of George Tomsco (lead guitar), Chuck T ...

fame covered the song on his 1965 album ''Buddy's Buddy: Buddy Holly Songs by Jimmy Gilmer''. A live version, recorded by the

13th Floor Elevators The 13th Floor Elevators was an American rock band from Austin, Texas, United States, formed by guitarist and vocalist Roky Erickson, electric jug player Tommy Hall, and guitarist Stacy Sutherland. The band was together from 1965 to 1969, an ...

, was included as a bonus track on the 2005 re-release of ''

The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators ''The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators'' is the debut album, studio album by the 13th Floor Elevators. The album's sound, featuring elements of psychedelic music, psychedelia, hard rock, garage rock, folk music, folk, and blues, is ...

'' from 1966.

Terry Jacks Terrence Ross Jacks (born March 29, 1944) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer known for his 1974 hit song "Seasons in the Sun", an English adaptation of a song written by Belgian composer and singer Jacques Brel in 1 ...

also covered the song on his 1974 album ''Seasons in the Sun'', and also releasing it as a single, which failed to chart in the USA, but made No.7 in Canada. In 2007, a home video of

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

singing an acoustic version of this song was put on the chronology menu of the first disc of his DVD, '' The McCartney Years''.

Denny Laine Brian Frederick Hines (29 October 1944 – 5 December 2023), known professionally as Denny Laine, was an English musician who co-founded two major rock bands: the Moody Blues and Wings. Laine played guitar in the Moody Blues from 1964 to 1966 ...

, guitarist of

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the bene ...

and

the Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in May 1964. The band initially consisted of Graeme Edge (drums), Denny Laine (guitar/vocals), Mike Pinder (keyboards/vocals), Ray Thomas (multi-instrumentalist/vocals) and Clint W ...

, covered the song on his tribute album '' Holly Days'' (1977), produced by Paul McCartney. In 2012, Jenny O. covered the song on the tribute album '' Rave on Buddy Holly''.

References

{{Authority control 1957 songs 1957 singles 1978 singles Buddy Holly songs Blondie (band) songs Songs written by Norman Petty Song recordings produced by Mike Chapman Chrysalis Records singles