''Tonight's the Night'' is the debut album by American

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

the Shirelles The Shirelles were an American girl group formed in Passaic, New Jersey, in 1957. They consisted of schoolmates Shirley Owens (later Shirley Alston Reeves), Doris Coley (later Doris Kenner-Jackson), Addie "Micki" Harris (later Addie Harris McF ...

, released in December 1960 by

Scepter Records Scepter Records was an American record company founded in 1959 by Florence Greenberg. History Florence Greenberg founded Scepter Records from the $4,000 she received after she sold Tiara Records and the Shirelles to Decca Records. When the S ...

. It contains the hit song "

Will You Love Me Tomorrow "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", sometimes known as "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", is a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. It was first recorded in 1960 by the Shirelles for their album '' Tonight's the Night''; released as a singl ...

" as well as " Tonight's the Night", which became a minor hit for the Shirelles. The album was remastered and restored by Cornbread Records. It was then reissued in 2017 on 180 Gram Vinyl with 2 bonus tracks, one track was " Look A Here Baby" on the end of side A and the second track was "A Teardrop And A Lollipop" on the end of side B. In 2022, the album was selected by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

for preservation in the

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation ...

Background

Although

Shirley Owens Shirley Alston Reeves (born June 10, 1941), born Shirley Owens, is an American soul singer who was the main lead singer of the hit girl group the Shirelles. The Shirelles In addition to Owens, The Shirelles consisted of fellow Passaic Hig ...

was the group's main lead singer, ''Tonight's the Night'' also features lead vocals by

Doris Coley Doris Coley (August 2, 1941 – February 4, 2000) was an American musician, who was best known as a member (and occasional lead singer) of the Shirelles. Doris was the lead singer on their biggest hit, " Dedicated to the One I Love". She init ...

and Beverly Lee; all four members share lead for "Doin' the Ronde". Later on in 1963, "Unlucky" was covered by

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick ( ; born Marie Dionne Warrick; December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. During her career, Warwick has won many awards, including six Grammy Awards. She has been inducted into the Hollywood Wa ...

for her debut album. "

Boys A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is usually described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy ...

", which had been the B-side of "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" and a regional hit on its original release, became better known after it was covered by

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

on their debut album ''

Please Please Me ''Please Please Me'' is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Produced by George Martin, it was released in the UK on EMI's Parlophone label on 22 March 1963. The album's 14 tracks include cover songs and original ma ...

'' in 1963.

Reception

In his retrospective review of the release,

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' The Daily P ...

for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote "For the most part, even more so than some other Shirelles' long-players, the LP evokes a bygone era when innocuous young love and its accompanying hurts were the centers of many teenagers' universes, fretted over with the detailed seriousness of international diplomacy." ''The New'' Rolling Stone ''Album Guide'' rates this album three out of five stars, noting that this period of early Scepter albums was the band's most commercially and critically successful, due to the high-quality but risk-averse production from

Luther Dixon Luther Dixon (August 7, 1931 – October 22, 2009) was an American songwriter, record producer, and singer. Dixon's songs achieved their greatest success in the 1950s and 1960s, and were recorded by Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Jackson 5, B.B ...

Track listing

Singles

Dedicated to the One I Love Dedicated may refer to: Music * Dedicated Records, a British record label Albums * ''Dedicated'' (ATB album), 2002 * ''Dedicated'' (Renée Geyer album), 2007 * ''Dedicated'' (Carly Rae Jepsen album), 2019 * ''Dedicated'' (Lemar album), 20 ...

"/"Look a Here Baby" (#83

959 Year 959 ( CMLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * April - May – The Byzantines refuse to pay the yearly tribute. A Hungarian army, led by Apor, invades Mace ...

US, #3

961 Year 961 ( CMLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * March 6 – Siege of Chandax: Byzantine forces under Nikephoros II Phokas capture and pillage Chandax after an 8 ...

US) *" Tonight's the Night"/"The Dance Is Over" (#39 US, #14 US R&B) *"

"/"

" (#1 US, #2 US R&B, #4 UK)

Personnel

– lead and backing vocals *Addie "Micki" Harris – lead and backing vocals *Beverly Lee – lead and backing vocals *

–

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

and

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

References

{{Authority control 1961 debut albums Scepter Records albums The Shirelles albums United States National Recording Registry recordings United States National Recording Registry albums