By Marissa Wells
Contributing Writer
“But Will You Love Me Tomorrow: An Oral History of the ’60s Girl Groups,” by Emily Sieu Liebowitz and Laura Flam, is a new book that presents the history of the girl group sound and the young ladies behind it. The Shirelles, the Chantels, the Supremes, the Marvelettes, Martha and the Vandellas, and many more are spotlighted inside the book.
Liebowitz and Flam describe themselves as lifelong fans of the girl group sound and attend the shows of the women still performing. It was this passion that inspired their book.
“As we were able to see these incredible singers perform we naturally wanted to learn more, but the information really wasn’t available,” Liebowitz said. “What we could find was generally couched in biographies about the men from the sound who have gone on to be famous.”
It was important for the authors to create a book that documented the history of the girl group sound and the women who created it.
“The girl group sound is such a significant part of American music history, and yet no one really acknowledges the work that the women of the groups did,” Liebowitz said.
In the book, Liebowitz and Flam weave together interviews from more than 100 people, including the singers, songwriters, music executives and fans to tell the story of the sound and the women in their own words.
“The music industry and the locations are characters in the book in the same way that the people are,” Flam said. “So, we also wanted to make sure that we were clear about having background information about what was happening in the industry and in the country at the time that the girl groups came up.”
“But Will You Love Me Tomorrow” also sheds light on what society was like during the 1960s and how the groups helped shape American culture.
In addition to being authors, Flam is an interior designer. She is based in Brooklyn. Liebowitz is a freelance writer based in both Brooklyn and Hayward, California. For more information about the authors and their work, visit butwillyoulovemetomorrow.com.
“But Will You Love Me Tomorrow: An Oral History of the ‘60s Girl Groups” is available for $31 wherever books and audiobooks are sold including barnesandnoble.com, amazon.com, and local bookstores. Readers are encouraged to listen to the official playlist for the book on Spotify.
