Him or Me – What's It Gonna Be?

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"Him Or Me – What's It Gonna Be?"
Him or me what s it gonna be - paul revere & the raiders.jpg
Columbia sleeve for the single
Single by Paul Revere & the Raiders
from the album Revolution!
B-side"Legend of Paul Revere"
ReleasedApril 1967
Genre
Length2:52
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Terry Melcher
Paul Revere & the Raiders singles chronology
"Ups and Downs"
(1967) 		"Him Or Me – What's It Gonna Be?"
(1967) 		"I Had A Dream"
(1967)

"Him or Me – What's It Gonna Be?" is a song written by Mark Lindsay and Terry Melcher, recorded by American rock band Paul Revere & the Raiders for their seventh studio album Revolution!. It can be distinguished from other previous Raiders garage rock hits like "Kicks" and "Hungry" because of its more pop-flavored sound.[3]

Released in 1967, the single, with the biographical "Legend of Paul Revere" as the B-side, became a hit after peaking at no. 5 in July 10. It would prove to be their fourth and last Top 10 hit, until "Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)".[a]

The song is one of the two songs of Paul Revere & the Raiders, along with "Indian Reservation", to be included in the Kent Hartman's list of songs played by the Wrecking Crew in the book The Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Best-Kept Secret.[4]

Composition and recording[]

Like their previous Top 10 hit, "Good Thing", the song was written by Raiders lead singer Mark Lindsay and producer Terry Melcher like all the other Revolution! tracks. They used to write album cuts in their shared home in 10050 Cielo Drive, famous for the Tate-LaBianca murders. Melcher wrote the chorus and Lindsay developed the rest.[5]

Initially, the latter thought that the writing credits were unfair, because he wrote most of the song, but later he concluded that "Him or Me" was Melcher's idea, and wouldn't write the song without him.[6]

At the time, the band's tight schedule of televisivion appereances made Melcher use the Wrecking Crew session musicians (specifically Hal Blaine, Ry Cooder, Jerry Cole and Glen Campbell) to do the instrumental backing of the song.[7][2] Melcher also added backing vocals in addition of Lindsay's lead.[8]

Chart performance[]

Chart (1967) Peak
position
Canadian RPM Top Singles[9] 2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[10] 5
U.S. Cash Box Top 100 Singles[11] 8

Cover versions[]

An unknown group called "the Chellows" were the first to cover the song in 1967.[12]

Rockabilly singer Mac Curtis recorded a cover of the song to his album Early In The Morning in 1970.[12]

The Flamin' Groovies covered the song, along with another Raiders song, "Ups and Downs", in 1974.[12]

The Wedding Present did a cover of the song in 1994.[12]

Bun E. Carlos recorded a version of the song in 2016.[12]

Notes[]

  1. ^ See Paul Revere & the Raiders discography

References[]

  1. ^ Visconti, John (2020-05-14). "Paul Revere and the Raiders: 6 of Their Best". www.culturesonar.com. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Ch, V.; ler (2020-04-19). "Top 10 Paul Revere & The Raiders Songs". ClassicRockHistory.com. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
  3. ^ M. L.S, Library Science. "Remembering Paul Revere and the Raiders in 5 Great Songs". LiveAbout. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  4. ^ Hartman, Kent (2012). The Wrecking Crew : the inside story of rock and roll's best-kept secret. Internet Archive. New York : St. Martin's Press. pp. 261, 262. ISBN 978-0-312-61974-9.
  5. ^ Roberts, Jeremy (2020-10-29). "Uncovering Mark Lindsay's musical odyssey to the Rebel Raiders and beyond". Medium. Retrieved 2021-05-03. Terry and I might come up with a hook together, like “Him or Me, What’s It Gonna Be?. I would write the rest of the song.
  6. ^ Ciccone, Don (2010-02-06). ""We were more the American Stones than the American Beatles...": An Interview With Paul Revere and the Raiders' Mark Lindsay". Stereo Embers Magazine. Retrieved 2021-03-18. So we started writing singles and at the time I thought I was getting screwed because I remember on “Him or Me” Terry came up with, “him or me, him or me, him or me…what’s it gonna be?” And that’s all we had. I was there too — I contributed but that was kinda his line. The rest of it… he’d get really bored fast. He’d come up with a line or a verse or a chorus and then leave and I’d finish the whole tune. And I thought “I’m writing 90 percent of this, how come I’m not getting more credit?” But the thing is if it hadn’t been for that catalyst, I would never have written the tune. So I think it’s totally fair the way it worked out.
  7. ^ Prince, Patrick. "The musical revolution of Paul Revere & The Raiders". Goldmine Magazine: Record Collector & Music Memorabilia. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  8. ^ Plasketes, George (2015-08-08). "Paul Revere's Last(ing) Ride (1938–2014)". Popular Music and Society. 38 (4): 522–525. doi:10.1080/03007766.2015.1047640. ISSN 0300-7766.
  9. ^ https://worldradiohistory.com/CANADA/RPM/60s/1967/RPM-1967-06-10.pdf
  10. ^ "The Hot 100 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  11. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 6/10/67". cashboxmagazine.com. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Cover versions of Him or Me (What's It Going to Be?) by Paul Revere and The Raiders featuring Mark Lindsay | SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
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