Goffin and King married in 1959 when he was 20 and she was just 17. They divorced a decade later but continued to work together. Later, Goffin teamed with other songwriting partners.
While King went on to greater and enduring fame as a performer, Goffin's star faded, although he had several late career triumphs including the Theme From Mahogany for Diana Ross and Saving All My Love For You made famous by Whitney Houston.
Goffin's lyrics had depth, range and passion. His writing gave expression to every imaginable and inarticulate dream of every teen who ever heard them - and we all did. Beyond that, by the looks of this photo, he did it all the day after his Bar Mitzvah. He may have never worn a Tapestry or felt the earth move, but for what he did, he should be remembered as far more than just another, “and who?”
Oh, well. At least he got to stuff his pillow with royalty checks.
* A partial list of Goffin-King classic collaborations include; "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? (The Shirelles), "The Loco-Motion", (Little Eva) "I'm Into Something Good", (Herman's Hermits) "Go Away Little Girl", "Every Breath I Take" (Gene Pitney)"Don't Say Nothing Bad About My Baby", "Hey Girl" (Freddie Scott) "One Fine Day" (The Chiffon) "Up On the Roof" (The Drifters), "Don't Bring Me Down" (The Animals) "Goin' Back (The Byrds)" "Pleasant Valley Sunday" (The Monkees) "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman" (Aretha Frankin" Just Once in My Life" (Righteous Brothers).
When this old world starts getting you down, remember, here's always a Gerry Goffin-Carole King song to sing.
Part 1
Part 3
Part 4
Up On the Roof demo
Carole King piano, Unknown on vocals
Just Once in My Life demo Carole King piano and vocals
Natural Woman demo
I always felt kind of bad for Gerry Goffin. 
12/23/2011
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