Today’s classic song of the day is “I Go to Pieces” by the British duo, Peter and Gordon. The song had a moderately long and somewhat convoluted path to chart success.
Del Shannon, of “Runaway” fame, wrote “I Go to Pieces” back in 1964 as a vehicle for Lloyd Brown, an R&B singer he’d discovered. Brown recorded the track but they couldn’t find a label interested in releasing it at the time. (That was later rectified.) Shannon then tried recording it himself, but he didn’t like his attempts at a vocal and shelved it. That led to Shannon pitching it to British group the Searchers when they were touring together in Australia. The Searchers didn’t want the song either but Peter and Gordon, who were also on the tour, did.
Peter Asher and Gordon Waller released their Mersey Beatified version of “I Go to Pieces” in December of 1964. That single went all the way to #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #6 on the Cash Box Top 100. Interestingly, “I Go to Pieces” failed to crack the top fifty in their native UK.
(BTW, Del Shannon ended up making a recording of “I Go to Pieces” that he liked, adapting the Peter and Gordon arrangement. Shannon’s version of his own song was included on his 1965 album of covers, 1,661 Seconds with Del Shannon.)
“I Go to Pieces” has been covered by numerous artists over the years. Notable covers include those by Rachel Sweet in 1979 and Nils Lofgren in 1981. I’m particularly fond of Ms. Sweet’s retro Girl Group version, which was included on her album Fool Around. (If you haven’t heard that album, check it out. It is very, very good.)
