If You Gotta Go, Go Now Explained

If You Gotta Go, Go Now
Cover:If You Gotta Go, Go Now single cover.jpg
Caption:Dutch picture sleeve
Type:single
Artist:Bob Dylan
B-Side:To Ramona
Released:January 1967
Recorded:January 15, 1965
Studio:Columbia 30th Street, New York City
Genre:Folk rock[1]
Length:2:32
Label:Columbia
Producer:Tom Wilson
Prev Title:Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
Prev Year:1967
Next Title:Drifter's Escape
Next Year:1968
Si Tu Dois Partir
Cover:Si Tu Dois Partir single cover.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Fairport Convention
Album:Unhalfbricking
B-Side:"Genesis Hall" (Richard Thompson)
Released:July 1969
Recorded:March 1969
Studio:Sound Techniques, London
Label:
Producer:Joe Boyd, Simon Nicol and Fairport Convention
Prev Title:I'll Keep It with Mine
Prev Year:1968
Next Title:If (Stomp)
Next Year:1969

"If You Gotta Go, Go Now" (sometimes subtitled "(Or Else You Got to Stay All Night)") is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1964. The first released version was as a single in the US by the UK group the Liverpool Five in July 1965, but this did not chart in the US despite receiving much airplay, particularly in the Pacific Northwest. Another British band, Manfred Mann, then issued the song as a single in September 1965 and had a number 2 hit. Fairport Convention also had a chart hit, with a French version, in 1969.

Dylan's version

Dylan began the recording for "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" on January 13, 1965, during the first session for Bringing It All Back Home.[2] Of the two acoustic takes completed, neither was used. He recorded the song again on January 15, producing four takes with a full band, plus backing vocalist Angeline Butler from the folk trio The Pilgrims.[3] Take 4 was released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 in 1991, and the sessions are available on .

On May 21, 1965, producer Tom Wilson edited together composites of several takes from January 15 and brought in unidentified vocalists to overdub additional backing vocals. This version was released as a single in The Netherlands in 1967, where it failed to chart. [4] [5]

No Dylan version was released in the US or the UK until the appearance of The Bootleg Series, which, as noted above, featured a different version of the song from the single. The song also appears on , albeit in an acoustic, live form.

Additional versions from Dylan's 1965–1966 recording sessions are included on the Deluxe and Collector's Editions of .

Manfred Mann version

Another English band, Manfred Mann, then issued the song as a single in September 1965, and that version reached number 2 on the UK charts. Billboard said of the single: "this hard beat Bob Dylan material has all the earmarks of a smash hit that will spiral the group up the charts once again."[6]

Fairport Convention version

Fairport Convention also took the song onto the charts, albeit in an unusual fashion: the group translated the song into French as "Si tu dois partir". Recorded for their Unhalfbricking album, the song was issued as a single in 1969, on the Island label in the UK and on the A&M label in the US. It was the band's only charting single, reaching number 21 and staying in the British Chart for nine weeks.[7]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Unterberger. Richie. Richie Unterberger. Great Moments in Folk Rock: Lists of Author Favorites. www.richieunterberger.com. May 24, 2024.
  2. Bjorner, Olof, Still on the Road 1965, 785
  3. Ford. Roger. January 2016. The Cutting Edge: Sessions For Bringing It All Back Home. Isis. 184. 51. Isis Magazine Limited. 2021-06-09.
  4. Ford. Roger. January 2016. The Cutting Edge: Sessions For Bringing It All Back Home. Isis. 184. 52. Isis Magazine Limited. 2021-06-09.
  5. Bjorner, Olof, Still on the Road 1965, 800
  6. News: Billboard. 2021-03-09. September 25, 1965. 18. Spotlight Singles.
  7. https://www.officialcharts.com/artists/ Official Charts Company – The Chart Archive