I'm Gonna Love You Too


"I'm Gonna Love You Too" is a song written by Joe B. Mauldin, Niki Sullivan and Norman Petty, originally recorded by Buddy Holly in 1957 and released as a single in 1958. It was covered 20 years later by American new wave band Blondie and released as the lead single in the U.S. from their multi-platinum 1978 album Parallel Lines.

Song history

There is controversy about the authorship of the song. Jerry Allison has stated that Buddy Holly was the actual author of the song. William Ruhlmann noted:
The song is credited to Joe B. Mauldin, Holly's bass player; Norman Petty, his producer; and Nikki Sullivan, his sometime rhythm guitarist. There have long been questions about the songwriting credits assigned to the original songs Holly recorded, and Jerry Allison, his drummer, has gone on record stating that "I'm Gonna Love You Too" actually was written primarily by Holly, with Allison composing the bridge. Certainly the song sounds characteristic of the man who wrote "That'll Be the Day." It is another up-tempo number with an infectious tune and boastful lyrics that only thinly veil heartbreak.

Of the song's credited authors, two were members of Holly's band The Crickets; the third, Petty, was Holly's first manager and also his recording engineer.
Holly included the song on his self-titled second album, Buddy Holly. It was released as a single on Coral Records, but failed to crack the Billboard Hot 100.

Blondie version

The biggest hit from Blondie's previous album, Plastic Letters, was "Denis", a cover of Randy & the Rainbows' 1963 song "Denise", so Chrysalis Records chose "I'm Gonna Love You Too" as the lead single to promote Blondie's Parallel Lines in the U.S. This turned out to be a miscalculation as "I'm Gonna Love You Too" failed to chart in the U.S. – a stark contrast to the subsequent breakthrough U.S. singles from Parallel Lines, namely "Hanging on the Telephone", "Heart of Glass and "One Way or Another". In The Netherlands, it was the first single from the album as well, being released in September 1978, where it peaked at No.6. The song was eventually released as a single in a few other countries in late 1979 as the fifth or sixth single from Parallel Lines, after other songs from the album had completed their run in the charts.

Release history

US 7"
  1. "I'm Gonna Love You Too" – 2:03
  2. "Just Go Away" – 3:21
Holland 7"
  1. "I'm Gonna Love You Too" – 2:03
  2. "Fan Mail" – 2:35

    Chart information

Other versions

included the song on his self-titled album released in 1961.
The song was covered by the Hullaballoos in 1964 in a version that reached No. 56 in the U.S.
Jimmy Gilmer of The Fireballs fame covered the song on his 1965 album Buddy's Buddy: Buddy Holly Songs by Jimmy Gilmer.
A live version, recorded by the 13th Floor Elevators, was included as a bonus track on the 2005 re-release of The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators from 1966.
Terry Jacks also covered the song on his 1974 album Seasons in the Sun, and also releasing it as a single, which failed to chart in the USA, but made No.7 in Canada.
In 2007, a home video of Paul McCartney singing an acoustic version of this song was put on the chronology menu of the first disc of his DVD, The McCartney Years.
Denny Laine, guitarist of Wings and the Moody Blues, covered the song on his tribute album Holly Days, produced by Paul McCartney.
In 2012, Jenny O. covered the song on the tribute album Rave on Buddy Holly.