1963 Songs: I Will Follow Him

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Now we get to the girls! There were lots of girl groups and girl singers in the early 60s, most of whom only had one or two hits. But those one or two hits were bright in 1963, and they’re still shining today. Here’s one of those great songs from 60 years ago. I Will Follow Him - Little Peggy March “Little”? Yep. She was a whopping fourteen years old when this song came out. She still holds the record as the youngest female to top the Billboard charts when this song hit #1 sixty years ago this month (by which time she had become an old lady of 15 ). The song had two lives. Originally the song was an instrumental called “Chariot.” Franck Pourcel co-wrote it and made the recording. Norman Gimbel put the lyrics we sing along with to the melody, and a hit was born. Gimbel had other successes, such as co-writing “I Got a Name,” which was a hit for Jim Croce, and co-writing “Killing Me Softly With His Song.” He won an Oscar for “It Goes Like It Goes” from Norma Rae in 1979. He passed away in 2018. Little Peggy March continued with a career in Europe, as did many American singers once the “British Invasion” took hold here. (Guess we swapped singers. ) She just turned 76. This love song is one of the memorable songs of the early 60s. I Will Follow Him Lyrics by Norman Gimbel Music (“Chariot”) written by Franck Pourcel and Paul Mauriat Recorded by Little Peggy March From I Will Follow Him, 1963 I love him, I love him, I love him: