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Creator
Gore, Lesley, 1946-2015
Call number
JPB 22-6
Physical description
20.38 linear feet (70 boxes); 6.9 gigabytes (743 computer files)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Lesley Gore papers, JPB 22-6. Music Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Repository
Music Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply

Lesley Gore (1946-2015) was an American popular singer and songwriter who had major hit singles in the early to mid-1960s, including the songs "It's My Party," "You Don't Own Me," "Judy's Turn To Cry," "Maybe I Know," and "She's A Fool," among others. The Lesley Gore papers, dating from 1900 to 2017 (bulk dates from 1946 onward), document her life and career through sound and video recordings; notated music and lyrics; personal files of photographs, writings, clippings, posters, and scrapbooks; and business files.

Biographical/historical information

Lesley Gore (1946-2015) was an American popular singer and songwriter who had major hit singles in the early to mid-1960s, such as the songs "It's My Party," "You Don't Own Me" (regarded as an early feminist anthem), "Judy's Turn To Cry," "Maybe I Know," and "She's A Fool," among others.

Born Lesley Sue Goldstein in Brooklyn, New York, Gore grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey. In 1963, at the age of 16, her voice teacher produced vocal demonstration recordings which came to the attention of the producer Quincy Jones at Mercury Records. Jones immediately recorded her performing "It's My Party," collaborating with the arranger Claus Ogerman. The song became an instant hit, and was Jones's first as a producer. Gore's follow-up singles and albums, with the same team of Jones-Ogerman, continued to have success until 1967. Her mid-1960s hits included two early songs by Marvin Hamlisch, "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows" and "California Nights." Gore was one of the few pre-Beatles recording artists to continue to have hits during the British Invasion of 1964 to 1965.

Gore maintained her career while attending Sarah Lawrence College, from which she graduated in 1968. By that time, the girl-group-style in which she had worked had gone out of fashion, and Mercury dropped her contract by the end of the decade. She maintained her public profile through concert, theater, and nightclub engagements, as well as appearances on film and television. She also publicly supported the presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy.

Gore began a more thorough study of music in order to develop her songwriting skills. She moved to California in 1970 and began writing her own songs, either on her own or in collaboration with lyricist Ellen Weston (her partner at the time). Other composers or lyricists with whom she worked over the years included Lou Christie, Howard Greenfield, composer Michael Gore (her younger brother), Benjy King, Gloria Nissenson, and Louis St. Louis.

Gore recorded two albums of material she wrote with Weston, Someplace Else Now (1972) and Love Me By Name (1975, produced by Quincy Jones), but neither sold well. In 1980, she returned to New York and collaborated with her brother Michael, on songs for the Alan Parker film Fame, one of which, "Out Here On My Own," was a hit for Irene Cara, and was nominated for a Grammy for best original song. She released an album of cover material, The Canvas Can Do Miracles, in 1982, and co-wrote the song "My Secret Love" for the film Grace of My Heart (1996).

Gore continued to perform her old songs, as well as newer material, in cabaret and concert appearances, and she also found work in musical theater, such as her 1999 Broadway run in "Smokey Joe's Café." She came out as a lesbian in 2005, and was with her partner, Lois Sasson, for over 30 years. Both were active in causes for women and LGBTQ rights. Gore hosted several episodes of In The Life, a PBS series about LGBTQ people. In 2005, she released her final album, Ever Since, in which she recorded new material and re-interpreted earlier songs such as "You Don't Own Me" and "Out Here On My Own." Gore began work on a memoir in 2007, but it was left unfinished. She died of lung cancer in 2015 in New York City.

Scope and arrangement

The Lesley Gore papers, dating from 1900 to 2017 (the bulk dates from 1946 onward), document Gore's life and career through sound and video recordings;, notated music and lyrics; personal files of photographs, writings, clippings, posters, and scrapbooks; and business files. Posthumous materials were contributed by Gore's partner, Lois Sasson.

The collection is in four series: Personal Files, Business files, Notated Music and Lyrics, and Sound and Video Recordings.

Series I: Personal Files holds memorabilia of Gore's life and career, including photographs, writings, letters, programs, clippings, and scrapbooks.

Series II: Business Files includes project files, engagement files, correspondence, publicity files, and royalty statements.

Series III: Notated Music and Lyrics documents the arrangements and songs Gore recorded, performed, or composed over the course of her career.

Series IV: Sound and Video Recordings illustrates Gore's recording and performance career through test pressings, works-in-progress, rehearsal and performance recordings, and radio and television appearances.

The Lesley Gore papers are arranged in four series:

  • Series I: Personal Files
    1900-2016

    This series holds memorabilia of Gore's life and career, including photographs, writings, letters, programs, school files, clippings, music notebooks, scrapbooks, and awards.

    The photographs consist of portraits and publicity images; informal shots, including Gore in the recording studio, in performance, at public events, and at home; family photographs; and photos of others, including Gore's partner, Lois Sasson. Gore and Sasson knew politician and activist Bella Abzug, and attended two Abzug-related events documented here with photographs.

    Gore's writings include notes for and multiple drafts of her unfinished memoir, as well as correspondence with an editor. The memoir is of particular interest as it reveals events and aspects of Gore's life and career that have never previously been disclosed. The writings also hold biographical and personal notes (similar to journal entries) dating back to the 1970s, and scripts for multiple episodes of an untitled television series.

    Documentation of Gore's career includes a scrapbook of clippings and programs, and a file of programs and handbills. Additional programs can be found in the Show Lists file in Series II. The scrapbook covers only the years 1963 to 1967. The clippings file covers the entirety of Gore's career.

    The Music Studies file contains Gore's notebooks for her piano and composition studies in the late-1960s and early 1970s. The Dwight School and Sarah Lawrence College files hold Gore's diplomas, a yearbook excerpt, and a scrapbook. The awards include a plaque for the 1963 Grammy nomination of "It's My Party" for best rock and roll recording.

  • Series II: Business Files
    1963-2017

    Gore's business records document the work she did to maintain her career, mostly by herself. They contain project files; engagement files; correspondence with Mercury (later Polygram) records, as well as other business letters; publicity files; royalty statements; copyright registrations; and files regarding Gore's fan club and fan mail.

    The Project Files document recordings, stage shows, television and film projects, and proposals for other projects that never came to fruition, such as a film about the Grossinger's resort in the Catskills and a musical about Gore's life. The Engagement Files contain contracts, travel arrangements, technical information, and correspondence with venues regarding performances, dating mainly from the 2000s. Other performance information can be found in the Show Lists file, which holds programs and set lists, and the Stage Plots file.

    The Mercury/Polygram correspondence begins in 1963, with Gore's parents acting as her representatives, and includes Gore's contract and letters from Joe Glaser at ABC Booking. Later correspondence documents Gore's and her lawyer's unsuccessful attempts to convince Polygram to issue payment for royalties never sent. The royalty statements are from multiple publishing companies.

    The fan club file contains club publications from its 1964 founding to 2014, and letters from the club founder and president, Jack Natoli.

    The Speaking Notes file contains Gore's notes for a talk about her career.

  • Series III: Notated Music and Lyrics
    1963-2014

    This series documents the arrangements and songs Gore recorded, performed, or composed over the course of her career. It is in two divisions, Arrangements and Songs.

    The bulk of the series consists of musical arrangements recorded and/or performed by Gore between 1963 and 2014. These include material arranged for Gore's Mercury recording sessions, her later recordings, and live performances from the 1970s to 2009. The orchestrations range from studio orchestra or big band, to small rock ensembles with horn sections, to piano trio. Arrangers, who are credited in the container list when known, include Claus Ogerman, Al Capps, O.B. Masingill, Alan Lorber, Jimmie Haskell, Paul Leka, Robert Davie, Luther Henderson, John Lesko, and Mariano Longo. Gore may have written some arrangements herself. The content includes varying combinations of full scores, conductor-production scores, and parts. Most are arranged by title, with two exceptions: Four sets of parts are arranged by instrument, and filed under Band Part Books; and a set of Backing Vocal Arrangements. Both are filed at the end of the Arrangements, along with a chart list.

    The Songs are in three divisions: Those fully written and composed by Gore, those written in collaboration with other composers or lyricists, and those fully written and composed by others.

    Gore's songs consist of drafts of music and lyrics, and finished lead sheets, some produced by copyists. They include material written as early as 1964, but the bulk dates from the 1970s to the 2000s. The files contain unfinished music and lyric ideas in addition to finished songs.

    Gore's songwriting collaborators included Ellen Weston (with whom she created the most material), Benjy King, Michael Gore, Gloria Nissenson, Pat Resnick, Louis St. Louis, Howard Greenfield, and Lou Christie. In some cases, as with Weston, Gore composed the music, while in others (such as with her brother Michael), she wrote the lyrics. These files contain music and lyric drafts and finished lead sheets.

    Songs By Others consist of published sheet music and lead sheets with annotations, suggesting they were performed or recorded by Gore. Also present are three marked-up scripts for theater productions in which Gore performed in the 1960s: Finian's Rainbow, Funny Girl, and South Pacific. Box 67, folder 11 holds a list of sheet music held by Gore, not all of which was retained in the collection.

  • Series IV: Sound and Video Recordings
    1962-2012

    This series illustrates Lesley Gore's recording and performance career through test pressings, demonstration recordings, studio recordings-in-progress, rehearsals, live performance recordings, songwriting work recordings, and radio and television appearances.

    Among the sound recordings, the test pressings, demo recordings and works-in-progress date mostly from Gore's years at Mercury Records (1963-1969), as she received pre-release versions of her latest recordings for her own examination. Other recordings in that category include rough mixes or multitrack recordings of songs from later albums, including Someplace Else Now, Love Me By Name, and Ever Since; and song demos.

    The performance recordings, dating from 1974-2010, are at venues in New York City and around the United States. Rehearsal and work recordings contain songwriting sessions and band run-throughs, as well as a rehearsal for Smokey Joe's Cafe. Among the songwriting tapes are work sessions with Michael Gore, and a 1963 recording of Gore's mother Ronny. The radio and television appearances include several interviews with Lesley Gore, as well as recordings of the audio portion of television programs, including her 1965 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

    Other audio recordings include a 2001 dance version of "You Don't Own Me;" Gift Wrapped, a set of Christmas songs recorded by Gore in 2000 and released as an extended play; and a duet between Gore and Lou Christie.

    The video recordings comprise performances; television and film appearances; and rehearsals. Among the performances are appearances at Rainbow and Stars (1992), Riverfest (New Hampshire) (2001), and Joe's Pub (2010). The television and film appearances include The Ed Sullivan Show (1963 and 1969), The T.A.M.I. Show (1964), A Mod, Mod World (1966), The Donna Reed Show (1966), and campaign advertisements for Robert F. Kennedy (1968), as well as performances and interviews on national and local television news, talk shows, and entertainment programs. There are also highlight reels of various Gore television or film appearances over the years.

    The rehearsals are with musical director Darrel Tookes and Gore's backing band for a 2010 appearance at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. These video recordings are extensive and reveal much about Gore's musical arrangements and working methods.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

The collection was donated by Susan Kahaner in 2021.

Processing information

Processed by Matthew Snyder in 2022.

Using the collection

Location

Music Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor

Access restrictions

Inquiries regarding audio and moving image materials in the collection may be directed to the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound (recordedsound@nypl.org). Audio and moving image materials will be subject to preservation evaluation and migration prior to access.