Little Darlin'

"Little Darlin'" is a popular Top 40 song, made famous by the Diamonds.

The Gladiolas' version

It was written by Maurice Williams with both melody and doo-wop accompaniment strongly emphasizing the clave rhythm. It was first recorded by Excello Records in January 1957 and quickly released as a rhythm-and-blues song by Williams' R&B group, The Gladiolas. The song is noted for its spoken recitation by the lead singer ("My Darlin' I need you..."). The Gladiolas, featuring Williams, were from Lancaster, South Carolina, where they had been together since high school. Their original version of the song was on the small Excello label. (Excello primarily recording "swamp blues" songs in Crowley, Louisiana.) The Gladiolas song peaked at No. 11 on the R&B charts in April 1957, but barely dented the hot 100. By 1959, Williams' group became "Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs" with the rock 'n roll-R&B hit "Stay."

The Diamonds' version

The Diamonds' version followed a month later. The Diamonds were soon covering Little Darlin' successfully.The Diamonds were a Canadian pop group that evolved into a Doo-Wop group. The Diamonds' version reached number two in sales for eight weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. Billboard ranked this version as the No. 3 song for 1957.

Little Darling (I Need You)

"Little Darling (I Need You)" is a 1966 single written and produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland and recorded and released by Marvin Gaye on the Tamla label.

This song was released after the modest success of the Miracles-produced single "Take This Heart of Mine" in hopes that Gaye's work with the hit-making trio Holland-Dozier-Holland would bring him back to the pop top ten.

Similarly conceived with the same musical background as their previous collaboration, "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)", the song has the singer declaring to his woman to stay beside him promising her that he'll be "(her) number-one fool".

While it reached the top forty of the Billboard Top R&B Singles chart peaking at number sixteen, it didn't perform as well as "Take This Heart of Mine" on the pop charts, peaking at number 47.

The song was subsequently covered by The Doobie Brothers for their 1977 release Livin' on the Fault Line.

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