View source for If You Gotta Go, Go Now

{{Short description|Song by Bob Dylan}}
{{distinguish|text="[[Go Now]]" – made popular by the Moody Blues}}
{{Infobox song
| name       = If You Gotta Go, Go Now
| cover      = If You Gotta Go, Go Now single cover.jpg
| caption    = Dutch picture sleeve
| alt        =
| type       = single
| artist     = [[Bob Dylan]]
| album      =
| B-side     = [[To Ramona]]
| released   = January 1967
| recorded   = January 15, 1965
| studio     = [[CBS 30th Street Studio|Columbia 30th Street]], New York City
| venue      =
| genre      = [[Folk rock]]<ref>{{cite web|last=Unterberger|first=Richie|author-link=Richie Unterberger|title=Great Moments in Folk Rock: Lists of Author Favorites|publisher=www.richieunterberger.com|url=http://www.richieunterberger.com/turnlists.html|accessdate=May 24, 2024}}</ref>
| length     = 2:32
| label      = [[Columbia Records|Columbia]]
| writer     = [[Bob Dylan]]
| producer   = [[Tom Wilson (producer)|Tom Wilson]]
| prev_title = [[Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat]]
| prev_year  = 1967
| next_title = [[Drifter's Escape]]
| next_year  = 1968
}}
{{Infobox song
| name       = Si Tu Dois Partir
| cover      = Si Tu Dois Partir single cover.jpg
| alt        =
| type       = single
| artist     = [[Fairport Convention]]
| album      = [[Unhalfbricking]]
| B-side     = "Genesis Hall" ([[Richard Thompson (musician)|Richard Thompson]])
| released   = July 1969
| recorded   = March 1969
| studio     = Sound Techniques, London
| venue      =
| genre      =
| length     =
| label      = *[[Island Records|Island]] (UK)
*[[A&M Records|A&M]] (US)
| writer     = [[Bob Dylan]]
| 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
| misc       =  {{External music video|header=Official Audio|{{YouTube|YWI29hIqIxY|"Si tu dois partir"}}}} 
}}

"'''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==
A live version of the song as performed by Dylan was recorded at [[David Geffen Hall|Philharmonic Hall]] in New York on October 31, 1964, and eventually released with the rest of the concert on [[The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall|''The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall'']] in 2004.

Dylan began the recording for the studio version of "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" on January 13, 1965, during the first session for ''[[Bringing It All Back Home]]''.<ref>Bjorner, Olof, [http://www.bjorner.com/DSN00785%20(65).htm Still on the Road 1965], 785</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Ford|first=Roger|date=January 2016|title=The Cutting Edge: Sessions For Bringing It All Back Home|magazine=Isis|issue=184|page=51|publisher=Isis Magazine Limited|url=https://www.electricdylan.net/Cutting%20Edge/Part%201%20ISIS%20184.pdf|accessdate=2021-06-09}}</ref> Take 4 was released on ''[[The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991]]'' in 1991, and the sessions are available on ''[[The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966]]''.

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. <ref>{{cite magazine|last=Ford|first=Roger|date=January 2016|title=The Cutting Edge: Sessions For Bringing It All Back Home|magazine=Isis|issue=184|page=52|publisher=Isis Magazine Limited|url=https://www.electricdylan.net/Cutting%20Edge/Part%201%20ISIS%20184.pdf|accessdate=2021-06-09}}</ref><ref>Bjorner, Olof, [http://www.bjorner.com/DSN00785%20(65).htm Still on the Road 1965], 800</ref>

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 ''[[The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall]]'', 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 ''[[The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966]]''.

==Manfred Mann version==
Another English band, [[Manfred Mann]], then issued the song as a single in September 1965, and that version reached number&nbsp;2 on the UK charts. ''[[Billboard (magazine)|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."<ref name=bb>{{cite news|newspaper=Billboard|accessdate=2021-03-09|date=September 25, 1965|page=18|title=Spotlight Singles|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/60s/1965/Billboard%201965-09-25.pdf}}</ref>

==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 Records|Island]] label in the UK and on the [[A&M Records|A&M]] label in the US. It was the band's only charting single, reaching number 21 and staying in the [[UK Singles Chart|British Chart]] for nine weeks.<ref>[https://www.officialcharts.com/artists/ Official Charts Company – The Chart Archive] Retrieved 29 June 2009).</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/if-you-gotta-go-go-now Official lyrics from BobDylan.com]
* {{youtube|OVtSHwRTqKc|"If You've Gotta Go, Go Now": Liverpool Five}}

{{Bob Dylan}}
{{Bob Dylan singles}}
{{Fairport Convention}}
{{Manfred Mann}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Songs written by Bob Dylan]]
[[Category:Bob Dylan songs]]
[[Category:1964 songs]]
[[Category:1965 singles]]
[[Category:1969 singles]]
[[Category:Fairport Convention songs]]
[[Category:Manfred Mann songs]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Joe Boyd]]
[[Category:Columbia Records singles]]
[[Category:Island Records singles]]
[[Category:A&M Records singles]]
[[Category:Songs about parting]]