The songs "What Kind of Fool Am I?", a song published in 1962, "Who Can I Turn To?" ("Who Can I Turn To—When Nobody Needs Me"), a song released in 1964, and "The Candy Man" ("The Candy Man Can"), a song that was originally created for the 1971 film "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory", were all written by English composer-lyricists Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. These two men did not created the song "I've Gotta Be Me".

The song "I've Gotta Be Me" was a popular song that appeared in the Broadway musical "Golden Rainbow" which starred Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé. It opened in New York City at the Shubert Theatre in February 1968. The show closed just under a year later, in January 1969. The music and lyrics for the musical were composed and written by Walter Marks in 1967; the production also featured a book by Ernest Kinoy. This song was listed in the musical as "I've Got to Be Me" and, at the end of the first act, it was sung by Lawrence's character, Larry Davis. Lawrence released it as a single in 1967; it topped out the following year at No. 6 on the 'Easy Listening' chart, "Billboard". It got little to no support from Top 40 radio stations in the US.

While the musical was still running on Broadway, it was Sammy Davis Jr. who recorded the song in 1968 and altered the title slightly to "I've Gotta Be Me".

The two Bricusse and Newley, very prolific and popular songwriters of the post-war era, authored numerous hit songs for both the stage and major movies.

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