Be My Baby
Encyclopedia
"Be My Baby" is a 1963 single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 written by Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....

, Jeff Barry
Jeff Barry
Jeff Barry is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer.-Early career:...

, and Ellie Greenwich
Ellie Greenwich
Eleanor Louise "Ellie" Greenwich was an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She wrote or co-wrote "Be My Baby", "Christmas ", "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Leader of the Pack", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", and "River Deep, Mountain High", among many others...

, performed by The Ronettes
The Ronettes
The Ronettes were a 1960s girl group from New York City, best known for their work with producer Phil Spector. The group consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett ; her older sister, Estelle Bennett; and their cousin Nedra Talley...

 and produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 by Spector. When released as a single, the song reached #2 on the U.S. Billboard Pop Singles Chart
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 and #4 on the UK's Record Retailer. "Be My Baby" also peaked at number four on the R&B chart.

As sung by The Ronettes the song is #22 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" was the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone, issue number 963, published December 9, 2004, a year after the magazine published its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"....

. In 1999, it was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame, and in 2006, the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...

 honored their version by adding it to the United States National Recording Registry. Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...

 placed it at number 6 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s".

Often cited as the ultimate embodiment of Spector's Wall of Sound
Wall of Sound
The Wall of Sound is a music production technique for pop and rock music recordings developed by record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, California, during the early 1960s...

, "Be My Baby" is one of the best-known and most enduring songs of its era. Critic Jason Ankeny writes, "No less an authority than Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...

 has declared 'Be My Baby' the greatest pop record ever made — no arguments here."

In her autobiography, lead vocalist Ronnie Spector
Ronnie Spector
Veronica Yvette "Ronnie" Spector is an American rock and roll and popular music vocalist, and was the lead singer of the 1960s hit-making girl group, The Ronettes, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. She is known as the "original bad girl of rock and roll."-Personal...

 relates that she was on tour with Joey Dee and the Starlighters when "Be My Baby" was introduced by Dick Clark on American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...

 as the "Record of the Century."

The drums were played by Hal Blaine
Hal Blaine
Hal Blaine is an American drummer and session musician. He is most known for his work with the Wrecking Crew in California. Blaine played on numerous hits by popular groups, including Elvis Presley, John Denver, the Ronettes, Simon & Garfunkel, the Carpenters, the Beach Boys, Nancy Sinatra, and...

. Darlene Love
Darlene Love
Darlene Love is an American popular music singer and actress. She gained prominence in the 1960s for the song "He's a Rebel," a #1 American single in 1962, and was part of the Phil Spector stable that produced a celebrated Christmas album in 1963....

 and Sonny and Cher were part of the group of guests that provided additional backup vocals.

Legacy and influence

The opening drum beat has been used in many other hit songs, such as Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...

's "Say Goodbye to Hollywood
Say Goodbye to Hollywood
For the similarly named Eminem song, see: The Eminem Show."Say Goodbye to Hollywood" is a song written & performed by Billy Joel, first released in 1976 on his album Turnstiles. The song achieved greater notoriety in 1981 when a live version from Songs in the Attic was released as a single...

" (1976), Meat Loaf
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...

's "You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth
You Took the Words Right out of My Mouth
"You Took the Words Right out of My Mouth" is the first single by the American musician Meat Loaf in his solo career. It is a track off his 1977 album Bat out of Hell, written by Jim Steinman.The album version includes a spoken word intro by Steinman and Marcia McClain...

" (1977), Asia
Asia (band)
Asia are an English rock group formed in 1981. The band was labelled a supergroup as it included former members of several veteran progressive rock bands, namely John Wetton , Geoff Downes , Steve Howe and Carl Palmer Asia are an English rock group formed in 1981. The band was labelled a...

's "Heat of the Moment
Heat of the Moment
UK 7" single-Chart performance:-Popular culture:* "Heat of the Moment" was repopularized in 2005 when it was featured in the motion pictures The 40-Year-Old Virgin and The Matador....

" (1982), Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...

's "Glory Days
Glory Days (song)
"Glory Days" is a 1984 song, written and performed by American rock singer Bruce Springsteen. In 1985, it became the fifth single released from his massively successful album Born in the U.S.A.-History:...

" (1984), The Jesus and Mary Chain
The Jesus and Mary Chain
The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride, Glasgow in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid...

's "Just Like Honey
Just Like Honey
"Just Like Honey" is a song by the Scottish alternative rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain from their 1985 debut album Psychocandy. The track was released as the third single from the record through Blanco y Negro Records in September 1985. The song was written by band members William Reid and Jim...

" (1985), Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...

's "The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (song)
"The Phantom of the Opera" is a song from the stage musical of the same name, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, sung by Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, lyrics written by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe, and additional lyrics by Mike Batt...

" (1986), Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion, Oklahoma but formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Anthony Caleb Followill , Ivan Nathan Followill and Michael Jared Followill Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion,...

's "The Bucket
The Bucket
"The Bucket" is the first single taken from the Aha Shake Heartbreak album by the American rock band Kings of Leon. It is one of the band's most successful singles, reaching number 16 in the UK Singles Chart and number 23 in the U.S...

" (2004), and Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...

's "Hair
Hair (Lady Gaga song)
"Hair" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga, from her second studio album Born This Way . Written and produced by Gaga and RedOne, "Hair" was released worldwide digitally on May 16, 2011, as the only promotional single from the album, as part of the iTunes Store's "Countdown...

" (2011).

Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...

 considers his song "Don't Worry Baby
Don't Worry Baby
"Don’t Worry Baby" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Roger Christian, produced by Wilson and first recorded by the Beach Boys. The band's version, a tender ballad with falsetto lead vocal by Brian, was first released on their 1964 album Shut Down Volume 2. It was also released as the B-side of...

" (performed by The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...

) to be the 'male answer' to this song. Purportedly, at one time, Wilson is said to have listened to the song in excess of 100 times a day. Spector once said of Wilson: "I'd like to have a nickel for every joint he smoked trying to figure out how I got the 'Be My Baby' sound."

In 1986, Eddie Money
Eddie Money
Eddie Money is an American rock guitarist, saxophonist and singer-songwriter who found success in the 1970s and 1980s with a string of Top 40 hits and platinum albums...

's "Take Me Home Tonight
Take Me Home Tonight
"Take Me Home Tonight" is a song by American rock singer Eddie Money, from his album Can't Hold Back, released in 1986. It was released as a single and reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks...

" included the lyrics "Just like Ronnie sang" and Ronnie Spector herself singing part of the chorus to "Be My Baby".

Mutya Buena
Mutya Buena
Rosa Isabel Mutya Buena is an English recording artist who rose to fame as a member of girl group the Sugababes. With the Sugababes, Buena had four UK number one singles, an additional six top-ten hits and three multi-platinum albums. After leaving the group in December 2005, she released her...

 and Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...

 recorded a derivative song "B Boy Baby
B Boy Baby
"B Boy Baby" is a song written by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Angela Hunte. It was produced by Salaam Remi for Mutya Buena's debut album, Real Girl, and was released as the fourth and final single from the album.-Background:...

" based around the chorus of the song, for Mutya's debut album Real Girl
Real Girl
Real Girl is the debut solo album by British recording artist Mutya Buena. It was released on June 4, 2007 via Universal Records, following her departure from UK girl-group the Sugababes in December 2005.-Singles:...

.

The song is played over the opening credits of the 1973 Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...

 film, Mean Streets
Mean Streets
Mean Streets is a 1973 drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Scorsese and Mardik Martin. The film stars Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro. It was released by Warner Bros. on October 2, 1973...

, in an 1987 episode of the tv show Moonlighting
Moonlighting
Moonlighting is the practice of holding a second job . It may also refer to:* Moonlighting , a 1982 drama film by Jerzy Skolimowski* Moonlighting , broadcast in 1985–1989 and starring Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd...

, in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing
Dirty Dancing
Dirty Dancing is a 1987 American romantic film. Written by Eleanor Bergstein and directed by Emile Ardolino, the film features Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in the lead roles, as well as Cynthia Rhodes and Jerry Orbach...

and in the end credits of the 2008 movie Baby Mama
Baby Mama
"Baby Mama" is an R&B/hip-hop song by Fantasia from her debut album Free Yourself. It was released as the album's third single on May 3, 2005 and was produced by Co-Stars and Harold Lilly...

.

Cover versions

The song has been covered many times by artists including Andy Kim
Andy Kim
Andrew Youakim, performing as Andy Kim, is a Lebanese Canadian pop rock singer and songwriter. He grew up in Montreal, Quebec in Canada. Kim is known for a number of hit singles that he released in the late 1960s and early 1970s such as "Rock Me Gently", which topped the US singles charts. In 1968,...

 (a 1970 chart hit produced by Jeff Barry
Jeff Barry
Jeff Barry is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer.-Early career:...

), John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

 (whose version
John Lennon Anthology
John Lennon Anthology is a box set of home demos, alternative studio outtakes and other unreleased material recorded by John Lennon over the course of his solo career from "Give Peace a Chance" in 1969 up until the 1980 sessions for Double Fantasy and Milk and Honey.The anthology was divided by its...

 also was produced by Spector in 1973), Graham Bonnet
Graham Bonnet
Graham Bonnet is an English rock vocalist, and songwriter. He has recorded and performed as a solo artist, and as a member of several hard rock and heavy metal bands including Rainbow, the Michael Schenker Group, Alcatrazz, and Impellitteri.-Early days:Bonnet was born in Skegness in 1947...

,The Drones, Johnny Goudie
Johnny Goudie
John Charles "Johnny" Goudie is a Cuban-American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumental musician, record producer, actor, and podcaster based in Austin, Texas...

, The Lightning Seeds, the Bay City Rollers
Bay City Rollers
The Bay City Rollers were a Scottish pop band who were most popular in the 1970s. The British Hit Singles & Albums noted that they were "tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh", and were "the first of many acts heralded as the 'Biggest Group since The Beatles' and one of the most screamed-at...

, Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult, often abbreviated BÖC, is an American rock band, most of whose members first came together in Long Island, NY in 1967 as the band Soft White Underbelly...

, Rachel Sweet
Rachel Sweet
Rachel Sweet is an American singer, television writer and actress.-Biography:After beginning her singing career at the age of three, when she won an electric garage door opener in a singing contest, she began recording commercials at the age of six, toured with Mickey Rooney, and performed in Las...

, The Chipettes
The Chipettes
The Chipettes are a fictional group of anthropomorphic chipmunk singers first appearing on the cartoon series Alvin and the Chipmunks in 1983. In this and related materials, the Chipettes served as female featured characters in their own right, starring in numerous episodes...

, We Are Scientists
We Are Scientists
We Are Scientists is a New York-based indie rock band that formed in Berkeley, California in 2000. Originally formed of Keith Murray on drums, Chris Cain playing bass guitar and Scott Lamb providing vocals and guitar, before Michael Tapper became drummer and Keith became vocalist and guitarist...

, Psyched Up Janis
Psyched Up Janis
Psyched Up Janis was a Danish rock band started by Sune Rose Wagner, now a member of The Raveonettes, Martin Bjerregaard, and Jakob Jørgensen.-Biography:...

, Whigfield
Whigfield
Sannie Charlotte Carlson , best known as Whigfield and also as Naan, is a Danish singer best known for the song "Saturday Night", a hugely popular single during the summer of 1994.-Biography:...

, Maroon 5
Maroon 5
Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. While they were in high school, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Adam Levine, keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, bass guitarist Mickey Madden, and drummer Ryan Dusick formed a garage band called Kara's Flowers and released one album...

, Glasvegas
Glasvegas
Glasvegas are a Scottish indie rock band from Glasgow. The band consists of James Allan , Rab Allan , Paul Donoghue and Jonna Löfgren . The band received critical acclaim for their debut album Glasvegas which was released in September 2008, reaching No...

, Ivy
Ivy (band)
Ivy is a New York City band composed of a trio of musicians, Adam Schlesinger, Dominique Durand, and Andy Chase.-Lately and Realistic:...

, Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...

, DM Stith
DM Stith
David Michael Stith is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who released his first album Heavy Ghost in 2009 on the Asthmatic Kitty label...

, Ultima Thule, Charly Garcia
Charly García
Charly García is a singer-songwriter, pianist and keyboardist from Argentina with a long career in rock music, forming successful groups such as Sui Generis and Serú Girán, cult status groups like La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros, and as a solo musician.-Early years:Charly García was the eldest son in...

 for the album "Sinfonía para adolescentes (Symphonies for Teenagers)" (Sui Generis
Sui Generis
Sui Generis is one of the most important rock bands in Argentine history, enjoying enormous success and popularity during the first half of the 1970s and a following that lasts to the present throughout South America...

 album), Jason Donovan
Jason Donovan
Jason Donovan is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 million records, and his début album Ten Good Reasons was one of the highest-selling albums of 1989...

 for the album "Let It Be Me
Let It Be Me (album)
Let It Be Me is the fourth studio album by the Australian singer Jason Donovan. It was released in November 2008, and was Donovan's first new studio album in 15 years. It reached no.28 in the UK....

" (2008), Travis
Travis (band)
Travis are a post-Britpop band from Glasgow, Scotland, comprising Fran Healy , Dougie Payne , Andy Dunlop and Neil Primrose...

 and Remi Nicole
Remi Nicole
Remi Nicole Wilson , better known as Remi Nicole, is an English singer-songwriter and actress who was born and lives in North London. She is best known for her single "Go Mr Sunshine", which was released in 2007. Her debut album, My Conscience & I, was released later that year and her second, Cupid...

. The Dollyrots
The Dollyrots
The Dollyrots are an American pop punk band composed of Kelly Ogden and Luis Cabezas . They have released three studio albums and are currently signed to the Blackheart Records label.-Formation:...

 recorded a version for their 2004 album Eat My Heart Out
Eat My Heart Out
Eat My Heart Out is the debut album by pop punk band The Dollyrots. It was released on 28 September 2004 on Lookout Records.-Release history:...

. British pop punk duo The Herman Post included a cover version of this track on their 2011 debut ep 'Put It There Buster'.

Jody Miller version

Country/pop singer Jody Miller
Jody Miller
Jody Brooks is an American country music singer. Born as Myrna Joy Miller, she was born in Phoenix, Arizona and raised in Oklahoma.-Career:...

 recorded a remake of the song that was a top 15 country hit and top 40 Adult contemporary hit in Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

in 1972.

Whigfield version

In 1999, Whigfield
Whigfield
Sannie Charlotte Carlson , best known as Whigfield and also as Naan, is a Danish singer best known for the song "Saturday Night", a hugely popular single during the summer of 1994.-Biography:...

 released her own version of "Be My Baby". It was released in various parts of the world, for example in Germany, Australia, Spain, Scandinavia and South America. The single was later featured on the album Whigfield III
Whigfield III
Whigfield III is the third studio album by Danish eurodance musician Whigfield, released in 2000.-Tracklist:#Be My Baby#Much More#Unbelievable#Lost in You#Makin' My Day#Outside#Upon A Star#All Your Love#Mi Amor#Waitin' For Saturday...

. A music video was shot in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

.

Millionaires cover

Millionaires
Millionaires (band)
Millionaires is a group consisting of two sisters, Melissa Marie and Allison Green, from Orange County, California. The group, formed in August 2007, was widely known for mixing heavily explicit lyrics with a bubbly electropop sound. Their image and lyrics have generated considerable controversy,...

 released a cover on YouTube on July 9, 2010. It features a video of them singing in a studio, shot in black and white.

Teen Queens Version

In 1992, the Australian girl group Teen Queens
Teen Queens
The Teen Queens were an Australian girl group, which scored a string of hit singles in the 1990s with updated remakes of hits from the 1950s and 1960s.-Background:...

 recorded a Dance-Pop version of "Be My Baby." This remake reached #6 on the ARIA Pop Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

 that same year.

Releases

  • Germany: CD-Maxi: ZYX Music
    ZYX Music
    ZYX Music is a German record label which was founded in 1971 by Bernhard Mikulski. Until 1992, the label's name was Pop-Import Bernhard Mikulski. The label specialized in disco and early house music. Founder Bernhard Mikulski is credited with coining the term Italo disco in the 1980s...

  1. Be My Baby (Radio Cut)
  2. Be My Baby (Edit House Mix)
  3. Be My Baby (Extended House Mix)
  4. Be My Baby (B.O.S. Mix)
  5. Be My Baby (Tequila Dub)
  6. Tu Seras Mi Baby (Spanish Version)

  • Germany: CD-Maxi: ZYX Music
  1. Be My Baby (Mark Perkins Radio Edit
    Radio edit
    In music, a radio edit is a modification to make a song more suitable for airplay, whether it be adjusted for length, profanity, subject matter, instrumentation, or form...

    )

  • Australian EP
  1. Be My Baby (Radio Cut)
  2. Be My Baby (Edit House Mix)
  3. Be My Baby (Extended House Mix)
  4. Be My Baby (BOS Mix)
  5. Be My Baby (Tequila Dub)

  • Other Versions
  1. Tu Seras Mi Baby (Extended House Mix - Spanish)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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