"Since I Met You Baby" is an American rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

 song written and recorded by pianist Ivory Joe Hunter

Ivory Joe Hunter

Ivory Joe Hunter was an American rhythm and blues singer, songwriter, and pianist. After a series of hits on the US R&B chart starting in the mid 1940s, he became more widely known for his hit recording, "Since I Met You Baby" . He was billed as The Baron of the Boogie, and also known as The...

. The song, which Hunter recorded in 1956, became an American standard

Standard (music)

In music, a standard is a tune or song of established popularity.-See also:* Blues standard* Jazz standard* Pop standard* Great American Songbook-Further reading:* Greatest Rock Standards, published by Hal Leonard ISBN 0793588391...

, and saw renewed popularity in 1969 when country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 artist Sonny James

Sonny James

James Loden , known professionally as Sonny James, is an American country music singer and songwriter best known for his 1957 hit, "Young Love". Dubbed the Southern Gentleman, James had 72 country and pop chart hits from 1953 to 1983, including a five-year streak of 16 straight among his 23 No. 1...

 released his hit version.

Song background

Hunter had already tasted major success with popular and rhythm and blues audiences with songs such as "I Almost Lost My Mind

I Almost Lost My Mind

"I Almost Lost My Mind" is a popular song. It was written by Ivory Joe Hunter and was published in 1950. Hunter's recording of the song was a number one hit on the US Billboard R&B chart in that year....

". He moved to Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

 by 1954, and around that time wrote "Since I Met You Baby."

The song, a 12-bar blues, was described by Allmusic critic Steve Huey as "a masterpiece of smooth, bluesy elegance" and "decidedly removed from the tide of raucous rock & roll sweeping the country." In fact, compared to many of the other uptempo, rock-beat songs of the period, the song was "augmented by a wordless vocal choir (supervised by Ray Ellis

Ray Ellis

Ray Ellis was an American record producer, arranger and conductor. The orchestration for Billie Holiday's Lady in Satin is probably his best known work in the jazz vein.-Biography:...

 who also did the orchestral arrangement) that's strongly reminiscent of traditional pop recordings of the period," wrote Huey. Saxophonist Jesse Powell provided the harmony on the second verse.

"Since I Met You Baby" topped the Billboard magazine Rhythm and Blues Records

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...

 chart for three weeks in 1956, and became Hunter's only Billboard Hot 100

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...

 entry, stopping at No. 12.

Atlantic licensed the recording to Quality Records

Quality Records

Quality Records is a Canadian entertainment company which released music albums in Canada on behalf of American record labels, and also released recordings by Canadian artists...

 in Canada and EMI

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

's Columbia

Columbia Graphophone Company

The Columbia Graphophone Company was one of the earliest gramophone companies in the United Kingdom. Under EMI, as Columbia Records, it became a very successful label in the 1950s and 1960s...

 label in the UK.

Hunter was presented with a gold record for this song which was awarded during his appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show

The Ed Sullivan Show

The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....

.

Sonny James

Sonny James had major success covering pop standards, both of the present time and of the past, during the 1960s. In 1969 alone, he had reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

 chart with two such covers: "Only the Lonely

Only the Lonely

"Only the Lonely " is a 1960 song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson. Recorded by Orbison, it became his first major hit. As an operatic rock ballad, it was a sound unheard of at the time, described by the New York Times as expressing "a clenched, driven urgency". It is seen as a seminal event...

" and "Running Bear

Running Bear

"Running Bear" is a song written by J. P. Richardson sung most famously by Johnny Preston in 1959. Preston first sang the song in 1959 with background vocals by Richardson and George Jones, who do the Indian chanting of "UGO UGO" during the three verses, as well as the Indian war cries...

."

"Since I Met You Baby" was James' third cover song released during 1969. Supposedly recorded live (the song's introduction and fade out features a cheering audience), the audience was added to the studio recording. James took the song to No. 1 on the Hot Country Singles chart that October. His 13th chart-topper overall, the song was his ninth consecutive country No. 1 in an eventual string of 16 straight chart-toppers in as many single releases, dating between 1967 and 1971.

Other artists

Mindy Carson

Mindy Carson

Mindy Carson , an American traditional pop vocalist, was heard often on radio during the 1940s and 1950s.She was born in New York City. In 1946, still in her teens, she won an audition to the radio program, Stairway to the Stars. This gave her a chance to perform with Paul Whiteman's band and...

 had a chart version of the song in 1957

1957 in music

-Events:*January 5 – Renato Carosone and his band start their American tour in Cuba.*January 6 – Elvis Presley makes his final appearance on the The Ed Sullivan Show.*January 16 – The Cavern Club opens in Liverpool, UK....

.

Country-Tejano artist Freddy Fender

Freddy Fender

Freddy Fender , born Baldemar Garza Huerta in San Benito, Texas, United States, was a Mexican-American Tejano, country and rock and roll musician, known for his work as a solo artist and in the groups Los Super Seven and the Texas Tornados...

 had a major country hit in the mid-1970s with a cover version of the song.

Countless other artists have recorded "Since I Met You Baby," and they represented a wide range of genres. A partial listing includes Pat Boone

Pat Boone

Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...

, Bill Anderson

Bill Anderson (country music)

James William Anderson III , better known as Bill Anderson, is an American country music singer, songwriter and television personality. He has released more than 40 studio albums and has reached No...

, Paul Evans

Paul Evans

Paul Evans may refer to:*Paul Evans , British Olympic runner*Paul Evans , American college basketball coach*Paul Evans , Canadian ice hockey player in the National Hockey League who played for the Philadelphia Flyers*Paul Evans Paul Evans may refer to:*Paul Evans (athlete) (born 1961), British...

, Mickey Gilley

Mickey Gilley

Mickey Leroy Gilley is an American country music singer and musician. Although he started out singing straight-up country and western material in the 1970s, he moved towards a more pop-friendly sound in the 1980s, bringing him further success on not just the country charts, but the pop charts as...

, Bruce Channel

Bruce Channel

Bruce Channel is an American singer, known for his 1962 million selling number one hit, "Hey! Baby".-Career:...

, Sam Cooke

Sam Cooke

Samuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...

, Willy DeVille

Willy DeVille

Willy DeVille was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five year career, first with his band Mink DeVille and later on his own, Deville created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary...

, José Feliciano

José Feliciano

José Feliciano is a Puerto Rican singer, virtuoso guitarist and composer known for many international hits including the 1970 holiday single "Feliz Navidad".-Childhood:...

, Narvel Felts

Narvel Felts

Narvel Felts is an American country music singer. Known for his soaring tenor and high falsetto, Felts enjoyed his greatest success during the 1970s, most famously 1975's "Reconsider Me."-Career:...

, B.B. King, Wanda Jackson

Wanda Jackson

Wanda Lavonne Jackson is an American singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist who had success in the mid-1950s and 60s as one of the first popular female rockabilly singers and a pioneering rock and roll artist...

, Solomon Burke

Solomon Burke

Solomon Burke was an American singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, mortician, and an archbishop of the United House of Prayer For All People. Burke was known as "King Solomon", the "King of Rock 'n' Soul", and as the "Bishop of Soul", and described as "the Muhammad Ali of soul", and as "the most...

, Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...

, Dean Martin

Dean Martin

Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...

, Lou Rawls

Lou Rawls

Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...

, Gary Moore

Gary Moore

Robert William Gary Moore , better known simply as Gary Moore, was a Northern Irish musician from Belfast, best recognised as a blues rock guitarist and singer....

, Bobby Vee

Bobby Vee

Robert Thomas Velline , known as Bobby Vee, is an American pop music singer. According to Billboard magazine, Vee has had 38 Hot 100 chart hits, 10 of which hit the Top 20.-Career:...

 and Johnny "Guitar" Watson.

Succession