Pop Music

The song “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes is a record that was part of pioneering a new sound. “Be My Baby” is credited to legendary songwriters Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector. The latter produced the song and released it on his label Philles Records. Spector’s “wall of sound” that he was developing in the early 1960s incorporates dense layers of instruments from the tiniest bell to the biggest rumble plus echo effects.  “Be My Baby” includes The Ronettes, a trio from Washington Heights in New York City. They were Veronica (Ronnie) Bennett, who became Ronnie Spector,  her sister Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley. The song was recorded at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles and also  included Don Randi (piano), Hal Blaine (drums ), Frank Capp ( drums), Al de Lory (keyboards), Bill Pitman (guitar), Ray Pohlman (bass), and Tommy Tedesco (guitar). There are additional backup vocals from Darlene Love and Cher, who worked with Phil Spector at the time. In 1963, the song reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on the R&B chart.

There have been numerous covers (including Brian Wilson, Linda Ronstadt, the Bay City Rollers, Blue Oyster Cut, Maroon 5, and Tommy Roe). The song has been featued in the films Mean Streets and Dirty Dancing as well as on TV on Moonlighting and The Wonder Years. One other bit of trivia is that Eddie Money’s  “Take Me Home Tonight” has Ronnie Spector singing “Be my little baby” when the song says, “Just like Ronnie sang…”

Here are the lyrics to “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes:

“The night we met I knew I needed you so
And if I had the chance I’d never let you go.
So won’t you say you love me,
I’ll make you so proud of me.
We’ll make ’em turn their heads every place we go.

So won’t you, please, be my be my baby
Be my little baby my one and only baby
Say you’ll be my darlin’, be my be my baby
Be my baby now, my one and only baby
Wha-oh-oh-oh.

I’ll make you happy, baby, just wait and see.
For every kiss you give me I’ll give you three.
Oh, since the day I saw you
I have been waiting for you.
You know I will adore you ’til eternity.

So won’t you, please, be my be my baby
Be my little baby my one and only baby
Say you’ll be my darlin’, be my be my baby
Be my baby now, my one and only baby
Wha-oh-oh-oh.

So come on and, please, be my be my baby
Be my little baby my one and only baby
Say you’ll be my darlin’, be my be my baby
Be my baby now, my one and only baby
Wha-oh-oh-oh.

Be my be my baby be my little baby.
My one and only baby oh oh,
Be my be my baby oh,
My one and only baby wha-oh-oh-oh-oh.
Be my be my baby oh,
My one and only baby
Be my be my baby oh,
Be my baby now”

For another song by The Ronettes: “Sleigh Ride.”

For More Golden Oldies Music

The Daily Doo Wop Rec Room has daily featured doo wop, rock and roll, R&B, or rockabilly songs that were hits during the first era of rock and roll (that is, from about 1952 until the British invasion in 1964). After a song is featured, it then goes into the juke box. You are welcome to listen to any of the 40+ selections there. Every weekend, there is a Golden Oldies Juke Box Saturday Night, and the juke box is full of song requests from the 1950s and 1960s.

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