Be My Baby

June 15, 2024

This month I’m focusing on Rock Songs of the 60s.

Today our song is:  Be My Baby

Wikipedia tells us this about the song:

"Be My Baby" was written by Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich at Spector's office in Los Angeles. Early in 1963, Spector auditioned a vocal group trio – composed of sisters Veronica (also known as "Ronnie") and Estelle Bennett with their cousin Nedra Talley – who were performing under the names "Ronnie and the Relatives" and "the Ronettes". Impressed by Ronnie's lead on an impromptu performance of the 1956 hit "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", Spector offered an original song for the group to record, "Why Don't They Let Us Fall in Love". They recorded the song at Gold Star Studios, but Spector withheld its release, as he had felt that the group needed more time to refine their stage act.

Spector, who had been struggling with marital issues, developed a romantic fixation on Ronnie at this time. Biographer Mick Brown surmised that Spector may have "intended 'Be My Baby' as an explicit declaration of his growing feelings for Ronnie", and that the song, in retrospect, served as a foreshadowing of their marriage, which lasted from the late 1960s through the early 1970s. Singer Darlene Love, who had recorded with Spector, said that "Be My Baby" was effectively a means for Spector to declare his love to Ronnie.

Enjoy!