This, That, and the Other

For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday theme, Jim Adams has given us “girl groups” music. He defines a a girl group as a music act containing all, generally young, female singers who sing in complex harmonies with one another. The girl group I decided to go with is the Ronettes, and the song is “Be my Baby.”

“Be My Baby” was a song by the American girl group the Ronettes. It was released as a single on Philles Records in August 1963. Written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector, the song was the Ronettes’ biggest hit, reaching number 2 in the U.S. and number 4 in the UK. It is often ranked as among the best songs of the 1960s, and it is regarded by some as one of the greatest songs of all time. It turned out to be the only Top 10 song for the Ronettes.

The Ronettes were Veronica (Ronnie) Bennett, her sister Estelle Bennett and their cousin Nedra Talley. This was the first Ronettes song produced by Phil Spector and released on his label, Philles. He had already produced seven chart hits when he auditioned The Ronettes for his Philles record label. The song exemplified Spector’s “Wall Of Sound” production technique, where he layered lots of instruments and used echo effects.

Veronica Bennett was the only Ronette to sing on this recording. Phil Spector rehearsed her for weeks and had her do 42 takes before he got the sound he wanted.

The song is about a girl who is trying to convince a guy she likes to give her a chance. She lets him know that she’s been into him from the day they met, and she thinks they can be together forever. In an interview with National Public Radio (NPR), Ronnie Spector said she felt the song was inspired by her budding romance with Phil Spector. Spector and Bennett got married in 1968, and they divorced in 1974.

Interesting factoid #1: Before she became famous, Cher sang backup vocals on “Be My Baby.” According to Spector’s engineer, Larry Levine, they had to back Cher off the microphone because her voice cut through so powerfully.

Interesting factoid #2: On April 13, 2009, Phil Spector was found guilty of murdering actress Lana Clarkson in February 2003. Spector was sentenced to nineteen years to life in state prison and died in a prison hospital in 2021.

Here are the lyrics to “Be My Baby.”

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)
Whoa-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)
Whoa-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)
Whoa-oh-oh-oh

(Be my, be my baby)
Be my little baby? (My one and only baby)
Oh-oh-oh (be my, be my baby)
Oh (my one and only baby)
Whoa-oh-oh-oh (be my, be my baby)
Oh-oh-oh (My one and only baby)
Oh (be my, be my baby)