"Baby, I'm for Real" is a

soul ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. Cu ...

written by

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

and

Anna Gordy Gaye Anna Ruby Gaye (née Gordy; January 28, 1922 – January 31, 2014) was an American businesswoman, composer and songwriter. An elder sister of Motown founder Berry Gordy, she became a record executive in the mid-to-late 1950s distributing records ...

, produced by Marvin and recorded and released by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

vocal group The Originals for the

Soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

label issued in 1969.

History

The Originals version

By the late sixties, male vocal quintet the Originals had been recording mostly background vocals for Motown artists most notably backing up brothers

Jimmy Ruffin Jimmy Lee RuffinRibowsky, Mark (2010), ''Ain't Too Proud to Beg: The Troubled Lives and Enduring Soul of the Temptations'', Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, p. 89. . (May 7, 1936 – November 17, 2014) was an American soul singer, and ...

What Becomes of the Brokenhearted "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" is a hit single recorded by Jimmy Ruffin and released on Motown Records' Soul label in the summer of 1966. It is a ballad, with lead singer Jimmy Ruffin recalling the pain that befalls the broken-hearted who h ...

") and

David Ruffin David Eli Ruffin (born Davis Eli Ruffin;Ribowsky, p. 88 January 18, 1941 – June 1, 1991) was an American soul singer and musician most famous for his work as one of the lead singers of the Temptations (1964–68) during the group's "Clas ...

My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me) "My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)" is the solo debut single for former Temptations lead singer David Ruffin, released on Motown Records in early 1969 (see 1969 in music). The song was written by Harvey Fuqua, Johnny Bristol, Pam S ...

") respectively. They also were as known for providing background vocals to some of

's late sixties recordings such as " Chained". But their own singles up until then had failed to generate interest. Having befriended Gaye during recording sessions, the singer promised the group that he'll find them the hit they were searching for. With music written with his wife Anna, Marvin wrote the lyrics to a song called "The Bells I Hear" by Bobby Taylor with The Originals taking the place of The Vancouvers as background vocalists. Different from most Motown recordings of the period, directed by the

psychedelic soul Psychedelic soul (originally called black rock or conflated with psychedelic funk) is a music genre that emerged in the late 1960s and saw Black soul musicians embrace elements of psychedelic rock, including its production techniques, instrumenta ...

productions of

Norman Whitfield Norman Jesse Whitfield (May 12, 1940 – September 16, 2008) was an American songwriter and producer, who worked with Berry Gordy's Motown labels during the 1960s. allmusic Biography/ref> He has been credited as one of the creators of the Mo ...

, the song was a return to a back-to-basics

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

inspired approach which was championed by Gaye, who took creative control of the recording as the song's producer. Shelving the song and rewriting it as "Baby I'm For Real" and its follow-up "The Bells", Gaye had each member of the band provide a lead vocal on each of the verses while also singing along in the background. The singer would also produce another song titled "You're the One". While that song failed to chart, he pushed ahead for "...Real". Gaye had protested to Motown CEO

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record la ...

that he wanted to produce his own material and he used the Originals to help get his point across that he can provide a hit as he eventually did for the Originals as "Baby I'm For Real" reached number one on the Billboard Top Black Singles chart and reached number fourteen on the

Pop Singles chart The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming in ...

,. eventually selling over a million copies and putting the Originals on the map for a brief period as recording artists. The song's success paved the way for two more successful Gaye-helmed productions: the follow-up " The Bells" (1970) and "We Can Make It, Baby". It is well known that guitarist, Mike Dutton is a big fan of the strings in this song.

Cover versions

Esther Phillips version

Esther Phillips Esther Phillips (born Esther Mae Jones; December 23, 1935 – August 7, 1984) was an American singer, best known for her R&B vocals.Santelli, Robert (2001). ''The Big Book of Blues: A Biographical Encyclopedia''. Penguin Books. p. 376. . She ...

recorded a version which peaked at position 38 on ''Billboard's'' R&B chart in 1972.

Bohannon version

In 1980, percussionist

Hamilton Bohannon Hamilton Frederick Bohannon (March 7, 1942 – April 24, 2020), often credited and known professionally simply as Bohannon, was an American percussionist, band leader, songwriter, arranger, and record producer, who was one of the leading figure ...

recorded it as a duet with Caroline Crawford and the tune appeared on his ''Music In The Air'' LP.

Sherrick version

Los Angeles-based R&B singer/balladeer Sherrick, released a version of the song on single, which peaked at #53 on Billboard's Hot R&B\Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. It was taken from his 1987 album entitled '' Sherrick'' for

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. On January 22, 1999, Sherrick died at the age of 41, of unknown causes in Los Angeles, California.

After 7 version

In 1992, R&B group After 7 sought to revive this song while recording their ''Takin' My Time'' album. Issued as the first release off that album, they also covered parts of Bloodstone's " Natural High". The song returned to the upper reaches of the R&B charts some twenty-three years after it was first recorded, eventually peaking at number five.

"Baby, I'm for Real - '82"

The Originals themselves rerecorded the song for the independent Phase II label in 1982. The song was released as "Baby, I'm for Real - '82", and was credited to The Originals featuring group member Hank Dixon. The song was produced by former Motown musician

. It proved to be the group's last single before disbanding.

Personnel

The Originals version

*Lead and background vocals by The Originals:

C. P. Spencer C. P. Spencer (born Crathman Plato Spencer, January 13, 1938 – October 20, 2004) was an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer for the Motown label in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was a native of Detroit, Michigan. Best ...

, Henry Dixon,

Freddie Gorman Freddie Gorman (born Frederick Cortez Gorman, April 11, 1939 – June 13, 2006) was an American musician and record producer, most famous as a singer, songwriter for the Motown label in the late 1960s and mid 1970s. He was a native of Detroi ...

and Walter Gaines *Produced by Marvin Gaye and Richard Morris *Instrumentation by

The Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

, Marvin Gaye (drums) and the

Detroit Symphony Orchestra The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood. Jader Bignamini is the current music d ...

After 7 version

*Lead and background vocals by Melvin Edmonds, Keith Mitchell and Kevon Edmonds

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baby I'm for Real 1969 singles 1992 singles The Originals (band) songs After 7 songs Music videos directed by Big T.V. Songs written by Marvin Gaye Songs written by Anna Gordy Gaye Song recordings produced by Marvin Gaye 1969 songs