"Baby, I Love You" is a song originally recorded by

the Ronettes The Ronettes were an American girl group from Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City. The group consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett (later known as Ronnie Spector), her older sister Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley. The ...

in 1963 and released on their debut album '' Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes'' (1964). The song was written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

, and

produced Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

by Spector. Released in November 1963, the single reached number 24 on both the US ''Billboard''

Hot 100 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 ...

and ''Cashbox'' Top 100 charts, and peaked at number 11 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. ''Billboard'' ranked the song as number 56 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.

Original recording

After their lack of success under contract to

Colpix Records Colpix Records was the first recording company for Columbia Pictures–Screen Gems. Colpix got its name from combining Columbia (Col) and Pictures (Pix). CBS, which owned Columbia Records, then sued Columbia Pictures for trademark infringement ov ...

between 1961 and 1963, the Ronettes ended their Colpix contract and signed with Phil Spector's Philles Records in early 1963. During their first few months with Phil Spector, the Ronettes achieved mainstream success with the release of " Be My Baby" in August 1963, which climbed to number two on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and peaked at number one on the ''Cashbox'' Hot 100. It was the success of "Be My Baby" which had Spector eager to do a follow-up for the Ronettes in the fall of 1963. However, a problem arose when the Ronettes were booked to appear on

Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 198 ...

's "Caravan of Stars" tour across the country. Phil Spector decided to keep lead singer Ronnie Bennett in California to record "Baby, I Love You" while the other two Ronettes, Estelle Bennett and Nedra Talley, went out on the tour with Dick Clark. Ronnie's cousin, Elaine, took her place on the tour while Ronnie recorded the song at

Gold Star Studios Gold Star Studios was an independent recording studio located in Los Angeles, California, United States. For more than thirty years, from 1950 to 1984, Gold Star was one of the most successful commercial recording studios in the world. Founded ...

in Los Angeles. Since the other Ronettes were unavailable for recording, Spector used Sonny Bono, Darlene Love, and

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

to complete the backing vocals. The song also featured

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and ...

on piano. "Baby, I Love You" peaked at number 11 in the UK during January 1964, at a time when the Ronettes were touring the UK as the support act to the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' described the song as a "swinging, glandular side that should soar," stating it has the "big Philadelphia sound." ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' described it as a "big-sounding mashed potatoes stomp’er that the gals and their instrumental support deliver in ultra-commercial manner," also calling it a "sensational new entry." The song was featured on the album '' Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes'', which was released at the end of 1964.

Personnel

*Lead vocals by Ronnie Bennett *Background vocals by

, Sonny Bono, and the Blossoms ( Darlene Love, Fanita James, and Gracia Nitzsche) *Instrumentation by the Wrecking Crew

Chart history

Andy Kim version

Andy Kim recorded the song for Jeff Barry's record label

Steed Records Steed Records was a record label founded by songwriter-record producer Jeff Barry in 1967 in New York City. The label was active until 1971. It was first distributed by Dot Records, then by Gulf+Western's Famous Music Group after it absorbed Dot. ...

on his album '' Baby I Love You'' (1969). Kim's version became a US Top Ten

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, reaching number nine in 1969 and earned a gold record.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Ramones version

Phil Spector produced the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the song which appeared on their album, ''

End of the Century ''End of the Century'' is the fifth studio album by the American punk rock band Ramones, released on February 4, 1980, through Sire Records. The album was the band's first to be produced by Phil Spector, though he had offered the band his assis ...

'' (1980). The single reached number eight in the UK Singles Chart in 1980, their biggest UK top-ten hit.

Background and reception

In an incident at Spector's house, the producer held the Ramones hostage at gunpoint and made them listen to him play "Baby, I Love You" until 4:30 in the morning. Spector insisted that the Ramones recorded a cover of the song and got Joey Ramone to sing it with some session musicians, as none of the other members of the Ramones would play on it.

Joey Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a Blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horace ...

has said that "it didn't sound anything like the Ramones" and he hated the song.

Mickey Leigh Mickey is a given name and nickname, almost always masculine and often a short form (hypocorism) of Michael, and occasionally a surname. Notable people and characters with the name include: People Given name or nickname Men * Mickey Andrews (bor ...

(Joey's brother) has said "it made me almost embarrassed", "with its gooey string section arrangement that sounded right out of Redbone's "

Come and Get Your Love "Come and Get Your Love" is a song by American rock band Redbone. The song was originally released as a promo track under the name "Hail" and was later featured on their fifth album, ''Wovoka'' (1973), under its current name. The song was rel ...

"".

Kurt Loder Kurtis Loder (born May 5, 1945) is an American entertainment critic, author, columnist, and television personality. He served in the 1980s as editor at ''Rolling Stone'', during a tenure that ''Reason'' later called "legendary". He has contribute ...

for the ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' described it as a "sludged-out rehash of the Ronettes antiquity" that was "a bad idea to begin with, and one that’s further burdened by the cheesiest string arrangement this side of the Longines Symphonette". Reviewing ''End of the Century'' retrospectively for ''Pitchfork'', Evan Minsker wrote that "even with a full understanding of ''End of the Century''’s context, “Baby, I Love You” is jarring" and "is a museum piece—a pound-for-pound attempt to relive Spector’s golden years".

Charts

References

{{authority control 1963 songs 1963 singles 1969 singles 1972 singles 1980 singles Songs written by Phil Spector Songs written by Jeff Barry Songs written by Ellie Greenwich The Ronettes songs Dave Edmunds songs Andy Kim songs Ramones songs Song recordings produced by Phil Spector Song recordings with Wall of Sound arrangements RPM Top Singles number-one singles Philles Records singles Sire Records singles Rock ballads Pop ballads