"Do It Baby" is a 1974 single recorded and released by the
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 ...
R&B group
The Miracles. The song was taken from the
album of the same name, and written by Motown staff songwriters
Freddie Perren and Christine Yarian and produced by Perren.
Background
"Do It Baby" marked the soul quintet's first top forty hit over a year and a half after the departure of the group's most important member, former leader
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...
and the inclusion of
Billy Griffin, who took over Robinson's lead position in 1973.
The song's production also was a far departure from the group's earliest sounds as they embraced a
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
ier production style. The single was released off of the group's 1974 album of the same name and reached the ''
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 ...
'' Pop Top 20, selling over one million copies.
In addition to Billy Griffin, his brother, new Miracles member Donald Griffin, replaced original Miracle
Marv Tarplin on guitar. Tarplin continued to tour and work with Smokey Robinson. The Miracles can be seen performing ''Do It Baby'' on the Motown/Universal DVD release: The Miracles: ''
The Definitive Performances (1963-1987)
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
''.
Chart performance
"Do It Baby" peaked at number 13 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 and The Top 10 on the
Hot Selling Soul Singles chart in early 1974, peaking at #4,
and would remain their biggest post-Robinson hit until the 1975 release of "
Love Machine", which was one of the group's only two singles to reach number-one on the Billboard Hot 100. Some radio stations banned the song as being too suggestive of sexuality, which was why the song did not get into the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts.
Personnel: The Miracles
*
Billy Griffin: lead vocals
*
Ronnie White,
Pete Moore and
Bobby Rogers: background vocals
*Donald Griffin: guitar
Other credits
*
The Funk Brothers: instrumentation
Chart history
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Cover versions
*This song has inspired cover versions by
Jimmy Ponder
Jimmy Ponder (May 10, 1946 – September 16, 2013) was an American jazz guitarist.
Career
When Ponder's brother entered the military, he left his guitar, and Ponder picked it up. In his early teens he received lessons from the guitarist in a ba ...
.
*Red Holt (of Young-Holt Unlimited).
References
External links
*
1974 singles
The Miracles songs
Tamla Records singles
Songs written by Freddie Perren
1974 songs
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