"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 Miracles (also known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group that was the first successful recording act for Berry Gordy's Motown Records, and one of the most important and most influential group ...

. The song was taken from the album of the same name, and written by Motown staff songwriters

Freddie Perren Frederick James Perren (May 15, 1943 – December 16, 2004) was an American songwriter, record producer, arranger, and orchestra conductor. He co-wrote and co-produced songs including "Boogie Fever" by the Sylvers, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gay ...

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 William L. Griffin (born August 15, 1950) is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known for replacing Smokey Robinson as lead singer of The Miracles in 1972. Biography Griffin was born and raised in West Baltimore, Maryland. He attende ...

, 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 mi ...

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 adverti ...

'' 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 Marvin Tarplin (June 13, 1941 – September 30, 2011) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist for the Miracles from the 1950s through the early 1970s. He was one of the group's original members and co-wrote several of their bigges ...

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)''.

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

: lead vocals *

Ronnie White Ronald Anthony White (April 5, 1939 – August 26, 1995), usually referred to as Ronnie White, was an American singer, best known as the co-founder of The Miracles and its only consistent original member. White was also known for bringing Stevi ...

, Pete Moore and

Bobby Rogers Robert Edward Rogers (February 19, 1940 – March 3, 2013) was an American musician and tenor singer, best known as a member of Motown vocal group the Miracles from 1956 until his death. He was inducted, in 2012, as a member of the Miracles to t ...

: background vocals *Donald Griffin: guitar

Other credits

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 ...

: 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 {{1970s-single-stub