"Don't You Worry My Little Pet" is a song written by

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 ...

for the American pop quartet

the Teddy Bears The Teddy Bears were an American pop music group. They were record producer Phil Spector's first vocal group. History Following graduation from Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, California, Phil Spector became obsessed with "To Know Him Is t ...

, of which he was a member. It was released in September 1958 as the B-side of the group's "

To Know Him Is to Love Him "To Know Him Is to Love Him" is a song written by Phil Spector, inspired by words on his father's tombstone, "To Know Him Was to Love Him." It was first recorded by the only vocal group of which he was a member, the Teddy Bears. Their recording ...

", which topped 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 ...

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 ...

Background and recording

Spector wrote the upbeat

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm ...

song based on his then-current favorite performers,

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

and

the Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 193 ...

. It was his first experience with studio recording; the production was achieved by taking a demo tape of the song and playing it back over the studio's speaker system in order to overdub another performance over it. The end product was a cacophony, with stacked harmony vocals that could not be heard clearly. He would develop these methods further, culminating in what would later be dubbed the

Wall of Sound The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of sessio ...

. On May 20, 1958, the song was recorded 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 ...

, Hollywood in a single two-hour session. According to biographer Mick Brown: "Nobody apart from Spector was really convinced the song was any good. tudio ownerStan Ross would later dismiss it as 'a piece of crap', and even Anette Kleinbart thought it was 'dreadful'."

Personnel

;The Teddy Bears * Carol Connors (formerly Annette Kleinbard) – vocals *Harvey Goldstein – vocals * Marshall Leib – vocals *

– vocals

Art and Dotty Todd version

On November 17, 1958, another version recorded by Art and Dotty Todd was given a four-star rating in ''Billboard'', indicating "very strong sales potential". The publication referred to it a "swingy rocker ... Side moves, and it could get some action."

References

{{authority control 1958 songs Songs written by Phil Spector Song recordings with Wall of Sound arrangements