"Oh No Not My Baby" is a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. The song's lyrics describe how friends and family repeatedly warn the singer about a partner's infidelities. The song is regarded as an American

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

due to its long-time popularity with both music listeners and recording artists.

History

The first released version of "Oh No Not My Baby" was by Maxine Brown, according to whom the song had first been recorded by her

Scepter Records Scepter Records was an American record company founded in 1959 by Florence Greenberg. History Florence Greenberg founded Scepter Records from the $4,000 she received after she sold Tiara Records and the Shirelles to Decca Records. When the Shire ...

' roster-mates

the Shirelles The Shirelles were an American girl group formed in Passaic, New Jersey in 1957. They consisted of schoolmates Shirley Owens (later Shirley Alston Reeves), Doris Coley (later Doris Kenner-Jackson), Addie "Micki" Harris (later Addie Harris McFad ...

with the group's members alternating leads, an approach which had rendered the song unreleasable. Brown says that Scepter exec Stan Greenberg gave her the song with the advisement that she had to "find the original melody" from the recording by the Shirelles: "they ad goneso far off by each roup membertaking their own lead, no one knew any more where the real melody stood." Brown recalls sitting on the porch of her one-level house in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

listening to the Shirelles' track play through her open window. A group of children skipping rope on the sidewalk picked up the song's main hook before Brown, hearing the children singing "Oh no not my baby" as they skipped, gave Brown the idea for the song's melody. Brown recorded her vocal over the Shirelles' track with the group's vocals erased; Dee Dee Warwick provided the harmony vocal on the chorus. Released in September 1964, Brown's "Oh No Not My Baby" spent seven weeks in the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in December 1964 - January 1965 with a #24 peak. The song was included on her second studio album ''Spotlight on Maxine Brown'', released in 1965.

Rod Stewart version

In 1973 Rod Stewart (backed by his

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bandmates Ron Wood, Kenney Jones and Ian McLagan) charted with "Oh No Not My Baby"; his self-produced version — a single with no parent album — reached #6 UK in September 1973 subsequently reaching #59 on both the U.S., and Canadian charts before the year's end. The B-side, credited on the single to Faces, was "Jodie" written by Ron Wood, Rod Stewart and Ian McLagan.

Cher version

In November 1992, American singer Cher released "Oh No Not My Baby", produced by

Peter Asher Peter Asher, (born 22 June 1944) is an English guitarist, singer, manager and record producer. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the pop music vocal duo Peter and Gordon before going on to a successful career as a manager and r ...

. The track became a moderate international hit early in 1993.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

editor J. F. Promis called her cover "gutsy."

Track listings

* European 7-inch and cassette single # "Oh No Not My Baby" – 3:09 # "

Love Hurts "Love Hurts" is a song written and composed by the American songwriter Boudleaux Bryant. First recorded by the Everly Brothers in July 1960, the song is most well known from the 1974 international hit version by Scottish hard rock band Nazare ...

" – 4:19 * European 12-inch and CD single # "Oh No Not My Baby" – 3:09 # "Love on a Rooftop" – 4:22 # "Love Hurts" – 4:19 # " Main Man" – 3:48

Charts

Other cover versions

*The song was covered by

Manfred Mann Manfred Mann were an English rock band, formed in London and active between 1962 and 1969. The group were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The band had two diffe ...

— whose version of the Shirelles' " Sha La La" had shared the U.S. Top 40 with Brown's "Oh No Not My Baby" — and that group's version of "Oh No Not My Baby", released 9 April 1965, reached #11 in the UK. Not released as a single in the U.S., Manfred Mann's "Oh No Not My Baby" failed to chart in a Canadian release and charted low in Australia at #67. *

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, pop and dram ...

recorded it for her 2nd album Ev'rything's Coming Up Dusty in 1965 * Aretha Franklin recorded a rendition of “Oh No, Not My Baby” for her 1970 record Spirit In The Dark with the

Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section is a group of American session musicians based in the northern Alabama town of Muscle Shoals. One of the most prominent American studio house bands from the 1960s to the 1980s, these musicians, individually or a ...

. *

Merry Clayton Merry Clayton (born December 25, 1948) is an American soul and gospel singer. She provided a number of backing vocal tracks for major performing artists in the 1960s, most notably in her duet with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones song " Gimme S ...

recorded "Oh No Not My Baby" in a 1972 version which featured co-writer Carole King on piano; produced by

Lou Adler Lester Louis Adler (born December 13, 1933) is an American record and film producer and the co-owner of the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California. Adler has produced and developed a number of iconic musical artists, including The Grass R ...

, this single reached the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at #72 (#61 on '' Cash Box'' Top 100 Singles chart) and the ''Billboard's'' Bestselling Soul Singles chart at #30. Despite its mild chart impact, Clayton's track earned a nomination for the

Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (previously called Best Rhythm and Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female) was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards ...

for the year 1972. *De Blanc had a minor R&B hit (#70) with "Oh No Not My Baby" in 1976. *

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

recorded "Oh No Not My Baby" for her 1993 ''

Winter Light ''Winter Light'' ( sv, Nattvardsgästerna, lit=The Communicants) is a 1963 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring his regulars, Gunnar Björnstrand, Ingrid Thulin and Max von Sydow. It follows Tomas Ericsson (Bj� ...

'' album; the track reached #35 on '' Billboards radio airplay only

Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by stat ...

in 1994. In Canada, the song reached #33 in the Top 100 and #29 on AC charts. *The Partridge Family recorded "Oh No Not My Baby" for their 1973 album Bulletin Board https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_Board_(album). It was performed on episode 6 of season 4 "Double Trouble

https://youtu.be/eMjVAusw8Dk

Samples

*The introductory riff to Maxine Brown's version was utilised by Gabriella Cilmi on her single "

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

References

{{Authority control 1964 singles 1965 singles 1973 singles 1992 singles Songs with lyrics by Gerry Goffin Songs written by Carole King Manfred Mann songs Song recordings produced by John Burgess Rod Stewart songs Cher songs Linda Ronstadt songs Dusty Springfield songs Aretha Franklin songs Carole King songs The Partridge Family songs 1964 songs Mercury Records singles Geffen Records singles Articles containing video clips Odyssey (band) songs Song recordings produced by Peter Asher Wand Records singles