"Baby, Now That I've Found You" is a song written by

Tony Macaulay Tony Macaulay (born Anthony Gordon Instone; 21 April 1944) is an English author, composer for musical theatre, and songwriter. He has won the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors Award twice as 'Songwriter of the Year' (1970 an ...

and John Macleod, and performed by

the Foundations The Foundations were a British soul band who were primarily active between 1967 and 1970. The group's background was West Indian, White British and Sri Lankan. Their 1967 debut single " Baby Now That I've Found You" reached number one in the ...

. Part of the song was written in the same bar of a

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

tavern where

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

is supposed to have written ''

Das Kapital ''Capital: A Critique of Political Economy'' (), also known as ''Capital'' or (), is the most significant work by Karl Marx and the cornerstone of Marxian economics, published in three volumes in 1867, 1885, and 1894. The culmination of his ...

''. The lyrics are a plea that an unnamed subject not break up with the singer.

Background

According to Roy Delo of the group,

The Ways and Means Trend Records was an English Record label which existed from the late 1960s until the early 1970s. It issued recordings by such notable artists and personalities as Consortium, The Foundations, Audrey Hall, Marcus Lipton, Julie Stevens, Warm ...

who were managed by Ron Fairway, they were offered the chance to record "Baby Now That I've Found You". They already had some success with their single, "

Sea of Faces ''Sea of Faces'' is the second full-length album released by Christian rock group Kutless, released through BEC Records in 2004. The song "Treason" was once the No. 1 song on ChristianRock.net, and Sea of Faces in the Top 5. The album reache ...

". One day

came around and got out a guitar. They heard the song and said "yeh, it’s a nice catchy song, but it's not the sort of song for us", and to their later regret, turned it down. So the song was given to The Foundations.The Strange Brew
The Ways and Means
/ref> The lead vocal is by

Clem Curtis Clem Curtis (born Curtis Clements; 28 November 1940 – 27 March 2017) was a Trinidadian British singer, who was the original lead vocalist of sixties soul group the Foundations. Background Early life Born in Trinidad as Curtis Clements, he a ...

.''When Music Migrates Crossing British and European Racial Faultlines, 1945–2010'', By Professor Jon Stratton · 2014 -
Page 129 ''SKA AND REGGAE ON THE RACIAL FAULTLINE IN BRITAIN, 1968-1981''
/ref> Ron Fairway is the man who is credited with first discovering The Foundations.''It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine'', July 22, 2011
Pluto interview with Paul Gardner & Alan Warner
/ref> He became co-manager of the group.''Melody Maker'', November 11, 1967
Page 1 Foundations hit top spot
/ref>

Barry Class Barry Class is an entrepreneur, former music store chain owner, band manager, record label founder, musical director, producer and recording studio owner. His greatest success as a manager was with the soul group The Foundations. He also managed t ...

was the man with the money while Fairway was the man with the connections, whose job was to find gigs for the band.

Issues

Following the success of the single there would be issues involving two men formerly associated with the band, Ron Fairway and Raymond Morrison.''New Musical Express'', December 2, 1967
Page 10 FOUNDATIONS SUED
/ref>''Melody Maker'', July 27, 1968
Page 4 ''MORRISON CLAIM''
/ref> Rock historian Roger Dopson described what took place between Ron Fairway and

as a behind the scenes struggle. Fairway was allegedly pushed out, leaving Class as the sole manager.The Foundations, ''Baby Now That I've Found You''

Sequel Records Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is, as of 2013, a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest ...

CD NEECD 300, liner notes by Roger Dopson Fairway made an attempt to sue the band, alleging that he was wrongfully dismissed as the group's co-manager. The band claimed he had resigned of his own accord. The December 2 issue of ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a " rock inkie", the ''NME'' would become a maga ...

'' wrote that it was likely to be several months before the case would be heard. According to the 8 November issue of ''Melody Maker'', Class stated that it was a friction of personalities which had been going on for about four months. Raymond Morrison founded

The Ramong Sound The Ramong Sound was a British R&B, soul and ska band, active from 1965 to 1966. Background The Ramong Sound was a London-based outfit, that featured two black lead singers doing Sam & Dave styled duets, one of them being Raymond Morrison (ak ...

which evolved into The Foundations. As per the July 27 issue of ''Melody Maker'', Raymond (Ray) Morrison had taken out legal action against The Foundations. During the court hearing that took three hours, Morrison claimed that he had discovered the talent of the group. He was unsuccessful in his bid to put freeze on a portion of the group's earnings. Morrison had served a six month sentence and had been released in July 1967. The case was heard by Judge Stamp who said in reference to the song, "Baby, Now That I've Found You", "I cannot understand how it can be suggested that a song which came into existence after Mr. Morrison had severed his connection with the group can be one in which he can have any share or interest". He also dismissed a similar motion against the Pye label.

Original recording and the Foundations

Recording the song

According to an interview of Alan Warner by Jack Hodgins' of Vinyl Vibes, (Radio 2NUR FM) Tony Macaulay had hired a room at the back of a pub for the band to rehearse the song. Macaulay walked out saying that it was terrible. But the group later recorded it in a studio. Warner also said that the song was recorded two four track recorders running in snyc. Warner said that there was some kind of coding (motion sensing) where the tapes would come back to the same position when re-wound. A man would have to have his hand on the flange, and if one tape sped up he would slow it down. They used Eric Ford in place of the Foundations bass player. The rest of the band was used and John MacLeod played piano. According to Tony Macualay, the group had a useful horn section, and the song was recorded in a number of takes and had to be finished off with the help of backing singers.

Eric Allandale Eric Allandale (born Eric Allandale Dubuisson 4 March 1936 – 23 August 2001) was a trombonist, songwriter, and bandleader. During the 1960s, he was in number of bands in various genres which included jazz pop and soul. Background Early life ...

, the group's trombonist recalled things a bit differently and said that the song was done in a couple of takes. According to the book, ''When Music Migrates Crossing British and European Racial Faultlines, 1945–2010'', by

Professor Jon Stratton Jon Stratton is an Australian academic and scholar in the field of cultural studies, media studies and popular music studies. He has sole authored 14 books, co-edited four collections, co-edited three journal special issues and written over 80 ...

, Clem Curtis, a former Trinidadian boxer sounded like he was singing in phonetic English and the music was awkward. The book made a reference to "Alan Warner's guitar reggae-derived guitar chank sitting uneasily with Tom Jones horn chants and cod-Motown rhythms. On 25 August 1967

released the song as their debut single. It was a sleeper, and for ten weeks it wasn't doing anything. Unlike The Ways and Means' single, "

" which was played on and became a hit on

pirate radio stations Pirate radio is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license, whether an invalid license or no license at all. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are rec ...

, Radio City and

Radio Caroline Radio Caroline is a British radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly and Allan Crawford, initially to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopol ...

, "Baby, Now that I've Found You" wasn't played on them. Luckily for The Foundations, their song wasn't being played on the pirate stations at that stage. The newly launched

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

was avoiding those singles that were being played on the pirate stations.

Musicians

- trombone * Pat Burke - saxophone *

- lead vocal * Mike Elliott - saxophone * Eric Ford - bass * Tony Gomesz - organ * Tim Harris - drums * John Macleod - piano * Alan Warner - guitar * Unknown - backing vocals

Chart performance and success

After receiving airplay on BBC Radio 1, it met with great success. Having moved up from the previous week's no. 2 spot, "Baby, Now That I've Found You" replaced The Bee Gees' single, "Massachusetts" in the no. 1 spot of the ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' Pop 30 chart. The Foundations now had their picture on the front page of the November 11 issue of ''Melody Maker''. It was still at no. 1 the following week, confirming the two weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart status. It was also noted in the ''Melody Maker'' magazine that week that Ron Fairway was no longer director of Class Management. This left Barry Class in sole charge of things. The 25 November 1967 issue of ''Disc and Music Echo'' wrote that The Foundations had qualified for the Silver Disc award for British sales of the disc reaching 250,000. The record would become a number 11 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the US. The song also reached number 1 on the Canadian RPM magazine charts on 10 February 1968. The B side "Come On Back to Me" made the ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'', One Stop Top Ten chart in the Consolidated One Stop Detroit, Michigan section. It was no. 5 on the week of February 10, 1968. The 10 February 1968 issue of ''Billboard'' ran a picture of three of the band members and Louis Benjamin, head of Pye Records presenting a gold record to them. This was to mark the million sales of their debut single. Also in the picture was the group's manager Barry Class.

Other recordings

Another version of the song was recorded by the Foundations in 1968, featuring

Colin Young Colin Young (born 12 September 1944, Barbados) is an English singer who led Joe E. Young & The Toniks in the 1960s. He is mainly known for being a member of the British soul band the Foundations. He also led a progressive rock band and was part ...

, Clem Curtis' replacement. This was on a

Marble Arch The Marble Arch is a 19th-century white marble-faced triumphal arch in London, England. The structure was designed by John Nash in 1827 as the state entrance to the cour d'honneur of Buckingham Palace; it stood near the site of what is today th ...

album that featured newer stereo versions of their previous hits. In 1977, RCA Records release the Dan Schafer remake of the Foundations' hit single, working with producers Bruce Goldberg and Don Davis for the RCA Victor distributed 'Tortoise International' label based out of Detroit. Baby 45 single

, the original lead singer of the band, recorded his own version which was released on the Opium label OPIN 001 as a 7" single and a 12" version OPINT001 in 1987. In the late 1980s,

and Alan Warner teamed up to recut "Baby, Now That I've Found You" and " Build Me Up Buttercup", as well as other hits of the Foundations.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Alison Krauss version

In 1995, American bluegrass-

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

singer

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer, fiddler and music producer. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of eight and recording for the first time at ...

released the song as a single from her compilation album '' Now That I've Found You: A Collection''. Her version appeared in the Australian comedy film, '' The Castle''. It peaked at number 49 on 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 advertis ...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart. The song won the 1996

Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as ...

. In 2024, ''

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

'' ranked the song at #135 on its 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time ranking.

Charts

Weekly charts

Awards and nominations

Use in film

The Foundations' recording of the song appeared on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

to the film ''

Shallow Hal ''Shallow Hal'' is a 2001 American romantic comedy film directed by the Farrelly brothers, Farrelly Brothers. The film stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Jack Black, with Jason Alexander, Joe Viterelli, and Susan Ward in supporting roles. Filming took pla ...

''. The Alison Krauss version was featured in the 1997 Australian comedy, '' The Castle''. Her rendition was also featured in the end credits of the 2001 film '' Delivering Milo''.

References

External links

* The Foundations channel, Dec 22, 2022
The Foundations - Baby Now That I've Found You (Mono) (Official Audio)
* STEREO in channel, Mar 25, 2023
The Foundations - Baby, Now That I've Found You - 1967 (STEREO in) stereo re-mix (audio)
* DooWop Darrell channel, Dec 31, 2013
The Foundations - Come On Back To Me (original single version audio)
{{authority control 1967 songs 1967 debut singles 1995 singles The Foundations songs Clem Curtis songs Clem Curtis & The Foundations songs Alison Krauss songs Songs written by John Macleod (songwriter) Songs written by Tony Macaulay EMI America Records singles Astor Records singles Pye Records singles RCA Records singles Rounder Records singles Uni Records singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles UK singles chart number-one singles Song recordings produced by Tony Macaulay Song recordings produced by Alison Krauss