Baby It's Me

Last updated
Baby It's Me
Diana-baby.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 16, 1977
Recorded1977
StudioStudio 55 (Hollywood, California)
Genre
Length41:41
Label Motown
Producer Richard Perry
Diana Ross chronology
An Evening with Diana Ross
(1977)
Baby It's Me
(1977)
Ross
(1978)
Singles from Baby It's Me
  1. "Gettin' Ready for Love"
    Released: October 16, 1977
  2. "Your Love Is So Good for Me"
    Released: January 24, 1978
  3. "Top of the World"
    Released: February 1978
  4. "You Got It"
    Released: April 13, 1978

Baby It's Me is the eighth studio album by American singer Diana Ross, released on September 16, 1977 by Motown Records. It peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard Top 200 and No. 7 on the R&B album chart. The album was produced by producer Richard Perry. The LP yielded one top 40 hit, "Gettin' Ready for Love", reaching number 27 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Other charting singles released from the album include "You Got It" and "Your Love Is So Good for Me", the latter receiving a Grammy nomination.

Contents

The album also included cover versions of songs written and previously recorded by Stevie Wonder, Bill Withers and Melissa Manchester.

Adult Contemporary airplay drove the success of this album, with both "Gettin' Ready for Love" (#8) [1] and "You Got It" (#9) being top 10 hits on that chart, while the newly formed Billboard Dance charts ranked "Your Love Is So Good for Me" at #15 in Billboard, which listed it together with the popular album cut "Top Of The World", for which an unreleased 12" mix (running time 5:50) was created in 1978 and considered for release as the 4th single from the album. Meanwhile, Record World magazine placed "Your Love Is So Good For Me" #7 on its Disco chart. Although this album never made the UK charts, it was certified silver for UK sales in excess of 60,000 copies. [2]

Ross would continue to work with Perry including on her pairing with international vocalist Julio Iglesias on their duet, "All of You" several years later. He also remixed the Ross-penned song "So Close" for its 1983 single release.

The album was re-released in 2014 in an Expanded Edition with 11 extra tracks (in digital format only). The bonus tracks included 2014 mixes of a number of the original cuts (often in longer unedited versions with additional vocals) as well as four unreleased songs from the album sessions; "Brass Band", "Country John", "Room Enough for Two" and a cover version of Peter Frampton's 1975 hit "Baby, I Love Your Way".

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Christgau's Record Guide C+ [4]
Rolling Stone (Positive) [5]

In 2017, Goldmine wrote that, "at its best, Baby It's Me breathed sufficient fresh air into her output that when she did go back to basics, with the Ashford-Simpson masterminded The Boss, the new aura remained in play." [6]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Gettin' Ready for Love"2:45
2."You Got It"3:55
3."Baby It's Me"
3:09
4."Too Shy to Say" Stevie Wonder 3:15
5."Your Love Is So Good for Me"Ken Peterson4:14
6."Top of the World"Snow3:06
7."All Night Lover"
  • Ragovoy
  • Len Roberts
3:33
8."Confide in Me"
3:32
9."The Same Love That Made Me Laugh" Bill Withers 3:56
10."Come In from the Rain"
3:58

Personnel

Technical (7)

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [12] Silver60,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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References

  1. "Adult Contemporary – Billboard". Billboard .
  2. "UK Certified Awards Search > Diana Ross". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on 2013-01-11. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  3. Baby It's Me at AllMusic
  4. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: R". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies . Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   089919026X . Retrieved March 12, 2019 via robertchristgau.com.
  5. Rolling Stone Review
  6. Thompson, Dave (Oct 2017). "Summer Vinyl". Goldmine. Vol. 43, no. 11. pp. 20, 21.
  7. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 259. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  8. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 5490a". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
  9. "Diana Ross Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
  10. "Diana Ross Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
  11. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 5558". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
  12. "British album certifications – Diana Ross – Baby It's Me". British Phonographic Industry.