"I Want You to Be My Baby" is a jump blues song written by Jon Hendricks for Louis Jordan whose recording, made on May 28, 1953, was released that autumn. [1]
In the summer of 1955, "I Want You to Be My Baby" was remade as the debut disc by Lillian Briggs, resulting in an expedient cover version by veteran vocalist Georgia Gibbs. Producers Hugo & Luigi had Gibbs fly in from her Massachusetts home to New York City in August 1955 to cut "I Want You to Be My Baby" that same afternoon. New York City disc jockeys were provided with acetates of the Gibbs' version by the following morning with regular jockey copies being shipped out Friday 5 August 1955. [2] Neither version of the song would reach the Top Ten. Gibbs' version had the higher chart peak at #14 but it was the rough voiced Briggs, whose version peaked at #18 and sold over a million discs.
Ellie Greenwich, who as a teenager saw Lillian Briggs sing her hit at Alan Freed's rock and roll shows, chose "I Want You to Be My Baby" as the song to launch her career as a solo recording artist. Produced by Bob Crewe, Greenwich's version reached #83 in the spring of 1967, marking her only US chart appearance as a recording artist apart from her singles with The Raindrops. She included the song on her 1968 debut solo album Ellie Greenwich Composes, Produces and Sings.
The song became a UK Top 40 hit in the autumn of 1968 via a recording by Billie Davis. Produced by Ready Steady Go! co-host Michael Aldred and arranged by Mike Vickers, Davis' version featured a chorale comprising Madeline Bell, Kiki Dee, Kay Garner, Doris Troy and the Moody Blues. The single's failure to rise no higher than #33 was attributed to a strike at the Decca processing plant, which stopped the pressing of discs. [3]
In November 1970 the Jyve Fyve reached #50 on the R&B chart with their remake of "I Want You to Be My Baby".
In Great Britain, Annie Ross, Jon Hendricks' future co-partner in Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, had an October 1955 single release of "I Want You to Be My Baby" recorded with Tony Crombie & His Orchestra. Neither this disc nor a 1956 UK single release of "I Want You to Be My Baby" by Don Lang charted. In February 1956, the British music magazine NME reported that Ross's version of the song was banned from airplay by the BBC due to the lyric "Come upstairs and have some loving". [4]
The song has also been recorded by Jimmy and the Mustangs, Colin James, Lindisfarne, Natasha England, Janis Siegel, [5] and Leslie Uggams. [6] A Finnish rendering - "Armaani Sä Silloin Oisit" - was recorded by Wiola Talvikki. It was also a hit for Chinese singer Grace Chang who performed the song in both Mandarin Chinese (我要你的愛 "Wo Yao Ni de Ai" meaning "I Want Your Love") and English in the late 1950s. [7] There was another rendition of the song in a classic 1958 Tamil movie Uthama puthiran, entitled "Yaaradi Ni Mohini". The song was turned into the title song of the Italian TV show Canzonissima in 1960, with the title “Tu lei lui voi noi”, sung by Wilma De Angelis and Johnny Dorelli.
Delores LaVern Baker was an American rhythm and blues singer who had several hit records on the pop charts in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her most successful records were "Tweedle Dee" (1955), "Jim Dandy" (1956), and "I Cried a Tear" (1958).
Dinah Washington was an American singer and pianist, one of the most popular black female recording artists of the 1950s. Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performed and recorded in a wide variety of styles including blues, R&B, and traditional pop music, and gave herself the title of "Queen of the Blues". She was also known as "Queen of the Jukeboxes". She was a 1986 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
The Ronettes were an American girl group from Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City. The group consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett, her older sister Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley. They had sung together since they were teenagers, then known as "The Darling Sisters". Signed first by Colpix Records in 1961, they moved to Phil Spector's Philles Records in March 1963 and changed their name to "The Ronettes".
Bertrand Russell Berns, also known as Bert Russell and (occasionally) Russell Byrd, was an American songwriter and record producer of the 1960s. His songwriting credits include "Twist and Shout", "Piece of My Heart", "Here Comes the Night", "Hang on Sloopy", "Cry to Me" and "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love", and his productions include "Baby, Please Don't Go", "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Under the Boardwalk".
The Exciters were an American pop music group of the 1960s. They were originally a girl group, with one male member being added afterwards. At the height of their popularity the group consisted of lead singer Brenda Reid, Herb Rooney, Carolyn Johnson and Lillian Walker.
Georgia Gibbs was an American popular singer and vocal entertainer rooted in jazz. Already singing publicly in her early teens, Gibbs achieved acclaim and notoriety in the mid-1950s copying songs originating with the black rhythm and blues community and later became a featured vocalist for many radio and television variety and comedy programs. Her key attribute was tremendous versatility and an uncommon stylistic range from melancholy ballad to uptempo swinging jazz and rock and roll.
Annie Ross was a British-American singer and actress, best known as a member of the influential jazz vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. She pioneered the vocalese style of jazz singing, with a style described by critic Dave Gelly as "a kind of dreamy watchfulness that is a definition of 1950s hip." In 2010, she was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.
"The Wallflower" is a 1955 song by Etta James. It was one of several answer songs to "Work with Me, Annie" and has the same 12-bar blues form.
"Maybellene" is a rock and roll song by American artist Chuck Berry, adapted in part from the western swing fiddle tune "Ida Red". Released in 1955, Berry’s song tells the story of a hot rod race and a broken romance, the lyrics describing a man driving a V8 Ford and chasing his unfaithful girlfriend in her Cadillac Coupe DeVille. It was released in July 1955 as a single by Chess Records, of Chicago, Illinois. Berry's first hit, "Maybellene" is considered a pioneering rock and roll song. Rolling Stone magazine wrote of it, "Rock & roll guitar starts here." The record was an early instance of the complete rock and roll package: youthful subject matter; a small, guitar-driven combo; clear diction; and an atmosphere of unrelenting excitement.
"River Deep – Mountain High" is a song by Ike & Tina Turner released on Philles Records as the title track to their 1966 studio album. Produced by Phil Spector and written by Spector, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. Rolling Stone ranked "River Deep – Mountain High" No. 33 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. NME ranked it No. 37 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame added it to the list of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
"Be My Baby" is a song by American girl group the Ronettes that was released as a single on Philles Records in August 1963. Written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector, the song was the Ronettes' biggest hit, reaching number 2 in the U.S. and number 4 in the UK. It is often ranked as among the best songs of the 1960s, and has been regarded by some publications as one of the greatest songs of all time.
Eleanor Louise Greenwich was an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She wrote or co-wrote "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Be My Baby", "Maybe I Know", "Then He Kissed Me", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", "Christmas ", "Hanky Panky", "Chapel of Love", "Leader of the Pack", and "River Deep – Mountain High", among others.
"Hanky Panky" is a song written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich for their group, the Raindrops.
Carol Hedges, known professionally as Billie Davis, is an English singer who had hits in the 1960s, and is best remembered for the UK hit version of the song, "Tell Him" (1963) and "I Want You to Be My Baby" (1968).
The Cookies were an American R&B girl group active in two distinct lineups, the first from 1954 to 1958 which later became The Raelettes, and the second from 1961 to 1967. Several of the members of both lineups were members of the same family. Both lineups were most prominent as session singers and backing vocalists.
One Woman: The Ultimate Collection is a compilation album released by American R&B singer Diana Ross by EMI on October 18, 1993. The single-disc collection was the alternative to Ross' 1993 four-CD box set, Forever Diana: Musical Memoirs, which was a 30th anniversary commemorative of her hit-making years over three decades including work with The Supremes. This collection was similar featuring both Supremes hits and solo hits.
"Wedding Bell Blues" is a song written and recorded by Laura Nyro in 1966. The best known version was a number one hit for the 5th Dimension in 1969.
Forever Diana: Musical Memoirs is a four-CD box set of recordings by American singer Diana Ross released on October 5, 1993 by Motown Records.
Lillian Briggs was an American rock 'n roll performer and musician.