Be My Baby

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Be My Baby"
Single by the Ronettes
from the album Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes
B-side"Tedesco and Pitman"
ReleasedAugust 1963 (1963-08)
RecordedJuly 29, 1963 (1963-07-29)
StudioGold Star, Hollywood
Genre
Length2:41
LabelPhilles
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Phil Spector
The Ronettes singles chronology
"Good Girls"
(1963)
"Be My Baby"
(1963)
"Baby, I Love You"
(1963)
Phil Spector productions singles chronology
"Wait 'Til My Bobby Gets Home"
(1963)
"Be My Baby"
(1963)
"A Fine, Fine Boy"
(1963)
Official audio
"Be My Baby" on YouTube
Audio sample

"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 it is regarded by some as one of the greatest songs of all time.[by whom?]

Spector produced "Be My Baby" at Gold Star Studios with his de facto house band, later known as "the Wrecking Crew". It marked the first time that he recorded with a full orchestra, and the song is regarded as the quintessential example of his Wall of Sound recording technique. Ronnie Spector (then known as Veronica Bennett) is the only Ronette that appears on the track. In 1964, it appeared on the album Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes.

In the decades since its release, "Be My Baby" has been played on radio and television over 3 million times. The song has influenced many artists, most notably the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, who wrote the 1964 hit "Don't Worry Baby" as a response to "Be My Baby". Many others have replicated or recreated the drum phrase—one of the most recognizable in pop music. The song has returned to the U.S. top 40 via cover versions by Andy Kim and Jody Miller. In 2006, the Library of Congress inducted the Ronettes' recording into the United States National Recording Registry.[1]

Background[edit]

"Be My Baby" was written by Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich at Spector's office in Los Angeles.[2] Early in 1963, Spector auditioned a vocal group trio – composed of sisters Veronica (also known as "Ronnie") and Estelle Bennett with their cousin Nedra Talley – who were performing under the names "Ronnie and the Relatives" and "the Ronettes".[3] Impressed by Ronnie's lead on an impromptu performance of the 1956 hit "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", Spector offered an original song for the group to record, "Why Don't They Let Us Fall in Love".[4] They recorded the song at Gold Star Studios, but Spector withheld its release, as he had felt that the group needed more time to refine their stage act.[5]

Spector, who had been struggling with marital issues, developed a romantic fixation on Ronnie at this time.[6] Biographer Mick Brown surmised that Spector may have "intended 'Be My Baby' as an explicit declaration of his growing feelings for Ronnie", and that the song, in retrospect, served as a foreshadowing of their marriage, which lasted from the late 1960s through the early 1970s.[2][nb 1] Singer Darlene Love, who had recorded with Spector, said that "Be My Baby" was effectively a means for Spector to declare his love to Ronnie.[8]

Composition and lyrics[edit]

"Be My Baby" is in the key of E major. The verse chord progression runs through an E–F♯m–B change twice, followed by G♯7–C♯7–F#–B7. The chorus is a standard I–vi–IV–V doo-wop progression.[9]

Music journalist Marc Spitz wrote of the song's subject matter, "At its heart, 'Be My Baby' is as much about power and control as it is about romance. Lyrically it also marks a bold moment in pop music, when a woman makes a play for a man while infantilizing him. Usually the reverse was the norm."[10]

Recording[edit]

Backing track[edit]

On July 29, 1963, Spector produced "Be My Baby" at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles with his de facto house band, later known as "the Wrecking Crew".[2] It was the first time Spector recorded with a full orchestra at Gold Star.[11] According to Brown, Spector was "determined to make his most towering production yet" and summoned "the full complement of his troops in Gold Star — battalions of pianos and guitars, brass, strings, the full regiment of backing singers".[2] The song was arranged by Spector regular Jack Nitzsche and engineered by Larry Levine.[12]

The instrumentation on "Be My Baby" features piano, guitars, brass, shakers, castanets, bass, handclaps, strings and drums.[9] Levine remarked, "I love those strings, particularly at the end. They made me cry when I was mixing."[11] Guitars on the session were played by Tommy Tedesco and Bill Pitman, after whom the instrumental "Tedesco and Pitman" on the B-side of the single was named.[13][better source needed]

Wrecking Crew musician Hal Blaine (pictured 1995) played drums on "Be My Baby"

According to Brown, the opening drum beat, played by Hal Blaine, was suggested by Nitzsche.[2] However, Blaine stated, "That famous drum intro was an accident. I was supposed to play the snare on the second beat as well as the fourth, but I dropped a stick. Being the faker I was in those days, I left the mistake in and it became: 'Bum-ba-bum-BOOM!' And soon everyone wanted that beat."[14]

Owing to Spector's perfectionism, the band rehearsed the song for four hours in the studio before the tape recorders were turned on.[15] One of the four keyboard players, Michael Spencer, recalled, "That session took three and a half hours. There's this pause towards the end of the song where the drums go boom-ba-boom-boom before the song picks up again. I remember that by the fortieth or forty-first take I was so punchy, I played right through it, and we had to do it again. And that subsequent take was the one Phil used."[2]

Vocals[edit]

The Ronettes' lead singer Veronica Bennett (pictured 1966) is the only Ronette on "Be My Baby".[9]

Ronnie – the only Ronette who appears on the record[9] – overdubbed her lead vocal within a day after the backing track had been completed.[11] She spent the previous three days preparing for the session.[2] Ronnie remembered, "I was so shy that I'd do all my vocal rehearsals in the studio's ladies' room, because I loved the sound I got in there. People talk about how great the echo chamber was at Gold Star, but they never heard the sound in that ladies' room ... That's where all the little 'whoa-ohs' and 'oh-oh-oh-ohs' you hear on my records were born."[11] She said that when she sang the song at the session, "the band went nuts. I was 18 years old, 3,000 miles from home, and had all these guys saying I was the next Billie Holiday."[14]

Nitzsche praised Ronnie's vibrato, saying, "That was her strong point. When that tune was finished, the speakers were turned up so high in the booth that people had to leave the room."[16] Levine said, "We didn't have to work hard to get Ronnie's performance, but we had to work hard to satisfy Phil. He'd spend an inordinate amount of time working on each section and playing it back before moving on to the next one, and that was very hard for the singers."[11] In his book Classic Tracks, author Rikky Rooksby writes, "Notice Ronnie Spector's voice is kept quite dry and upfront; her vocal, and those carefully rehearsed wha-ah-oh-ohs, along with the vast sound, make the record what it is."[9]

Sonny Bono and Cher were among the backing vocalists.[17] Cher stated in a television interview, "I was just hanging out with Son [Bono], and one night Darlene [Love] didn't show up, and Philip looked at me and he was getting really cranky, y'know. Philip was not one to be kept waiting. And he said, 'Sonny said you can sing?' And so, as I was trying to qualify what I felt my ... 'expertise' was, he said, 'Look I just need noise – get out there!' I started as noise, and that was 'Be My Baby'."[18]

Release[edit]

I was like the happiest 17, 18-year-old girl you'd ever want to know, to have a No. 1 [sic] record all over the world, I loved it so much, the sweat and the tears and the sex appeal, everything.

Ronnie Spector, 1998[19]

"Be My Baby" (backed with "Tedesco and Pitman") was released by Philles Records in August 1963 and reached number 2 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart by the end of the summer.[20][16][21] In the UK, it was issued by London Recordings in October and peaked at number 4 on Record Retailer.[22] By the end of the year, the single had sold more than two million copies.[citation needed]

The Ronettes' first royalty cheque for the song totaled $14,000 (equivalent to $134,000 in 2022). In her 1991 memoir, Ronnie wrote that the group subsequently had dinner with Spector to celebrate their success; at the end of the meal, however, he asked them to cover the bill. Ronnie remarked, "For a millionaire, he sure could be cheap."[16]

In her autobiography, Ronnie relates that she was on tour with Joey Dee and the Starlighters when "Be My Baby" was introduced by Dick Clark on American Bandstand as the "Record of the Century."[full citation needed] It remains the Ronettes' most successful song; although the group enjoyed several more top 40 hits, they sold at underwhelming volumes compared to "Be My Baby".[23] In a 1999 interview, Ronnie cited "Be My Baby" as one of her top five favorite songs in her catalog.[19]

A live rendition of "Be My Baby" was performed by the Ronettes on the 1966 rock concert film The Big TNT Show, for which Spector was the musical director and associate producer.[24]

Impact and influence[edit]

"Be My Baby" was a major influence on artists such as the Beatles and the Beach Boys, who went on to innovate with their own studio productions.[25] Producer Steve Levine compared the track's groundbreaking quality to the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" (1966), 10cc's "I'm Not in Love" (1975), and Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" (1975).[26] Many subsequent popular songs have replicated or recreated the drum phrase—one of the most recognizable in popular music.[27] Producer Rick Nowels, who lifted the drum beat for a Lana Del Rey song, said, "'Be My Baby,' for me, is Ground Zero for the modern pop era. it was a line in the sand that left everything that came before in the rear view mirror. It was the beginning of pop music being a serious American art form."[27]

AllMusic's Jason Ankeny noted in his review of the song, "No less an authority than Brian Wilson has declared 'Be My Baby' the greatest pop record ever made—no arguments here."[28] In his 2004 book Sonic Alchemy: Visionary Music Producers and Their Maverick Recordings, David Howard writes that many regard ""Be My Baby" as "Spector's greatest achievement—two and a half sweaty minutes of sexual pop perfection."[29]

In 2016, Barbara Cane, vice president and general manager of writer-publisher relations for the songwriters' agency BMI, estimated that the song has been played in 3.9 million feature presentations on radio and television since 1963. "That means it's been played for the equivalent of 17 years back to back."[10]

Effect on Brian Wilson[edit]

"Be My Baby" had a profound lifelong impact on the Beach Boys' founder Brian Wilson.[30][31] His biographer Peter Ames Carlin describes the song as becoming "a spiritual touchstone" for Wilson,[32] while music historian Luis Sanchez states that it formed an enduring part of Wilson's mythology, being the Spector record that "etched itself the deepest into Brian's mind ... it comes up again and again in interviews and biographies, variably calling up themes of deep admiration, a source of consolation, and a baleful haunting of the spirit."[33]

I really did flip out. Balls-out totally freaked out when I heard ["Be My Baby"]. [...] it was like having your mind revamped. It's like, once you've heard that record, you're a fan forever.

—Brian Wilson, 1995[34]

Wilson first heard "Be My Baby" while driving and listening to the radio; he became so enthralled by the song that he felt compelled to pull over to the side of the road and analyze the chorus.[35][nb 2] Wilson immediately concluded that it was the greatest record he had ever heard.[31] He bought the single and kept it on his living room jukebox, listening to it whenever the mood struck him.[37][31] Copies of the record were located in his car and virtually everywhere inside his home.[38]

Wilson conceived the Beach Boys' 1964 hit "Don't Worry Baby" as an answer song.[39] He had originally submitted "Don't Worry Baby" for the Ronettes' consideration, but this motion was halted by Spector, who had a policy against producing records that he himself did not write.[40] Spector was aware of Wilson's obsession with "Be My Baby" and joked that he would have enjoyed "a nickel for every joint" Wilson had smoked in an effort to understand the record's sound.[41]

Wilson in 1966

Among the many documented anecdotes related to Wilson's obsession with "Be My Baby", music journalist David Dalton, who had visited Wilson's home in 1967, reportedly discovered a box of tapes in Wilson's bedroom, the contents of which consisted of Wilson, under the influence of marijuana, monologuing for multiple hours "on the meaning of life, color vibrations, fate, death, vegetarianism and Phil Spector."[42][43] Wilson had spoken at length about "Be My Baby" to the journalist, analyzing the song "like an adept memorizing the Koran."[43][nb 3] Wilson's daughter Carnie, born in 1968, stated that "every day" of her childhood began with her awaking to a playback of "Be My Baby".[45] Sanchez characterizes the accumulation of stories such as these as effectively depicting "an image of wretchedness: Brian locked in the bedroom of his Bel Air house in the early '70s, alone, curtains drawn shut, catatonic, listening to 'Be My Baby' over and over at aggressive volumes, for hours, as the rest of The Beach Boys record something in the home studio downstairs."[33][nb 4]

The Beach Boys' 1977 song "Mona", written by Wilson, ends with the lines "Listen to 'Be My Baby' / I know you're going to love Phil Spector".[46] During a 1980 appearance on Good Morning America, host Joan Lunden inquired Wilson for his musical tastes, to which Wilson replied simply with "I listen to a song called 'Be My Baby' by the Ronettes."[47][nb 5] Wilson told The New York Times in 2013 that he had listened to the song at least 1,000 times.[10] Beach Boy Bruce Johnston gave a higher estimation: "Brian must have played 'Be My Baby' ten million times. He never seemed to get tired of it."[48] In Wilson's 2016 memoir, I Am Brian Wilson, he recalled once playing the song's drum intro "ten times until everyone in the room told me to stop, and then I played it ten more times."[35]

Later versions[edit]

In popular culture[edit]

Awards and accolades[edit]

  • In 1999, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[79]
  • In 2004, it was ranked number 22 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time", where it was described as a "Rosetta stone for studio pioneers such as the Beatles and Brian Wilson."[25] It was also ranked number 22 on the list's 2021 edition[80] and again the 2023 edition.[81]
  • In 2006, it was ranked number 6 on Pitchfork's list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s".[82]
  • In 2011, it was included in Time's list of the "All-Time 100 Songs".[83]
  • In 2014, it was ranked number 2 on NME's list of the "100 Best Songs of the 1960s".[84]
  • In 2017, the song topped Billboard's list of the "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time".[85][27]
  • In 2023, the song ranked 19th on Billboard's "500 Best Pop Songs of All Time".[86]

Charts[edit]

Certifications[edit]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Italy (FIMI)[103] Gold 50,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[104] Platinum 600,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ As had been the tradition for his prior records, Spector included the words "Phil + Annette" – a dedication to his then-wife Annette Merar – that was inscribed onto the run-out groove of "Be My Baby". This practice ceased with the Ronettes' follow-up record, "Baby, I Love You".[7]
  2. ^ For Wilson, songs that "hit almost as hard" as "Be My Baby" includes "Rock Around the Clock" (Bill Haley & His Comets, 1955), "Keep A-Knockin'" (Little Richard, 1957), "Hey Girl" (Freddie Scott, 1963), and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" (The Righteous Brothers, 1964). Wilson conceded that "it's hard to re-create the feeling of first hearing 'Be My Baby'".[36]
  3. ^ Dalton quoted some of Wilson's comments regarding the song, in that the four notes corresponding to the opening drum beat was "the same sound a carpenter makes when he's hammering in a nail, a bird sings when it gets on its branch, or a baby makes when she shakes her rattle".[43] Wilson's bandmate and cousin Mike Love remembered Wilson comparing the song to Albert Einstein's theory of relativity.[44]
  4. ^ In the early 1970s, Wilson had instructed his engineer Stephen Desper to create a tape loop consisting only of the final chorus in "Be My Baby", which he listened to for several hours in what Desper saw as "some kind of a trance."[37]
  5. ^ Biographer Jon Stebbins writes, "Brian stared fiercely at the camera ... Lunden probably didn't know that the obsessive Beach Boy had listened to that particular song over and over, hour after hour, day after day, year after year, but the look on his face was enough to send the exasperated talk-show host off in a different direction."[47]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The National Recording Registry 2006". The Library of Congress. March 6, 2007. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Brown 2007, p. 146.
  3. ^ Brown 2007, p. 144.
  4. ^ Brown 2007, pp. 144–145.
  5. ^ Brown 2007, p. 145.
  6. ^ Brown 2007, p. 143.
  7. ^ Brown 2007, p. 153.
  8. ^ Thompson 2005, p. 97.
  9. ^ a b c d e Rooksby 2001, p. 26.
  10. ^ a b c d Spitz, Marc (August 16, 2013). "Still Tingling Spines, 50 Years Later". The New York Times. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  11. ^ a b c d e Buskin, Richard (April 2007). "CLASSIC TRACKS: The Ronettes 'Be My Baby'". Sound on Sound. Retrieved May 6, 2014.
  12. ^ Phil Spector: Back to MONO (1958-1969) ABKCO Records, 1991, liner notes
  13. ^ "Phonograph Recording Contract" (PDF). The Wrecking Crew. American Federation of Musicians. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  14. ^ a b Simpson, Dave (November 17, 2015). "How we made the Ronettes' Be My Baby". The Guardian. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  15. ^ Ribowsky 2006, p. 149.
  16. ^ a b c Brown 2007, p. 147.
  17. ^ Thompson 2005, pp. 113–114.
  18. ^ Thompson 2005, p. 113.
  19. ^ a b Thompson 2005, p. 177.
  20. ^ Ribowsky 2006, pp. 149, 155.
  21. ^ Thompson 2005, p. 276.
  22. ^ Thompson 2005, pp. 103, 276.
  23. ^ Brown 2007, p. 157.
  24. ^ Thompson 2005, p. 135.
  25. ^ a b "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". RollingStone.com. Archived from the original on May 16, 2007. Retrieved June 2, 2007.
  26. ^ Jones 2012, p. 133.
  27. ^ a b c Weiner, Natalie (July 14, 2017). "What Is It About The Ronettes' 'Be My Baby'? Some of the Countless Artists to Lift the Iconic Drum Beat Weigh In". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  28. ^ Ankeny, Jason. ""Be My Baby" Song Review". AllMusic.com.
  29. ^ Howard 2004, p. 15.
  30. ^ Brown 2007, p. 185.
  31. ^ a b c Howard 2004, pp. 56–57.
  32. ^ Carlin 2006, p. 44.
  33. ^ a b Sanchez 2014, pp. 52–53.
  34. ^ Espar, David, Levi, Robert (Directors) (1995). Rock & Roll (Miniseries).
  35. ^ a b Wilson & Greenman 2016, p. 73.
  36. ^ Wilson & Greenman 2016, p. 77.
  37. ^ a b Carlin 2006, p. 160.
  38. ^ Sanchez 2014, p. 53.
  39. ^ White 1996, p. 186.
  40. ^ White 1996, p. 352.
  41. ^ "First major TV interview with legendary Phil Spector screened on BBC Two". Bbc.co.uk. October 25, 2008. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
  42. ^ Sanchez 2014, p. 52.
  43. ^ a b c Dalton, David (May 6, 2002). "Epiphany at Zuma Beach Or Brian Wilson hallucinates me". Gadfly.
  44. ^ Love 2016, p. 74.
  45. ^ Don, Was (1995). Brian Wilson: I Just Wasn't Made for These Times (Documentary film).
  46. ^ Carlin 2006, p. 213.
  47. ^ a b Stebbins 2000, p. 206.
  48. ^ Brown 2007, p. 186.
  49. ^ "Be My Baby Chart History", Billboard. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  50. ^ "Be My Baby (song by Andy Kim) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts". Musicvf.com. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  51. ^ "Easy Listening", Billboard. December 19, 1970. p. 44. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  52. ^ "Cash Box Top 100", Cash Box. December 26, 1970. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
  53. ^ "RPM 100", RPM. Volume 14, No. 20. January 9, 1971. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
  54. ^ "NZ Listener chart statistics for Be My Baby", Flavour of New Zealand. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  55. ^ Andy Kim - Be My Baby, norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
  56. ^ "Go-Set National Top 60", Go-Set. March 20, 1971. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  57. ^ "Hits of the World", Billboard. April 3, 1971. p. 62. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  58. ^ "RPM 100 Top Singles of '71", RPM. Volume 16, No. 20. January 6, 1972. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  59. ^ "Billboard Album Reviews", Billboard. September 22, 1972. p. 34. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  60. ^ "Hot Country Singles", Billboard. May 20, 1972. p. 40. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  61. ^ "Easy Listening", Billboard. April 1, 1972. p. 31. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  62. ^ "Cash Box Country Top 75", Cash Box. May 13, 1972. p. 36. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  63. ^ "The Country Singles Chart", Record World. May 20, 1972. p. 50. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  64. ^ "The Programmers Country Playlist", RPM. Volume 17, No. 13. May 13, 1972. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  65. ^ Shaun Cassidy - Be My Baby, norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  66. ^ "Australian-charts.com – Teen Queens – Be My Baby". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  67. ^ "ARIA Top 100 Singles for 1992". ARIA. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  68. ^ "Leslie Grace: Chart history". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on March 3, 2014. Retrieved September 7, 2013.
  69. ^ Ankeny, Jason. "Be My Baby - The Ronettes". AllMusic. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  70. ^ "Martin Scorsese: a career in 10 songs". BFI. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  71. ^ July 10, Owen Gleiberman Updated; EDT, 2010 at 07:38 PM. "'The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector': If you love pop music, you must see this movie". EW.com. Retrieved March 31, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  72. ^ Richardson, Ged (June 8, 2022). "12 Iconic Songs from the Dirty Dancing Soundtrack". Zing Instruments. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  73. ^ Ribowsky 2006, p. 297.
  74. ^ Goldsmith, Annie (October 1, 2020). "Zendaya In Talks to Star in New Ronnie Spector Biopic". Town & Country. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  75. ^ Clark, Kenneth R. (May 21, 1989). "Why 'Moonlighting' Went Bust". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  76. ^ Walters, Sarah (December 21, 2007). "REVIEW:Mutya Buena ft Amy Winehouse - B Boy Baby (Island)". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  77. ^ "'Ms. Marvel' | Every Song Featured in Episode 2". Marvel. Marvel Entertainment. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
  78. ^ Sheffield, Rob (March 6, 2021). "The 30 Greatest Rock & Roll Movie Moments". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
  79. ^ Grammy Hall Of Fame Archived July 7, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. Santa Monica, CA: The Recording Academy. Accessed April 2015.
  80. ^ "500 Best Songs of All Time: The Ronettes, 'Be My Baby'". Rolling Stone. September 15, 2021. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  81. ^ "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. February 16, 2024. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  82. ^ "Staff Lists: The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s | Features". Pitchfork. August 18, 2006. Retrieved May 6, 2014.
  83. ^ "All-Time 100 Songs". Time. October 24, 2011.
  84. ^ Be My Baby. "100 Best Songs of the 1960s | #2 The Ronettes – Be My Baby". Nme.com. Retrieved May 6, 2014.
  85. ^ "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time: Critics' Picks". Billboard. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  86. ^ "The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List". Billboard. October 19, 2023. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  87. ^ "The Ronettes – Be My Baby" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
  88. ^ "The Ronettes – Be My Baby" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
  89. ^ "CHUM Hit Parade (week of October 21, 1963)". CHUM. Retrieved April 3, 2023 – via chumtribute.com.
  90. ^ "The Ronettes – Be My Baby" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
  91. ^ "flavour of new zealand - search lever". www.flavourofnz.co.nz. Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  92. ^ "The Ronettes – Be My Baby". VG-lista. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
  93. ^ "Top 30 (Week ending November 16, 1963)" (PDF). Disc. November 16, 1963. p. 3.
  94. ^ "Ronettes: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  95. ^ "The Ronettes Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
  96. ^ "Hot R&B Singles (for week ending 10/26/63)" (PDF). Billboard. October 26, 1963. p. 18.
  97. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 (October 12, 1963)" (PDF). Cash Box. October 12, 1963. p. 4.
  98. ^ "The Ronettes – Be My Baby" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  99. ^ "Here are the top selling 63 records of 1963 in Metropolitan Toronto". CHUM. Retrieved April 3, 2023 – via chumtribute.com.
  100. ^ "Top Records of 1963: Hot 100 – 1963" (PDF). Billboard. December 28, 1963. pp. 30–31.
  101. ^ "Top R&B Singles for 1963" (PDF). Billboard. December 28, 1963. pp. 31, 34.
  102. ^ "Top 100 Chart Hits of 1963" (PDF). Cash Box. December 28, 1963. p. 18.
  103. ^ "Italian single certifications – The Ronettes – Be My Baby" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  104. ^ "British single certifications – Ronettes – Be My Baby". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved July 1, 2022.

Bibliography[edit]

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]