Be My Baby#Other

"Be My Baby" was written by Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich at Spector's office in Los Angeles.{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=146}} 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".{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=144}} 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".{{sfn|Brown|2007|pp=144–145}} 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.{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=145}}

Spector, who had been struggling with marital issues, developed a romantic fixation on Ronnie at this time.{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=143}} 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.{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=146}}{{refn|group=nb|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".{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=153}} }} 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.{{sfn|Thompson|2005|p=97}}

"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.{{sfn|Rooksby|2001|p=26}}

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."

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".{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=146}} It was the first time Spector recorded with a full orchestra at Gold Star. 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".{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=146}} The song was arranged by Spector regular Jack Nitzsche and engineered by Larry Levine.Phil Spector: Back to MONO (1958-1969) ABKCO Records, 1991, liner notes

The instrumentation on "Be My Baby" features piano, guitars, brass, shakers, castanets, bass, handclaps, strings and drums.{{sfn|Rooksby|2001|p=26}} Levine remarked, "I love those strings, particularly at the end. They made me cry when I was mixing." 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.wreckingcrewfilm.com/afmcontracts/Ronettes,The_BeMyBaby.pdf|title=Phonograph Recording Contract|publisher=American Federation of Musicians|work=The Wrecking Crew|access-date=October 10, 2013}}{{better source needed|date=May 2016}}

File:Hal Blaine in 1995.jpg 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.{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=146}} 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."

Owing to Spector's perfectionism, the band rehearsed the song for four hours in the studio before the tape recorders were turned on.{{sfn|Ribowsky|2006|p=149}} 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."{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=146}}

File:Ronnie Spector 1966.jpg (pictured 1966) is the only Ronette on "Be My Baby".{{sfn|Rooksby|2001|p=26}}]]

Ronnie – the only Ronette who appears on the record{{sfn|Rooksby|2001|p=26}} – overdubbed her lead vocal within a day after the backing track had been completed. She spent the previous three days preparing for the session.{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=146}} 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{{nbsp}}... That's where all the little 'whoa-ohs' and 'oh-oh-oh-ohs' you hear on my records were born."{{cite web|last=Buskin|first=Richard|date=April 2007|url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr07/articles/classictracks_0407.htm|title=CLASSIC TRACKS: The Ronettes 'Be My Baby'|website=Sound on Sound|access-date=May 6, 2014}} 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."{{Cite web |last=Simpson|first=Dave|url=http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/nov/17/how-we-made-the-ronettes-be-my-baby-ronnie-spector-phil |title=How we made the Ronettes' Be My Baby |date=November 17, 2015 |website=The Guardian |access-date=January 16, 2022}}

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."{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=147}} 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." 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."{{sfn|Rooksby|2001|p=26}}

Sonny Bono and Cher were among the backing vocalists.{{sfn|Thompson|2005|pp=113–114}} 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{{nbsp}}... 'expertise' was, he said, 'Look I just need noise – get out there!' I started as noise, and that was 'Be My Baby'."{{sfn|Thompson|2005|p=113}}

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|quote=I was like the happiest 17, 18-year-old girl you'd ever want to know, to have a {{Numero|1}} {{sic}} record all over the world, I loved it so much, the sweat and the tears and the sex appeal, everything.

|source=—Ronnie Spector, 1998{{sfn|Thompson|2005|p=177}}

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"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.{{sfn|Ribowsky|2006|pp=149, 155}}{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=147}}{{sfn|Thompson|2005|p=276}} It also topped the Canadian CHUM Chart during a four-week stay.{{cite web|url=http://chumtribute.com/63-10-21-chart.jpg| title=CHUM Hit Parade - October 21, 1963}} In the UK, it was issued by London Recordings in October and peaked at number 4 on Record Retailer.{{sfn|Thompson|2005|pp=103, 276}} By the end of the year, the single had sold more than two million copies.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

The Ronettes' first royalty check for the song totaled $14,000 (equivalent to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|14000|1963|r=-3}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}}). 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."{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=147}}

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|date=August 2021}} 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".{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=157}} In a 1999 interview, Ronnie cited "Be My Baby" as one of her top five favorite songs in her catalog.{{sfn|Thompson|2005|p=177}}

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.{{sfn|Thompson|2005|p=135}}

{{See also|Recording studio as an instrument}}

"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. 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).{{sfn|Jones|2012|p=133}} Many subsequent popular songs have replicated or recreated the drum phrase—one of the most recognizable in popular music.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/the-ronettes-be-my-baby-drum-intro-artists-sample-interview-7866041/|title=What Is It About The Ronettes' 'Be My Baby'? Some of the Countless Artists to Lift the Iconic Drum Beat Weigh In|magazine=Billboard|first=Natalie|last=Weiner|date=July 14, 2017|access-date=December 21, 2021}} 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."

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."{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=song|id=t130103|pure_url=yes}} | title= "Be My Baby" Song Review | last= Ankeny | first= Jason | website=AllMusic.com}} 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."{{sfn|Howard|2004|p=15}}

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."

"Be My Baby" had a profound lifelong impact on the Beach Boys' founder Brian Wilson.{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=185}}{{sfn|Howard|2004|pp=56–57}} His biographer Peter Ames Carlin describes the song as becoming "a spiritual touchstone" for Wilson,{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=44}} 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{{nbsp}}... 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."{{sfn|Sanchez|2014|pp=52–53}}

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

|source=—Brian Wilson, 1995{{cite AV media|people=Espar, David, Levi, Robert (Directors)|year=1995|title=Rock & Roll|medium=Miniseries}}

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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.{{sfn|Wilson|Greenman|2016|p=73}}{{refn|group=nb|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'".{{sfn|Wilson|Greenman|2016|p=77}}}} Wilson immediately concluded that it was the greatest record he had ever heard.{{sfn|Howard|2004|pp=56–57}} He bought the single and kept it on his living room jukebox, listening to it whenever the mood struck him.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=160}}{{sfn|Howard|2004|pp=56–57}} Copies of the record were located in his car and virtually everywhere inside his home.{{sfn|Sanchez|2014|p=53}}

Wilson conceived the Beach Boys' 1964 hit "Don't Worry Baby" as an answer song.{{sfn|White|1996|p=186}} 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.{{sfn|White|1996|p=352}} 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.{{cite web|date=October 25, 2008|title=First major TV interview with legendary Phil Spector screened on BBC Two|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2008/10_october/25/spector.shtml|website=Bbc.co.uk|access-date=June 2, 2011}}

File:Brian Wilson,1960s.jpg

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."{{sfn|Sanchez|2014|p=52}} Wilson had spoken at length about "Be My Baby" to the journalist, analyzing the song "like an adept memorizing the Koran."{{refn|group=nb|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".{{cite web|last1=Dalton|first1=David|authorlink1=David Dalton (writer)|title=Epiphany at Zuma Beach Or Brian Wilson hallucinates me|url=http://www.gadflyonline.com/home/05-06-02/ftr-epiphany.html|website=Gadfly|date=May 6, 2002}} Wilson's bandmate and cousin Mike Love remembered Wilson comparing the song to Albert Einstein's theory of relativity.{{sfn|Love|2016|p=74}} }} 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".{{cite AV media notes|title=Brian Wilson: I Just Wasn't Made for These Times|year=1995|first=Was|last=Don|author-link=Don Was|type=Documentary film}} 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."{{sfn|Sanchez|2014|pp=52–53}}{{refn|group=nb|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."{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=160}}}}

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".{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=213}} 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."{{sfn|Stebbins|2000|p=206}}{{refn|group=nb|Biographer Jon Stebbins writes, "Brian stared fiercely at the camera{{nbsp}}... 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."{{sfn|Stebbins|2000|p=206}}}} Wilson told The New York Times in 2013 that he had listened to the song at least 1,000 times. 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."{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=186}} 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."{{sfn|Wilson|Greenman|2016|p=73}}

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• Vianey Valdez had chart success in Mexico with her version, released as "Tu Seras Mi Babi" on the Peerless label. It entered the Mexico's Best Sellers chart at no. 3 on 21 August 1964.Cash Box, November 14, 1964 - [https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1964/CB-1964-11-14.pdf Page 61 Mexico's Best Sellers]Cash Box, November 21, 1964 - [https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1964/CB-1964-11-21.pdf Page 81 Mexico's Best Sellers, 3 Tu Seras Mi Babi-Les Surfs (Gamma)-Vianey Valdéz (Peerless)] It remained in the chart until 30 January 1965.Cash Box, January 30, 1965 - [https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1965/CB-1965-01-30.pdf Page 64 Mexico's Best Sellers, 9, Tu Seras Mi Babi (Be My Baby)—Les Surfs (Gamma)—Vianey Valdez (Peerless)—(Grever)]Cash Box, February 6, 1965 - [https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1965/CB-1965-02-06.pdf Page 57 Mexico's Best Sellers]
• 1970 – Andy Kim released a version of the song as a single. In the U.S., his version spent 11 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 17,"[https://www.billboard.com/artist/andy-kim/chart-history/hsi/ Be My Baby Chart History]", Billboard. Retrieved February 16, 2021. and No. 24 on Billboard{{'}}s Easy Listening chart.{{cite web|url=http://musicvf.com/song.php?title=Be+My+Baby+by+Andy+Kim&id=2369|title=Be My Baby (song by Andy Kim) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts|website=Musicvf.com|access-date=September 27, 2016}}"[https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/70s/1970/Billboard%201970-12-19.pdf Easy Listening]", Billboard. December 19, 1970. p. 44. Retrieved December 16, 2021. It also reached No. 12 on the Cash Box Top 100."[https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1970/CB-1970-12-26.pdf Cash Box Top 100]", Cash Box. December 26, 1970. Retrieved February 15, 2021. In Canada, the song reached No. 6 on the RPM 100,"[https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=2383& RPM 100]", RPM. Volume 14, No. 20. January 9, 1971. Retrieved February 15, 2021. while reaching No. 16 on the New Zealand Listener chart,"[http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20listener&qsongid=791#n_view_location NZ Listener chart statistics for Be My Baby]", Flavour of New Zealand. Retrieved December 16, 2021. No. 24 in West Germany,[https://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Andy+Kim&titel=Be+My+Baby&cat=s Andy Kim - Be My Baby], norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved February 15, 2021. and No. 36 on Australia's Go-Set National Top 60."[http://www.poparchives.com.au/gosetcharts/1971/19710320.html Go-Set National Top 60]", Go-Set. March 20, 1971. Retrieved February 16, 2021. It was also a hit in Brazil."[https://books.google.com/books?id=SUUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA62 Hits of the World]", Billboard. April 3, 1971. p. 62. Retrieved December 16, 2021. Kim's version was ranked No. 80 on RPM{{'}}s year end ranking of the "RPM 100 Top Singles of '71"."[https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=4393& RPM 100 Top Singles of '71]", RPM. Volume 16, No. 20. January 6, 1972. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
• 1972 – Jody Miller released a version as a single and on the album There's a Party Goin' On."[https://books.google.com/books?id=wigEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA34 Billboard Album Reviews]", Billboard. September 22, 1972. p. 34. Retrieved December 16, 2021. Her version reached No. 15 on Billboard{{'}}s Hot Country Singles chart and No. 35 on Billboard{{'}}s Easy Listening chart."[https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/70s/1972/BB-1972-05-20.pdf Hot Country Singles]", Billboard. May 20, 1972. p. 40. Retrieved December 16, 2021."[https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/70s/1972/BB-1972-04-01.pdf Easy Listening]", Billboard. April 1, 1972. p. 31. Retrieved December 16, 2021. It also reached No. 15 on the Cash Box Country Top 75 and Record World{{'}}s Country Singles Chart."[https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1972/Cash-Box-1972-05-13.pdf Cash Box Country Top 75]", Cash Box. May 13, 1972. p. 36. Retrieved February 16, 2021."[https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/72/RW-1972-05-20.pdf The Country Singles Chart]", Record World. May 20, 1972. p. 50. Retrieved February 16, 2021. In Canada, the song reached No. 11 on the RPM Country Playlist."[https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=9294& The Programmers Country Playlist]", RPM. Volume 17, No. 13. May 13, 1972. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
• 1976 – Shaun Cassidy released a cover of the song on his eponymous debut album. The following year it was released as a single and reached No. 39 in West Germany.[https://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Shaun+Cassidy&titel=Be+My+Baby&cat=s Shaun Cassidy - Be My Baby], norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
• 1992 – Teen Queens released a cover of the song that reached number 6 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart in May 1992.{{cite web|url=https://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=The+Teen+Queens&titel=Be+My+Baby&cat=s|title=Australian-charts.com – Teen Queens – Be My Baby|publisher=ARIA Top 50 Singles|access-date=January 15, 2021}} It was certified gold in Australia and was the country's 44th-most-successful song of 1992.{{cite web|url=https://www.aria.com.au/charts/1992/singles-chart|title=ARIA Top 100 Singles for 1992|publisher=ARIA|access-date=January 15, 2021}} In January 2009, a Herald Sun poll ranked this version as one of the top 10 worst Australian covers of all time.{{cite web|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/whats-your-worst-aussie-song/story-e6frf7jo-1111118453694|title=Vote on your worst ever Australian song|last=Adams|first=Cameron|website=Herald Sun|date=2 January 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130920193335/http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/whats-your-worst-aussie-song/story-e6frf7jo-1111118453694|archive-date=20 September 2013|access-date=26 June 2025}}
• 2013 – Leslie Grace covered the song in bachata for her eponymous album in a bilingual version in English and Spanish. Her version peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs and number 6 on the Tropical Songs chart.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/5645443/leslie-grace/chart|title=Leslie Grace: Chart history |magazine=Billboard |publisher=Prometheus Global Media|access-date=September 7, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303080815/http://www.billboard.com/artist/5645443/leslie-grace/chart |archive-date=March 3, 2014|url-status=dead}}

• The lyric "whoa-oh-oh-oh" was reprised in their follow-up single "Baby, I Love You".{{cite web |last1=Ankeny |first1=Jason |title=Be My Baby - The Ronettes |url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/be-my-baby-mt0050214521 |website=AllMusic |access-date=August 17, 2021 |language=en}}
• The song appears in the opening credit sequence of Martin Scorsese's film Mean Streets (1973).{{Cite web |title=Martin Scorsese: a career in 10 songs |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/martin-scorsese-songs-soundtracks-music |access-date=March 31, 2023 |website=BFI |date=January 3, 2017 |language=en}} Scorsese used the song without legal clearance,{{Cite web |last1=July 10 |first1=Owen Gleiberman Updated |last2=EDT |first2=2010 at 07:38 PM |title='The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector': If you love pop music, you must see this movie |url=https://ew.com/article/2010/07/10/the-agony-and-ecstasy-of-phil-spector/ |access-date=March 31, 2023 |website=EW.com |language=en}} allowing Spector to claim a portion of the film's earnings.
• Similarly, the song appears in the opening sequence of the 1987 film Dirty Dancing.{{Cite web |last=Richardson |first=Ged |date=June 8, 2022 |title=12 Iconic Songs from the Dirty Dancing Soundtrack |url=https://zinginstruments.com/dirty-dancing-soundtrack/ |access-date=March 31, 2023 |website=Zing Instruments |language=en-US}}
• Bob Seger's 1976 hit "Night Moves" includes the line "humming a song from 1962", which Seger meant as a reference to "Be My Baby", although he misidentified the year the song was released.{{sfn|Ribowsky|2006|p=297}}
• The song is invoked and interpolated in Eddie Money's 1986 song "Take Me Home Tonight", in which Ronnie Spector replies to "Just like Ronnie sang{{nbsp}}..." with "Be my little baby".{{cite news|url=https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a34224945/ronnie-spector-movie-zendaya-news/|title=Zendaya In Talks to Star in New Ronnie Spector Biopic|last=Goldsmith|first=Annie|date=October 1, 2020|work=Town & Country|accessdate=April 16, 2021}}{{better source needed|date=April 2022}}
• The song accompanies the climactic final scene of the "I Am Curious… Maddie" episode of Moonlighting aired March 31, 1987, as main characters David Addison (Bruce Willis) and Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd) sexually consummate their relationship.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/movies/be-my-baby-a-hit-single-with-staying-power.html|title=Still Tingling Spines, 50 Years Later|last=Spitz|first=Marc|work=The New York Times|date=August 16, 2013|accessdate=June 25, 2021|url-access=subscription}}{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-05-21-8902030008-story.html|title=Why 'Moonlighting' Went Bust|last=Clark|first=Kenneth R.|work=Chicago Tribune|date=May 21, 1989|accessdate=June 25, 2021}}
• The song's distinctive drum intro appears throughout "Something In The Night" by Bruce Springsteen, "Just Like Honey"{{Cite magazine |last=Sheffield |first=Rob |date=March 6, 2021 |title=The 30 Greatest Rock & Roll Movie Moments |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-lists/best-music-movie-moments-rock-10318/ |access-date=April 16, 2023 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}} by The Jesus and Mary Chain, "How the Mighty Have Fallen" by Margo Price, "Perfection As A Hipster" by God Help The Girl, "Summer's Been and Gone" by Language of Flowers, "Master of Art" by Laura Stevenson, and "Learnalilgivinanlovin" by Gotye.
• The 2007 single "B Boy Baby" by Mutya Buena featuring Amy Winehouse borrows melodic and lyrical passages from "Be My Baby".{{cite news|url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/music/mutya-buena-ft-amy-winehouse-1014845|title=REVIEW:Mutya Buena ft Amy Winehouse - B Boy Baby (Island)|last=Walters|first=Sarah|date=December 21, 2007|work=Manchester Evening News|accessdate=April 16, 2021}}
• The song appears in a fantasy sequence involving Kamala Khan in the Disney+/Marvel series Ms. Marvel, in the second episode "Crushed", after Kamala comes home following an encounter with her crush, Kamran.{{cite web |title='Ms. Marvel' {{!}} Every Song Featured in Episode 2 |url=https://www.marvel.com/articles/tv-shows/ms-marvel-every-song-featured-in-episode-2 |website=Marvel |publisher=Marvel Entertainment |access-date=June 18, 2022}}

• In 1999, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/hall-of-fame Grammy Hall Of Fame] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707235113/http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame |date=July 7, 2015 }}. Santa Monica, CA: The Recording Academy. Accessed April 2015.
• 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."{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/11028260/the_rs_500_greatest_songs_of_all_time/1|title=The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|website=RollingStone.com|access-date=June 2, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070516110704/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/11028260/the_rs_500_greatest_songs_of_all_time/1|archive-date=May 16, 2007 |url-status=dead}} It was also ranked number 22 on the list's 2021 edition{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-songs-of-all-time-1224767/the-ronettes-be-my-baby-2-1225316/|title=500 Best Songs of All Time: The Ronettes, 'Be My Baby'|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=September 15, 2021|access-date=November 19, 2021}} and again the 2023 edition.{{Cite magazine |date=2024-02-16 |title=The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-songs-of-all-time-1224767/ |access-date=2024-02-24 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}
• In 2006, it was ranked number 6 on Pitchfork{{'}}s list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s".{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/6405-the-200-greatest-songs-of-the-1960s/2/|title=Staff Lists: The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s | Features|publisher=Pitchfork|date=August 18, 2006|access-date=May 6, 2014}}
• In 2011, it was included in Time{{'}}s list of the "All-Time 100 Songs".{{cite magazine|url=https://entertainment.time.com/2011/10/24/the-all-time-100-songs/?hub=2793493#be-my-baby-the-ronettes|magazine=Time|title=All-Time 100 Songs|date=October 24, 2011}}
• In 2014, it was ranked number 2 on NME{{'}}s list of the "100 Best Songs of the 1960s".{{cite web|author=Be My Baby|url=https://www.nme.com/list/100-best-songs-of-the-1960s/263950/article/263983|title=100 Best Songs of the 1960s | #2 The Ronettes – Be My Baby|website=Nme.com|access-date=May 6, 2014}}
• In 2017, the song topped Billboard{{'}}s list of the "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time".{{cite web|title=100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time: Critics' Picks|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/7857816/100-greatest-girl-group-songs|publisher=Billboard|access-date=July 11, 2017}}
• In 2023, the song ranked 19th on Billboard's "500 Best Pop Songs of All Time".{{Cite magazine |date=2023-10-19 |title=The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List |url=https://www.billboard.com/lists/best-pop-songs-all-time-hits/ |access-date=2024-02-24 |magazine=Billboard}}

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{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Denmark|type=single|artist=The Ronettes|title=Be My Baby|award=Gold|relyear=1963|certyear=2024|id=14482|access-date=October 10, 2024}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Italy|type=single|artist=The Ronettes|title=Be My Baby|award=Gold|relyear=1963|certyear=2023|id=10765|access-date=April 15, 2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry |region=Spain|type=single|award=Platinum|relyear=1963|certyear=2024|artist=The Ronettes|title=Be My Baby|accessdate=October 29, 2024}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Ronettes|title=Be My Baby|award=Platinum|relyear=2011|certyear=2022|id=8948-4667-1|access-date=July 1, 2022}}

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{{reflist|group=nb}}

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin|30em}}

• {{cite book|last=Brown|first=Mick|author-link=Mick Brown (journalist)|title=Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector|year=2007|publisher=Bloomsbury|location=London|isbn=9781400042197|url=https://archive.org/details/tearingdownwallo0000brow/|url-access=registration}}
• {{cite book|first=Peter Ames|last=Carlin|author-link=Peter Ames Carlin|title=Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eYyovo_AbqAC|year=2006|publisher=Rodale|isbn=978-1-59486-320-2}}
• {{cite book |last1=Howard |first1=David N. |title=Sonic Alchemy: Visionary Music Producers and Their Maverick Recordings |date=2004 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corp |location=Milwaukee, WI |isbn=0634055607 |edition=1st |url=https://archive.org/details/sonicalchemyvisi0000howa/ |url-access=registration}}
• {{cite book |first=Lesley-Ann |last=Jones |author-link=Lesley-Ann Jones |title=Freddie Mercury: The Definitive Biography |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |page=151 |date=2012 |isbn=978-1-44473-369-3}}
• {{cite book |last=Love |first=Mike |author-link=Mike Love |title=Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ioG0CwAAQBAJ |year=2016 |publisher=Penguin Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-698-40886-9}}
• {{cite book|first=Mark|last=Ribowsky|title=He's a Rebel: Phil Spector – Rock and Roll's Legendary Producer|url=https://archive.org/details/hesrebelphilspec0000ribo|publisher=Da Capo Press|location=Cambridge, MA|year=2006|isbn=978-0-306-81471-6|url-access=registration}}
• {{cite book|last=Rooksby|first=Rikky|title=Inside Classic Rock Tracks: Songwriting and Recording Secrets of 100 Great Songs from 1960 to the Present Day|url=https://archive.org/details/insideclassicroc0000rook|year=2001|publisher=Backbeat Books|isbn=978-0-87930-654-0|url-access=registration}}
• {{cite book|last=Sanchez|first=Luis|title=The Beach Boys' Smile|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FC0_AwAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-62356-956-3}}
• {{cite book|last=Stebbins|first=Jon|author-link=Jon Stebbins|title=Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy|url=https://archive.org/details/denniswilsonreal0000steb/|year=2000|publisher=ECW Press|isbn=978-1-55022-404-7|url-access=registration}}
• {{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Dave |author1-link=Dave Thompson (author) |title=Wall of Pain: The Life of Phil Spector |date=2005 |publisher=Sanctuary |location=London |isbn=9781860746451 |edition=New |url=https://archive.org/details/wallofpainlifeof0000thom/ |url-access=registration}}
• {{cite book |last=White |first=Timothy |author-link=Timothy White (writer) |title=The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the Southern Californian Experience |date=1996 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=0333649370 |url=https://archive.org/details/nearestfarawaypl0000whit/ |url-access=registration}}
• {{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Brian|author-link1=Brian Wilson|last2=Greenman|first2=Ben|author-link2=Ben Greenman|title=I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9CmiBQAAQBAJ|year=2016|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=978-0-306-82307-7}}

{{refend}}

• {{cite web|ref=none|date=September 2, 2013|last1=Adams|first1=Erik|last2=Casciato|first2=Cory|last3=Eakin|first3=Marah|last4=Heller|first4=Jason|last5=Sava|first5=Oliver|last6=Zaleski|first6=Annie|title=Kick kick kick snare, repeat: 15 songs that borrow the drum intro from 'Be My Baby'|url=https://www.avclub.com/kick-kick-kick-snare-repeat-15-songs-that-borrow-the-1798240471|website=AV Club|access-date=December 13, 2024|archive-date=August 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819045850/http://www.avclub.com/article/kick-kick-kick-snare-repeat-15-songs-that-borrow-t-102315|url-status=live}}
• {{cite web|ref=none|date=March 18, 2019|last1=Weiss|first1=Dan|title=30 Songs That Use Hal Blaine's Iconic 'Be My Baby' Beat|url=https://www.grammy.com/news/30-songs-use-hal-blaines-iconic-be-my-baby-beat|website=GRAMMY.com|access-date=December 13, 2024}}

• [https://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/registry/essays/BE%20MY%20BABY.pdf Library of Congress essay] for its selection for the National Recording Registry.

{{The Ronettes}}

{{Phil Spector}}

{{Jody Miller}}

{{Andy Kim}}

{{Shaun Cassidy}}

{{authority control}}

Category:1963 songs

Category:1963 singles

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Category:Songs written by Phil Spector

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Category:Song recordings with Wall of Sound arrangements

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