Friday May 27, 2022 “You Baby” The Ronettes
The Ronettes historically are one of those groups that come to mind immediately when you think ‘girl groups’. They were one of the most consistently popular girl groups and cited by so many who followed them as being a big early influence.
Discovered by Phil Spector they were his early focus with his wall of sound recordings with Ronnie being an even larger personal focus, and we identify them as one of the premiere sounds of the sixties. Ironically, The Ronettes had only one US top twenty hit, “Be My Baby”.
Although Ronnie was always out in front with the vocals on Ronettes recordings Spector would often have his go-to studio singers do the backgrounds so you will find the voices of favorite Darlene Love, the Blossoms and even early Cher on many of the Ronettes recordings.
The Ronettes toured with Rolling Stones in 1964 and with the Beatles in 1965 however Spector would not allow Ronnie to tour with the Beatles and had her replaced by her cousin…I guess he was just a “Jealous Guy”. The Ronettes' short but important career would end in 1966 when each member of the group would get married with Ronnie marrying Phil Spector. After marrying Spector, Ronnie would be out of the public eye and would essentially be a ‘prisoner’ in his west coast mansion.
It wouldn’t be until 1986 that we would hear from Ronnie again on the Eddie Money top ten hit “Take Me Home Tonight”...’just like Ronnie said, be my little baby…’.
Stay safe and well…and “You Baby” feels like it could have been written by James Brown, the absolute master of songs with the least number of words possible and constant repetition…’you baby’ gets fourteen repetitions in this short song, by my count.