The Smiley Smile Message Board

So I've been listening to Be My Baby on loop for the past 45 minutes, and I really don't see what's so special about this song. I don't think the arrangement is very exciting, and I hate those frickin' castanets or whatever that percussive Latin sound is. The drumming is pretty cool, I guess (I can hear a few different Beach Boys songs in the drums, too).

What is it about this song that had Brian so obsessed?

Well I'm sure he likes all of it, but I have heard him say "I like the melody" in a recent interview (maybe the A&E Bio?)... but in an interview done sometime around the mid-90's he said he liked the backing vocals in the chorus... he seemed to be pretty amazed at that for some reason?... I gather he also loves Ronnie's voice as he's always seemed pretty obsessed by it.

I don't know, but personally, it is one of my favourite songs ever.  I love those frickin' castanets! But I agree, I think the drumming is pretty cool as well.

Ah well, everybody's different, right?

Well of course and if everyone liked the same stuff it would be a pretty damn boring world. I mean there would be no debating over which song/album/artist is better etc...

Personally, I quite like Be My Baby too, but I think Brian is just a tad obsessive over the song....

I'm surprised he wasn't obsessed with "Keep on Dancing" more. That has a whole waltz thing to it and the intro holds similarities to H&V. Same thing with "Do I Love You."

My thoughts, yes. Perhaps 'When I Saw You' would be a candidate too, because it's sophisticated, it doesn't 'explode' into a major chorus like so many Spector songs do. And over the years Ronnie's 'wavering' voice lost a bit of its charm for me, and LaLa Brooks, for her sheer panache and enthusiasm, rose a somewhat in my affection. But really, I still like all of it.

So what was your reason for listening for 45 minutes nonstop if you don't like it?  I could  understand perhaps once or twice, as a part of some academic exercise.

...is a point. Although I would never begrudge someone doing that, I wouldn't be able to do that myself, because of the risk of not wanting to hear it ever again. But well, could be an attempt to experience what Brian felt when he did that (and he did that repeatedly, according to his own reports).
But then: Brian has a tendency to 'repeat'. It can be heard on SMiLE blegs with those ongoing repeats of the 'Bicycle Rider' theme, for instance. I always felt that repeating favourite tunes for Brian function as 'sedatives', to make him feel at ease. Anyone else ever thought this?

I think we all do that in some form and that it is not behavior unique to Brian.  I also don't think it is necessarily a bad thing either.

But it struck me that the tone is,  that there is something odd about Brian because he listens to a song that he REALLY LIKES repetitively.  But if that is inherently bad what   would listening repetitively to something you DON'T LIKE over and over be?  I am not trying to say anything about Aegir at all.  I'm sure that I have done something along the same line at some point.  I am saying that folks tend to kind of hold Brian's behavior up to a different standard - labeling rather "normal" behavior as "odd".  I know I have listened to "Louie, Louie" by the Kingsmen like that. Heck I have listened and marveled to just the short simple guitar solo by George Harrison in "You're Going To Lose That Girl"  over and over for at least a half hour.   Now I may be weird, but I don't think that was weird.  It was very pleasant.                     

The song is fine. I've always loved the chorus. I don't like it as much as Brian does, mind you. But ever since I was a kid, I've dug it.

 All Phil Spector sounds much better on vinyl. I'm not one to usually say things like that, but it's simply true--it's true for all sixties and seventies music actually, but really true for Phil Spector and Born to Run, wall of sound type stuff.

I love Be My Baby too but I have to say I enjoy listening to the version of a drunk John Lennon belting it out during the Rock N Roll sessions a bit more than the original Ronettes version.

I don't think it is necessarily some logical reason. I think of it as similar to how Miles Davis often spoke glowingly about pianist Ahmad Jamal, who, while cool, doesn't seem anywhere near good enough in any way to be a major inspiration to a genius like Miles. But sometimes things just (as Brian said of Love You[/]) hit the spot. It struck him in a good way and he kept a soft spot for it. Oh, and he is shithouse crazy.

I rate Jamal as one of the jazz piano greats.  Right up there with Bill Evans, Denny Zeitlin, Herbie Hancock, and the like.  The source of his strength is a little more subtle because it comes as much (or more)  from what he doesn't play than what he does. His use of space has been a major influence in music, and certainly so on Miles.  Without Jamal's influence there would be no 'Kind Of Blue' as we know it.  Jamal's "Poinciana" from 'Live at the Pershing' is amazing.  He's still around and playing too. 
I agree though that there is similarity between the Wilson-Spector and Davis-Jamal influences.  However with Davis it was somewhat about making a statement by minimizing while with Wilson it was somewhat about making a statement by maximizing.     
   

I don't mind the song. I like the Ronettes and most Spector songs/groups. And Brian listened to it repeatedly, and I was trying to see why he liked it so much.

Also, I'm weird.

I once heard him say he liked the way the melody worked  against the changing chords. The melody on the chourus repeating over the changing chords creating that interesting harmony.

Eg ( I think it's in E)  As the "Be My Baby" tune plays over the E major chord, You get an E maj, E Maj7 then E maj 6th.

Very satisfying harmony, quite cool for 1963.

I love the "boom, boom, boom, BOOM!" drumbeat in "Be My Baby". The Jesus and Mary Chain copied it on "Just Like Honey" and a couple of their other songs, and Camera Obscura also used it in their song "Eighties Fan".

...and Mercury Rev used it to good effect on a song of theirs. It's on their 'best of' double CD set that I acquired yesterday. Don't have the title at hand now but it is definitely the Ronettes drum pattern.

I can't blame you for not being as impressed as you think you should be. ...Not until you have heard it on a good copy of the orginal 45 on a proper turntable and a good amp(preferably an old tube amp) and  good speakers . I imagine this is close to how Brian was used to hearing it , at least back when he fell in love with it....., im sure bri had a very nice hi fi, and even if he didnt,  when he heard  it on the radio back then it would've been in the superior original mix(if listened to closely you can hear an inferior remix is used on the back to mono and best of ronettes cd's from abcko) it also would've been played  on an expensive broadcast quality turntable.....I seem to recall a quote by brian that the later reissues of of spector's stuff "had the guts taken out of it"......i.e.......it was not how he remembered......something was lost............I just dont think spector gives a sh*t about these reissues........although the import cd from abcko a few years ago was a slight improvement......

unless you just plain don't care for the song......then the best amp and turntable in the world might not help....

I'm not 100% certain, but I think Brian discusses that in an interview with Paul Williams which can be found in the How Deep Is The Ocean? book

Yeah, the version I have is an m4a of the Back to Mono version. That might be it.

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I have 'BMB' in stereo. Contrary to Spector's First Commandment, 'The Ronette's Greatest Hits' appeared in true stereo on the Phil Spector International label in 1976 or thereabouts. I think it was a Polydor license deal for only a couple of years. I also have the Xmas album in stereo, as well as the two 'Rarities' sets - but they were in mono only.
Great sleeves, BTW, esp. the 'Rarities' disks.

I would like to hear that.  How is the mix and is the sound superior to the disappointing sound on the "Back To Mono" box set.

What is the opinion of the original mono album version (On the Philles label)?

I have a treasured copy of the LP and haven't really compared it to Back To Mono version.  What should I be listening for?

Mikee, if you really listened to George's solo on YGLTG repeatedly for that long it must have induced a seizure. 

Are you OK?

I like the eight  measures after the drum intro on Be My Baby best.   

There's that one part in a BB documentary with Brian playing the beat on a snare drum and talking about it

 Billy Joel's 'Say Goodbye To Hollywood' perfectly concatonates with 'Be My Baby' - same beat, same time, same key.  If you put the 2 songs together and remove the pause track you, seamlessly, get 1 song. 

 It seems to me that Donna Clarkson may eventually acquire control of the song should she prevail in her wrongful death suit against Spector.  Should this occur, it could well be that the sound will then be improved.

I like concatenating. Since I am an unmarried investigator, I often do it in between solving crimes, playing the violin, and ingesting a 7% cocaine solution.

I was always told to avoid concatenating with the wrong people.  so far, so good.

And last night I heard a song by the Four Seasons that also uses that drumbeat....but I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head right now.