Ooo Baby Baby

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"Ooo Baby Baby"
Ooo Baby Baby - The Miracles.jpg
Single by The Miracles
from the album Going to a Go-Go
B-side "All That's Good"
ReleasedMarch 5, 1965
Recorded Hitsville U.S.A. (Studio A); January 21, 1965
Genre Soul, pop
Length2:48
Label Tamla / T 54113
Songwriter(s) Smokey Robinson
Pete Moore
Producer(s) Smokey Robinson
The Miracles singles chronology
"Come On Do The Jerk"
(1964)
"Ooo Baby Baby"
(1965)
"The Tracks of My Tears"
(1965)
Official audio
"Ooo Baby Baby" on YouTube

"Ooo Baby Baby" is a song written by Smokey Robinson and Pete Moore. It was a 1965 hit single by The Miracles for the Tamla (Motown) label.

Contents

The song has inspired numerous other cover versions by other artists over the years, including covers by Ella Fitzgerald, Todd Rundgren, The Escorts, The Five Stairsteps, Linda Ronstadt, and many others. The Miracles' original version of "Ooo Baby Baby" is listed as number 266 on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

The Miracles original version

Background

Written by Robinson and fellow Miracle Pete Moore and produced by Robinson, "Ooo Baby Baby" was a number 4 hit on the Billboard R&B singles chart and reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. [1]

A slow, remorseful number, "Ooo Baby Baby" features Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson lamenting the fact that he cheated on his female lover, and begging for her to overlook his mistakes and please forgive him. The song's highly emotional feel is supported by the Miracles' tight background vocal harmonies, arranged by Miracles member and song co-author Pete Moore, and a lush orchestral string arrangement that accents The Funk Brothers band's instrumental track.

Cash Box described it as "a medium-paced, low-down, pop-r&b ode about an unfortunate gal whose singin' the blues since she lost her guy." [2]

In 2004 Rolling Stone ranked the Miracles' original version of this song as #266 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. [3] The song is one of the Miracles' most-covered tunes.

On the 2006 Motown DVD The Miracles' Definitive Performances , Pete comments on the song's creation: "In the songs that Smokey and I wrote together, Smokey and Berry kinda left the background vocals to me. And this song "I'm on the Outside (Looking In)", which was one of The Imperials' bigger hits.... When I heard that song, as far as the background (harmonies) were concerned and how (they were structured), I wanted to get the same kind of feeling with Smokey's vocal. So I called Bobby, Ronnie, and Claudette over, and we did the backgrounds for it. I kinda had that particular song in mind...so I wanted to get the same kind of feeling with 'Ooo Baby Baby'."

Influence

John Lennon was a huge fan of Smokey Robinson; he borrowed the "I'm Crying" part in this song for The Beatles' song "I Am the Walrus".[ citation needed ]

Chart performance

Personnel

The Miracles

Other credits

Linda Ronstadt version

"Ooh Baby Baby"
Single by Linda Ronstadt
from the album Living in the USA
B-side "Blowing Away"
ReleasedOctober 24, 1978
Genre Rhythm and blues, soul
Length3:18
Label Asylum
Songwriter(s) Smokey Robinson
Pete Moore
Producer(s) Peter Asher
Linda Ronstadt singles chronology
"Back in the U.S.A."
(1978)
"Ooh Baby Baby"
(1978)
"Just One Look"
(1979)

Background

In 1978, Linda Ronstadt recorded a cover version of "Ooh Baby Baby" and included it on her double-platinum album Living in the USA . Her version of the single reached number 2 on the Contemporary chart and peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1979 (it also hit the R&B and Country singles charts). [8] Her single, which opens with a saxophone solo by David Sanborn, was produced by Peter Asher and issued on Asylum Records. Ronstadt performed with Smokey Robinson both "The Tracks of My Tears" and "Ooh Baby Baby" on the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever special broadcast on May 16, 1983.

Chart performance

Other versions

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smokey Robinson</span> American singer, songwriter and record producer (born 1940)

William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief songwriter and producer. He led the group from its 1955 origins, when they were called The Five Chimes, until 1972, when he retired from the group to focus on his role as Motown Records vice president. Robinson returned to the music industry as a solo artist the following year. He left Motown in 1999.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren "Pete" Moore</span> American singer-songwriter and record producer

Warren Thomas "Pete" Moore was an American singer-songwriter and record producer, notable as the bass singer for Motown group the Miracles from 1955 onwards, and was one of the group's original members. He is also a 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, and a BMI and ASCAP award-winning songwriter, and was the vocal arranger on all of the group's hits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Since I Lost My Baby</span> 1965 single by The Temptations

"Since I Lost My Baby" is a 1965 hit single recorded by The Temptations for the Motown Records' Gordy label. Written by Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Pete Moore and produced by Robinson, the song was a top 20 pop single on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, on which it peaked at number 17. On Billboard's R&B singles chart, "Since I Lost My Baby" peaked at number four.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Tracks of My Tears</span> 1965 single by the Miracles

"The Tracks of My Tears" is a song written by Smokey Robinson, Pete Moore, and Marv Tarplin. It is a multiple award-winning 1965 hit R&B song originally recorded by their group, The Miracles, on Motown's Tamla label. The Miracles' million-selling original version has been inducted into The Grammy Hall of Fame, has been ranked by the Recording Industry Association of America and The National Endowment for the Arts at No. 127 in its list of the "Songs of the Century" – the 365 Greatest Songs of the 20th Century, and has been selected by Rolling Stone as No. 50 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", among many other awards. In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked the Miracles' original recording of "The Tracks of My Tears" as "The Greatest Motown Song of All Time".

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<i>Going to a Go-Go</i> 1965 studio album by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles

Going to a Go-Go is a 1965 album by the Miracles, the first to credit the group as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. It includes four of the Miracles' Top 20 hits: "Ooo Baby Baby", "The Tracks of My Tears", "Going to a Go-Go", and "My Girl Has Gone". It was produced by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson, along with Frank Wilson and William "Mickey" Stevenson.

"Going to a Go-Go" is a 1965 single recorded by The Miracles for Motown's Tamla label.

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"If You Can Want" is a 1968 single recorded by R&B group Smokey Robinson & the Miracles for Motown Records' Tamla label. Written and produced by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson, "If You Can Want" was the most successful of the three singles included on the group's 1968 album Special Occasion. This single just missed the U.S. Top 10, peaking at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, and was a Top 5 R&B hit, peaking at number three on Billboard's R&B singles chart, and was also a minor hit in England, peaking at number 50 on the United Kingdom singles chart.

"My Girl Has Gone" is a 1965 R&B single recorded by The Miracles for Motown's Tamla label. Included on their 1965 album Going to a Go-Go, "My Girl Has Gone" was the follow-up to the group's number 16 Billboard Hot 100 million-selling hit "The Tracks Of My Tears".

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References

  1. "The Miracles > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". AllMusic . Retrieved February 16, 2010.
  2. "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. March 20, 1965. p. 10. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  3. "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on October 25, 2006. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
  4. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1965-05-03. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
  5. 1 2 Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN   0-89820-089-X
  6. "Cash Box Top 100 5/15/65". tropicalglen.com. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  7. "Top 100 Hits of 1965/Top 100 Songs of 1965". www.musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  8. "Linda Ronstadt > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". AllMusic. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  9. Canada, Library and Archives (17 July 2013). "Image : RPM Weekly". bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  10. Tsort. "Song artist 423 - Linda Ronstadt". tsort.info. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  11. US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. December 9, 1978
  12. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 500.
  13. "Cash Box Top 100 1/27/79". tropicalglen.com. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  14. 1 2 Canada, Library and Archives (17 July 2013). "Image : RPM Weekly". bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  15. "Top 100 Hits of 1979/Top 100 Songs of 1979". www.musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  16. "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1979". tropicalglen.com. Archived from the original on 13 July 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  17. The Best of Soul Train Live (booklet). Time Life. 2011.