Be My Baby

This was the first Ronettes song produced by Phil Spector and released on his label, Philles Records. It exemplified Spector's "Wall Of Sound" production technique, where he layered lots of instruments and used echo effects. Spector had already produced seven chart hits when he auditioned The Ronettes for his Philles record label. The Ronettes were Veronica (Ronnie) Bennett, her sister Estelle Bennett and their cousin Nedra Talley. Phil fell in love with Veronica's voice and immediately went about signing the group to Philles (the trio was under contract with Colpix Records who had issued a few singles and a album which did not chart). With the help of Veronica and Estelle's mother, who simply called the company and got Colpix to release the Ronettes from their contract, Phil immediately signed the Ronettes to Philles at the end of March. He had the group record a Jeff Barry-Ellie Greenwich song called "Why Don't They Let Us Fall In Love," but Spector decided not to release it in favor of another Barry-Greenwich composition, "Be My Baby." The single (Philles 116) entered the charts at the end of August and became the biggest hit and only Top 10 for The Ronettes.

Veronica Bennett was the only Ronette to sing on this. Phil Spector rehearsed her for weeks and had her do 42 takes before he got the sound he wanted. Spector and Bennett got married in 1968, and they divorced in 1974.

This was written by the songwriters Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, who were married at the time. As was his custom, Phil Spector also took a songwriting credit on the track. Barry and Greenwich had a remarkable run of hits in 1963 and 1964, including "Da Doo Ron Ron," "Chapel Of Love," "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" and "Leader of the Pack." They divorced in 1965 but kept working together; one of their post-divorce accomplishments was producing Neil Diamond's early recordings.