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THE RONETTES, "Be My Baby" | Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes, 1964
Life takes funny turns, doesn’t it? Phil Spector went off the deep end. Veronica Bennett (better known by her stage name Ronnie Spector), his former wife, got out while she could, and went on to a second and third act in pop music. Their story, together and separate, mirrors the lost innocence, female fight, and current 51-50 state of America, one might argue. But let’s forget that for a moment, in the name of artistic appreciation, because before it all went bad it all came together sweetly. This 1964 song so accurately captures the cotton-candy high of an early and young love (“For every kiss you give me, I’ll give you three”), it might also serve as a human anthem to that ultimate patriotism. Spector’s wall-of-sound symphony holds the perfect pop tune about desire: the grand-announcement start and emotive chorus; Veronica’s taffeta-dress voice; the backup vocals and drums and strings. The Ronettes sing “baby” 26 times in the song. The one that stands out the most, in the chorus, arrives as a fully resolved, confident plea that this love is right, that nothing could go wrong, that with this kind of feeling inside nothing could keep us from a fairytale life about which we all dream.
