How A Rookie's BIG HIT Influenced Scores Of Legends In Tribute To Ronnie Spector | Professor of Rock

hey music junkies uh as many of you already know by now we recently lost uh one of the greatest rock and roll singers of the era legendary ronnette's front woman ronnie spector sadly on january 12 2022 she passed away at the age of 78 after a brief battle with cancer she was with family and in the arms of her husband jonathan at the time i hear a professor of rock we definitely want to extend our condolences to her family and recognize her incredible contribution to music history her legacy will continue to inspire people for centuries to come veronica bennett grew up in the spanish harlem neighborhood of new york city formed the roynettes in 1961 with her older sister estelle and cousin nedra teaming up with the wall sound producer phil spector they released a number of hit singles in the 1960s including baby i love you do i love you [Music] but of course the biggest hit of them all was the historic be my baby which climbed all the way to number two in the u.s hot 100. the ronettes broke up in 1967 and ronnie and phil spector married in 1968 but after enduring years of psychological abuse uh horrible abuse ronnie divorced phil spector in 1974. later in 1982 she married the love of her life jonathan greenfield just a few of the many highlights of ronnie spector's incredible career included touring with the rolling stones seeing backup for jimi hendrix and inspiring so many rock luminaries brian wilson billy joel bruce springsteen so many others to write music patterned after her styles what they did 1986 ronnie's solo career reached his zenith when she collaborated with eddie money for the top five smash take me home tonight one of the greatest songs of the 80s [Music] now to give ronnie specter a proper tribute we absolutely have to take a closer look at her signature song be my baby we're actually planning on covering this on our number one in our hearts program because it absolutely deserved to be a number one hit on influence alone and it got as close as a song can [Applause] be my baby was the first in a group of songs that songwriters jeff berry and ellie greenwich append with phil spector lyrically it's very simple it's about a girl who's trying to convince a guy she likes uh to give her a chance she lets him know that she's been into him from the day that they met and that she thinks that they can pass the test of time looking back on the song ronnie said that it felt like they took the lyrics straight from her life it was during a time when she was still very young very innocent she remembered phil spector coming to her house and uh seeing the dolls in her room and he asked her about him she said i give them a kiss every night i give them a kiss on the forehead and one on each side of their cheeks before i go to sleep and a quote that explanation became the be my baby's lyric for every kiss you give me i'll give you three [Music] first time ronnie was supposed to meet with the songwriters about be my baby phil had ronnie wait in the penthouse guest room meanwhile the rest of the trio worked on composing the song as she overheard them singing she thought that it was very catchy and wondered is that a hit record well she didn't have to wonder it definitely was phil had ronnie rehearse the song for weeks before she flew at the gold star studios in la to record it that was in july of 1963. because she was so shy ronnie did all her studio rehearsals in the ladies restroom when it came time to record she knew the words backwards and forwards and she absolutely nailed them phil spector utilized a bevy of musical instrumentation to create his famous wall of sound production of course like guitars saxes pianos and horns as well as some innovative studio mixing and overdubbing we're all layered to create this effect [Music] played the track over and over again listening for things to improve he was a notorious control freak and really never showed emotion but after being my baby he was clearly excited the first time that ronnie heard the finished version of be my baby she was on tour with the ronettes it was a saturday morning she woke up in her motel room and she turned on american bandstand from philadelphia it's time for america's favorite dance party american dance fan barely awake dick clark introduced the next record as the hit of the century wondering what it was ronnie couldn't wait to hear it when be my baby started playing she was sure that she'd fallen back asleep because she had to be dreaming but of course she wasn't [Music] be my baby hit the charts in the last week of august 1963 and it turned out to be a massive hit it went to number one on the cash box top 100 went to number two on the billboard hot 100 you couldn't turn on the radio without hearing be my baby not only was be my baby a mega hit in its day but its legacy of course has continued to grow since then over the years be my baby's been featured in so many films and tv shows um just to talk about a few of them i've got a secret in 1963 [Applause] i got a secret up here tonight was in mean streets in 73 [Music] moonlighting and 87 [Music] dirty dancing in 87. in the wonder years in 1990 [Music] how i met your mother in 2007 baby mama glee shaft and american dad all in the 2000s it's also been covered so many times and too many artists have covered to mention all of them here but here's a little sampling of the sherelles did it i believe that was in the early 70s [Music] john elena recorded a version in 73 was later released in 98. the base city rollers in 74. melinda rodstadt did it in 96. melissa etheridge [Music] brian wilson did it [Music] aaron neville [Music] now 1976 billy joel released say goodbye to hollywood [Music] it was a a song that he modeled after the ronan's be my baby billy joel intentionally mimicked ronnie's vocal stylings recycled its unforgettable intro drum beat and recreated that iconic wall of sound from the ground up really [Music] 1977 after joel's release to say goodbye to hollywood ronnie recorded her own version with the e street band so awesome [Music] [Applause] billy joel said in interviews i always said that i wrote this song with ronnie in mind so when i heard that she wanted to do say goodbye to hollywood herself i just flipped out and i loved the version that she did with the e street band [Music] i thought it was the perfect record for fm radio speaking of the e street band uh it's well known that bruce springsteen is born to run production was directly inspired by the ronnettes and the wallace sound girl groups from that time [Music] it had such an impact on so many billy joel and ronnie met about a year later he was doing an interview with the bbc when she came into the studio no doubt billy joel was an awe he'd always been a fan and to have her tell him how much she loved recording his song it was a moment he'd never forget but billy joel wasn't the only musician to fall head over heels over the former ronnette and her influential music her sound yeah that was a big video great video oh yeah one of the great music videos in mtv history i would have to say stu and you know if they still play the phone everybody goes home at night the last last call all the clubs all over america they play technical tonight which is amazing it's real you know from my generation the last song of the night to this day is pretty cool oh yeah you know well for my generation i mean it was literally our introduction to ronnie and the nets when i was listening to my dad saying you hear this be my little baby that's a song my baby did he play feet and yeah and he played it for me and that's how i i mean that taught me right take me home tonight by the way it really is tonight we met i knew i needed you so but you know the that's better for the hunger it's a hunger i mean it's a better tool that's we should get ronnie ronnie expected to do this a single one through the roof she and eddie money collaborated on a video for mtv and performed on a host of tv shows ranging from david letterman to american bandstand [Music] i remember just being blown away by her beauty by her presence ronnie spector this is never going to be another brian wilson was enamored with ronnie spectre i mean be my baby was incredibly inspirational to him and even played a role in helping him learn how to produce records well i had to pull over the side of the road i could not believe you know what i was hearing i never heard anything like in my life so i pulled over and listened to it and i absolutely couldn't believe it i was like flabbergasted and that's when you were kind of heard that phil spector production right the wall of sound yeah that's when i first heard then i i bought the record being my baby and i learned how to i listened for drum beats to guitars and pianos and i learned how to combine one instrument with another to get a third sound you know piano guitar which makes one sound instead of piano and a guitar it's piano guitar kind of inspired don't worry baby right that did inspire don't worry baby yeah brian wilson the no doubt about it musical genius he soaked it all in from ronnie's voice to the background vocals and the way the guitars and piano melded together into a single sound wilson was in love in fact wilson was so smitten with it that his daughters remember waking up every day to the sound to be my baby playing at maximum volume in the house [Applause] in 1999 ronnie released her own cover of the beach boys don't worry baby [Music] that was part of her ep she talks to rainbows it was a song that she wished could have been written for her kind of was in 2002 ronnie visited brian wilson before his show in new york city to tell him how much she loved him ronettes were inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame that happened in 2007. ronnie spector said about it we waited so long i mean we really waited long we went through lots of ups and downs i never thought i'd get here but here i am i am blown away i never thought i'd get here but here i am there will never be another ronnie spector she was a kind of interpreter of rock and roll that you just don't see the queen of the wall of sound and one of the biggest musical influencers of the entire era as has been said by her family ronnie lived her life with a twinkle in her eye a spunky attitude a wicked sense of humor and a smile on her face she was filled with love and gratitude i mean her joyful sound playful nature and magical presence will live on in all who knew heard her sorrow when ronnie sang the first few lines of be my baby she's saying what we all feel about her the night we met i knew i needed you so and if i had the chance i'd never let you go [Music] even though ronnie specter is gone we will never let her soulful music go you

Channel: Professor of Rock

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Id: fYWlPBpt0Pg

Length: 14min 45sec (885 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 19 2022