“Be My Baby” (The Ronettes)

This week we’re highlighting the work of legendary drummer Hal Blaine and some of the hundreds of hits on which he’s played. We’re starting with today’s classic song of the day, “Be My Baby” by the Ronettes.

“Be My Baby” was written by the team of Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich (with additional credit to producer Phil Spector, as was the custom in those days). The song was recorded on July 5, 1963 at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood. Jack Nitzsche did the arrangement and Larry Levine was behind the board.

Spector released “Be My Baby” on the Philles Records label in August of 1963. It peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, #4 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, and #1 on the Cash Box Top 100. The single was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 and into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry in 2006.

The “Be My Baby” single was a powerhouse example of Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound. Put tons of musicians (including four piano players!) into a cramped studio, position the microphones just so, rehearse them until they’re just about dead, then let them go at it for a final take—then run that take through a perfectly tuned echo chamber. The result was a massive wall of sound that only a distinctive singer like Ronnie Spector could cut through.

Here’s how Ronnie Spector remembers it:

“In the studio, I had to hide in the ladies’ room so the musicians could get their work done—I was very pretty and they’d keep looking at me. While I was in there, I came up with all those ‘Oh oh ohs,’ inspired by my old Frankie Lymon records. It took three days to record my vocals, take after take.”

The other secret to Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound was the drummer driving it all, the legendary Hal Blaine. For “Be My Baby,” Hal came up with that signature opening lick, the “boom, boom boom whack!, with the missing beat two on the snare drum. It’s a beat so distinctive it’s been copied by hundreds if not thousands of drummers over the years. (I tend to cop it at least once a set when I’m playing.)

Here’s how Hal came up with that beat, in his own words:

“We rehearsed it with a regular backbeat on 2 and 4. But then when we did the first take, I dropped my stick and missed the 2. So being the faker that I am, I just played the 4, and one of the things you learn is that when you make a mistake, if you do it every four bars it becomes part of the song.“

Now here’s something—ten or so minutes of live studio practice and recording of the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby” (then titled “My One and Only Baby”). Yeah, that’s Hal counting off behind his Ludwig kit, and Phil Spector himself offering guidance from the booth. They apparently spent more than three hours rehearsing before they got the final take. (This was in an era where they’d typically cut three songs in a single three-hour session.)

Fascinating behind the scenes stuff. Here are just some of the Wrecking Crew who were playing that day:

• Don Randi, piano (session leader)
• Leon Russell, piano (listed as Russell Bridges)
• Al De Lory, piano
• Michael Spencer, piano
• Steve Douglas, sax
• Jay Migliori, sax
• Tommy Tedesco, guitar
• Bill Pitman, guitar
• Jimmy Bond, upright bass
• Ray Pohlman, electric bass
• Frank Capp, percussion
• Hal Blaine, drums
• Darlene Love, Nino Tempo, Cherilyn Sarkasian (Cher), Sonny Bono, backing vocals

I chose this week as Hal Blaine Week because today is Hal’s birthday. Hal was born Harold Simon Belsky in Holyoke, Massachusetts on February 5, 1929. His family moved to Hartford, Connecticut in 1936 and he started playing drums a year later when he was 8 years old. Hal followed his family to California in 1943.

In 1949, Hal moved to Chicago to study with famed drummer Roy Knapp, the man who taught Gene Krupa how to be Gene Krupa. While there, Hal started playing professionally, first in strip clubs and later with more conventional artists. He toured with Patti Page and Tommy Sands before settling down in Los Angeles and breaking into the recording scene, thanks to old(er) pro Earl Palmer.

After he established himself in the L.A. studios, Hal and the group of musicians who later called themselves the Wrecking Crew helped to define the sound of rock and roll in the 1960s and early 1970s. Hal ended up participating in more than 35,000 recording sessions, recording more 6,000 singles, and notching up more than 150 top ten hits—39 of which went all the way to number-one. No other musician has a record like that.

If all Hal Blaine had done was create the “Be My Baby” beat he’d be a legend. But that was just a small part of his musical legacy. Hal played on so many hit records that you can listen to any oldies station and discover that was Hal drumming on every third song. As drummer Bruce Gary of the Knack once said, “One of my biggest disappointments was finding out my twelve favorite drummers were Hal Blaine.” It’s no surprise that Hal was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy. He is also in Modern Drummer magazine’s Hall of Fame.

Devoting an entire week to Hal Blaine’s recordings is actually easy. The songs you’ll hear this week run the gamut from his signature beat on “Be My Baby” to work with Simon and Garfunkel, Neil Diamond, the Carpenters, and the 5th Dimension. Hal always played for the song and, unless you listen carefully, you’d never know it was the same guy. (I do listen closely and can tell a Hal Blaine backbeat—on his Ludwig Supraphonic snare drum—within a measure or two, but I’ve had lots of practice.)

So happy heavenly birthday to Hal Blaine, who would have been 95 years old today. Hal passed away on March 11, 2019, age 90; I miss him terribly.