Baby It’s You – 1963
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Song by the Beatles
from the album Please Please Me
Released March 22, 1963
Recorded February 11 & 20, 1963
EMI Studios
Length 2:24
Label Parlophone
Songwriter(s) Burt Bacharach, Mack David and Barney Williams
Producer(s) George Martin
English rock group the Beatles performed “Baby It’s You” as part of their stage act from 1961 until 1963, and recorded it on February 11, 1963 for their first album, Please Please Me, along with “Boys”, another song by the Shirelles. American label Vee-Jay Records included it on Introducing… The Beatles and Songs, Pictures and Stories of the Fabulous Beatles. Capitol included it on The Early Beatles. The Beatles’ version differs to the Shirelles’ by repeating the second verse instead of the first. So, where the Shirelles conclude with a line about sitting home and crying, the Beatles’s conclusion is more upbeat, John Lennon singing that he will carry on loving, no matter what.
A live version was released on Live at the BBC in 1994. On this version, Lennon does not repeat part of the second verse after the solo (as he did on the studio version), but repeats part of the first verse, which is the way the Shirelles sang the song. The song was issued as a CD single and a vinyl single in 1995 in both the UK and the US, the Beatles’ first in nearly a decade. Both versions have four tracks, making it an EP instead of a regular issue single. The three additional tracks, while from BBC recordings, did not appear on Live at the BBC. Tracks 2 and 4 were later included on On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2, but this recording of track 3 remains unique to this release. The single reached number seven in the UK and number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100.
1995 release track listing
“Baby It’s You” (Bacharach/David/Williams) – 2:45
“I’ll Follow the Sun” (Lennon–McCartney) – 1:51
“Devil in Her Heart” (Drapkin) – 2:23
“Boys” (Dixon/Farrell) – 2:29
The version of Baby It’s You on this release is notable for having a definite ending as opposed to a fade out on the original album version.
Music video
A live music video was released in 1994 to promote the single. It consisted of a combination of the Beatles dancing and still photographs, and was later included on a DVD or Blu-ray that comes with the 2015 release 1+.
Personnel
John Lennon – vocals, rhythm guitar
Paul McCartney – bass, backing vocals
George Harrison – lead guitar, backing vocals
Ringo Starr – drums
George Martin – celesta
Norman Smith – engineer