The Experts team have recently been sharing with each other what each considers to be a perfect pop track production. Of course the number of opinions equals the number of people in the room.
The track is considered using three metrics; the song, arrangement, and production/mix.
The list of classic pop songs from the middle of last century leaves us spoilt for choice, and my choice of Be My Baby by The Ronettes is one of many, many landmark songs with the same qualities that make them so.
Song
Written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector and released in 1963, the song is the epitome of the close harmony big production pop songs of the period, often performed by young black Americans whose musical instincts came from gospel and blues.
It uses the classic “Doo-Wop” chord progression in the chorus, which is itself notable by its late appearance in the song at a time when the more prevalent AABA structure saw the main theme running from the song start. A simple repeated verse/pre-chorus/chorus structure sees an instrumental verse of strings carrying the top-line near the end of the song’s 2 min 40 entirety.
The lyric’s classic theme of teenage angst is beautifully supported by the longing meandering melody that is juxtaposed with one of the first ever outings of Hal Blaine’s instantly recognisable “DUM-d-dum-TA” beat that has continued to inform popular music’s vernacular countless times since.
Arrangement
Much has been written about Phil Spector’s Wall Of Sound. This technique relied on layering and blending multiple instrumentalists during a live performance, combined with the use of obvious amounts of reverb in the mix. By deliberately arranging different instruments to play the same parts in the same register, Spector was able to create the unique textures that make his work so recognizable.
Be My Baby’s enormous instrumentation should not be confused with its relatively economic arrangement of drums and percussion, basses, simple chord work on piano and guitar, with minimal strings and reeds. Ronnie Benett’s lead vocal is backed up by BVs provided by a small ensemble of friends of the studio, with some accounts reporting the other Ronettes not being present for the recording.
The song showcases all of Phil Spector’s classic Wall Of Sound hallmarks, with guitars and pianos playing the same chords and rhythms, with second piano and two basses tripling up at the low end. Not only do two drummers feature on the record, but also a whole roll call of percussion instruments with castanets, maracas, and tambourine adding to the rhythmic tapestry of the track with Spector himself often playing during this period.
The strings and reeds make a furtive debut on verse two, increasing in intensity as the song progresses. Considering the sonic density of the song, the strings remain audible thanks to the sparsity of the score with long single lines played in octaves which only ever elaborate when the lyric allows.
The Production/Mix
With Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles as the venue, the instrumental backing was recorded live in one room with a mere 12 inputs available at the console mixed live to a 3-track Ampex machine. The thinking behind this format (popular in the US at this time) was two tracks for a straight-to-stereo recording of the band and orchestration, with a third track for the lead vocal.
The studio used a mixture of U67s and RCA77s on drum overhead and kick duties respectively, with U67s, RCA44s, SM57s/Unidynes and Electrovoice RE15s employed on other sources with the latter being a house favourite on piano and acoustic guitar.
The key to the Wall Of Sound was the economy of the arrangement- despite the huge instrument count- affording elements such as the lead vocal room to breathe in the mix. Helped along by the ‘tucked-in’ pianos and guitars, the drums and basses sit loud and proud alongside the lead vocal. This does not have the excessively high-in-the-mix ‘stuck-on’ quality of some vocals of the time, instead helped forward by a dry, present sound featuring a gentle overdriven complexity.
The Perfect Pop Song Production?
Choosing the ultimate pop song production is a near-impossible task, but of all the contenders, if nothing else Be My Baby demonstrates what can be done by people at the top of their game using whatever equipment is available to them. Given the fact that the song and others like it still resonate 60 years after their creation, Be My Baby perfectly encapsulates an era in western popular music where incredible writing, arranging, and sheer artistry took precedence over all else.