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| “Don’t Worry Baby” | |
|---|---|
| Single by The Beach Boys | |
| from the album Shut Down Volume 2 | |
| A-side | “I Get Around“ |
| Released | May 11, 1964 |
| Recorded | January 7, 1964 |
| Studio | United Western Recorders, Los Angeles, CA |
| Genre | California Sound |
| Length | 2:47 |
| Label | Capitol |
| Songwriter(s) | Brian Wilson, Roger Christian |
| Producer(s) | Brian Wilson |
| The Beach Boys singles chronology | |
| “Fun, Fun, Fun“ (1964)”Don’t Worry Baby“ (1964)”When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)“ (1964) | |
“Don’t Worry Baby” is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys, written by Brian Wilson and Roger Christian, from the band’s March 1964 album Shut Down Volume 2. It is a tender ballad with falsetto lead vocal by Wilson, who also produced the recording. In May, the song was issued as the B-side of the Beach Boys’ “I Get Around“.
The song “Don’t Worry Baby” is part of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list. It is ranked as the 178th greatest song of all time in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and Pitchfork Media placed it at number 14 on its list of “The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s”.
Recording and production
The track was recorded in two eight hour sessions on January 7, 1964, at United Western Recorders, Studio 3, Los Angeles, California. Vocals and guitars were overdubbed one or two days later. Take 12 was used for the master. Brian Wilson cited the song as his attempt to capture the essence of his all-time favorite record, “Be My Baby” by the Ronettes. Wilson estimates he has listened to the latter song “more than 1,000 times.”
Lorrie Morgan sang lead vocals on the Beach Boys’ 1996 Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 album and was their only venture into the genre of country music to date. This version peaked at number 73 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.
In popular culture
The production of “Don’t Worry Baby” formed the basis of the Byrds‘ recording of “Mr. Tambourine Man“. Garbage‘s 1998 single, “Push It“, contains an interpolation of its chorus, and Wilson/Christian were given songwriting credits.
Cover versions
- 1965 – The Ivy League
- 1967 – The Treetops
- 1968 – The Fun & Games
- 1970 – The Tokens
- 1973 – Bryan Ferry, These Foolish Things
- 1975 – Keith Moon, Two Sides of the Moon (with Dick Dale on guitar)
- 1976 – The Bay City Rollers
- 1988 – The Everly Brothers
- 1999 – Ronnie Spector, She Talks to Rainbows
- 2001 – Billy Joel, An All-Star Tribute to Brian Wilson
- 2003 – Andy Pratt, Cover Me
- 2003 – Zed, This Little Empire
- 2008 – Rivers Cuomo, Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo (recorded 1992)
- 2015 – Grouplove
- 2016 – Big Star, Complete Third
- 2017 – Caroline Melby, Tenn-Tom and The Tenderheart Sessions
B.J. Thomas
By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, Link
| “Don’t Worry Baby” | |
|---|---|
| Single by B.J. Thomas | |
| from the album B.J. Thomas | |
| B-side | “My Love” |
| Released | June 1977 |
| Label | MCA |
| Songwriter(s) | Brian Wilson, Roger Christian |
| Producer(s) | Chris Christian |
| B.J. Thomas singles chronology | |
| “Without a Doubt” (1977)”Don’t Worry Baby“ (1977)”Still the Lovin’ Is Fun” (1977) |
A cover version of “Don’t Worry Baby” was done by B.J. Thomas in 1977. His producer Chris Christian, who had recently produced BJ’s gold Contemporary Christian album “Home Where I Belong” had met the MCA Records executives while working the Olivia Newton-Johns album “Don’t Stop Believing” in Nashville. Chris presented the idea to the MCA executives to sign BJ to MCA, and record a cover of “Don’t Worry Baby”. MCA agreed and the following cover went on to become a moderate success, peaking at numbers #17 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 (outcharting the Beach Boys’ original) and #2 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart as well as reaching number 12 on the pop charts in Canada. This would go on to become Thomas’s last major hit in the pop sphere for either nation to date.
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