Be Their Baby: Legacy Preps Releases for Crystals, Ronettes and Darlene Love (UPDATED 1/17)

January 17, 2011 By Joe Marchese — No Comments

When Sony announced in September 2009 that rights had been acquired from EMI Music Publishing to reissue Phil Spector’s Philles catalogue after years of neglect from the ABKCO label, great anticipation was in the air. A major campaign was planned by Sony’s Legacy division with projects in development including “Artist’s Playlists, Best-of collections, and first-ever releases of Philles studio rarities – as well as facsimile reproductions of original singles and albums,” but since that heady announcement, no product has materialized other than a remastered, straight reissue of 1963’s classic A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector.

After a year-plus of silence, Legacy’s program finally appears to be kicking off on February 22, hot on the heels of both Darlene Love’s induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a lawsuit filed by Love and members of The Ronettes against Spector for payment of royalties. (The plaintiffs won a similar lawsuit in 2006.) On that day, Legacy will release four new compilations honoring the best-known artists of the label: The Sound of Love: The Very Best of Darlene Love, Da Doo Ron Ron: The Very Best of the Crystals, Be My Baby: The Very Best of the Ronettes and Wall of Sound: The Very Best of Phil Spector. The Darlene Love release is particularly welcome, as so many release dates for this title had been bandied throughout 2010. (Enthusiasts had to be content with Ace’s superlative 2008 So Much Love: A Darlene Love Anthology 1958-1998, rounding up the best of her non-Spector sides.) Are you ready to go “back to mono,” friends? Hit the jump!

Each of Legacy’s three releases will feature the “teenage symphonies” for which producer Spector is most renowned, featuring songs by the crème de la crème of the Brill Building: Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry, and Carole King and Gerry Goffin. Arrangements were often by the legendary Jack Nitzsche. These are the powerhouse singles that have inspired everybody from Brian Wilson to Billy Joel, The Jesus and Mary Chain to Meat Loaf. Look no further than Bruce Springsteen’s recent The Promise for direct lineage to the thunderous Wall of Sound.

There are some nice surprises to be found among these four titles. The Darlene Love anthology will include non-Spector tracks from her tenure with The Blossoms, licensed from the Capitol and Reprise labels. (It will also repeat a couple of Love-sung tracks from the Crystals compilation.) It is the set that differs most from the previous 15-track Best Of on ABKCO, containing its whole contents minus “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” and “Chapel of Love,” but adding four other songs for a total of 17. The Very Best of The Crystals will include one unreleased track, “Woman in Love (with You),” although it otherwise duplicates the track listing of the previous ABKCO CD, only dropping “Girls Can Tell” in favor of the unreleased song. The Very Best of The Ronettes will encompass solo tracks by Ronnie Spector, a.k.a. Veronica, and the 1969 A&M single “You Came, You Saw, You Conquered,” duplicating the contents of the ABKCO release but substituting the Jeff Barry-produced classic “I Can Hear Music” in place of “How Does It Feel?” Most of the tracks on Wall of Sound can be found on the other three titles, but Legacy has licensed Ike and Tina Turner’s “River Deep, Mountain High” and The Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” for inclusion, as well.

The Crystals, Da Doo Ron Ron: The Very Best of The Crystals (Sony/Legacy 88697 61288-2, 2011)

  1. There’s No Other Like My Baby
  2. Oh Yeah, Maybe Baby
  3. Uptown
  4. What a Nice Way to Turn 17
  5. He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss)
  6. No One Ever Tells You
  7. He’s a Rebel
  8. I Love You, Eddie
  9. Another Country, Another World
  10. Please Hurt Me
  11. He’s Sure the Boy I Love
  12. Da Doo Ron Ron
  13. Woman in Love (with You)
  14. Heartbreaker
  15. Then He Kissed Me
  16. I Wonder
  17. Little Boy
  18. All Grown Up

Tracks 1-2 from Philles single 100, 1961
Tracks 3-4 from Philles single 102, 1962
Tracks 5-6 from Philles single 105, 1962
Tracks 7-8 from Philles single 106, 1962
Tracks 9-10 from Twist Uptown, Philles PHLP-4000, 1962
Track 11 from Philles single 109, 1962
Track 12 from Philles single 112, 1963
Track 13 previously unreleased
Track 14 recorded 1963, first U.S. release on Back to Mono, ABKCO 7118, 1991
Track 15 from Philles single 115, 1963
Track 16 from U.K.-only single London HLU-9852, 1964
Track 17 from Philles single 119, 1964
Track 18 from Philles single 122, 1964

The Ronettes, Be My Baby: The Very Best of The Ronettes (Sony/Legacy 88697 61286-2, 2011)

  1. Why Don’t They Let Us Fall in Love (performed by Veronica)
  2. Be My Baby
  3. Baby, I Love You
  4. (The Best Part of) Breakin’ Up
  5. So Young (performed by Veronica)
  6. Do I Love You?
  7. Walking in the Rain
  8. I Wonder
  9. When I Saw You
  10. You Baby
  11. Born to Be Together
  12. Is This What I Get for Loving You
  13. Paradise
  14. Here I Sit
  15. I Wish I Never Saw the Sunshine
  16. Everything Under the Sun
  17. I Can Hear Music
  18. You Came, You Saw, You Conquered

Track 1 from Phil Spector Records single 2, 1963
Track 2 from Philles single 116, 1963
Track 3 from Philles single 118, 1963
Track 4 from Philles single 120, 1964
Track 5 from Phil Spector Records single 1, 1964
Track 6 from Philles single 121, 1964
Track 7 from Philles single 123, 1964
Tracks 8 and 10 from Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes, Featuring Veronica, Philles LP 4006, 1964
Tracks 9 and 17 from Philles single 133, 1966
Track 11 from Philles single 126, 1964
Track 12 from Philles single 128, 1965
Tracks 13-14 recorded 1965, first U.S. release on Back to Mono, ABKCO 7118, 1991
Track 15-16 recorded 1966, first U.S. release on Back to Mono, ABKCO 7118, 1991
Track 18 from A&M single 1040, 1969

Darlene Love, Sound of Love: The Very Best of Darlene Love (Sony/Legacy 88697 61290-2, 2011)

  1. No Other Love
  2. He’s a Rebel (performed by The Crystals)
  3. My Heart Beat a Little Faster
  4. He’s Sure the Boy I Love (performed by The Crystals)
  5. Why Do Lovers Break Each Other’s Hearts? (performed by Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans)
  6. (Today I Met) The Boy I’m Gonna Marry
  7. Not Too Young to Get Married (performed by Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans)
  8. Wait ‘Til My Bobby Gets Home
  9. Run Run Runaway
  10. A Fine, Fine Boy
  11. Strange Love
  12. Stumble and Fall
  13. (He’s a) Quiet Guy
  14. Long Way to Be Happy
  15. That’s When the Tears Start (performed by The Blossoms)
  16. Good, Good Lovin’ (performed by The Blossoms)
  17. Lord, If You’re a Woman

Track 1 from Capitol single 4072, 1958
Track 2 from Philles single 106, 1962
Tracks 3 and 6 from Philles single 111, 1962
Track 4 from Philles single 109, 1962
Track 5 from Philles single 110, 1962
Track 7 from Philles single 113, 1963
Track 8 from Philles single 114, 1963
Track 9 recorded 1963, first U.S. release on The Best of Darlene Love, ABKCO 72132, 1992
Track 10 from Philles single 117, 1963
Track 11 recorded 1964, first U.S. release on Back to Mono, ABKCO 7118, 1991
Track 12 and 13 from Philles single 123, 1964
Track 14 recorded 1965, first U.S. release on Back to Mono, ABKCO 7118, 1991
Tracks 15 and 16 from Reprise single 436, 1965
Track 17 from Warner Spector single SPS 0410, 1977

Various Artists, Wall of Sound: The Very Best of Phil Spector 1961-1966 (Sony/Legacy 88697 61294-2, 2011)

  1. He’s a Rebel – The Crystals
  2. Da Doo Ron Ron – The Crystals
  3. Be My Baby – The Ronettes
  4. Then He Kissed Me – The Crystals
  5. (Today I Met) The Boy I’m Gonna Marry – Darlene Love
  6. Baby I Love You – The Ronettes
  7. He’s Sure the Boy I Love – The Crystals
  8. Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah – Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans
  9. Wait ’til My Bobby Gets Home – Darlene Love
  10. Walking in the Rain – The Ronettes
  11. Uptown – The Crystals
  12. Why Do Lovers Break Each Others’ Hearts? – Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans
  13. Do I Love You? – The Ronettes
  14. A Fine, Fine Boy – Darlene Love
  15. There’s No Other Like My Baby – The Crystals
  16. You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ – The Righteous Brothers
  17. (The Best Part of) Breakin’ Up – The Ronettes
  18. Not Too Young to Get Married – Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans
  19. River Deep, Mountain High- Ike and Tina Turner

Track 1 from Philles single 106, 1962
Track 2 from Philles single 112, 1963
Track 3 from Philles single 116, 1963
Track 4 from Philles single 115, 1963
Track 5 from Philles single 111, 1963
Track 6 from Philles single 118, 1963
Track 7 from Philles single 109, 1962
Track 8 from Philles single 107, 1962
Track 9 from Philles single 114, 1963
Track 10 from Philles single 123, 1964
Track 11 from Philles single 102, 1962
Track 12 from Philles single 110, 1962
Track 13 from Philles single 121, 1964
Track 14 from Philles single 117, 1963
Track 15 from Philles single 100, 1961
Track 16 from Philles single 124, 1964
Track 17 from Philles single 120, 1964
Track 18 from Philles single 113, 1963
Track 19 from Philles single 131, 1966

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Joe Marchese
Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.

Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.

Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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0 thoughts on “Be Their Baby: Legacy Preps Releases for Crystals, Ronettes and Darlene Love (UPDATED 1/17)”

    1. Joe Marchese

      I hope so too, Peter! I’ve been keeping a close eye on this disc, and will report any developments here. It seems to be unavailable for order from Amazon US and might be subject to (further!) delay. The saga continues…

      Reply

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