Number 600 - Bruce Channel

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Number 600

Bruce Channel

"Hey Baby"

(1962)

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Genre:Pop

Gawd, what a few harrowing days that was! I had never heard of http://www.metafilter.com/ until a few days ago, sure, i knew of digg.com, Del.icio.us & reddit and i know the power of the masses they have! But who the frag is metafilter? Now i know. Obviously they are going to be a force to deal with in the future for the bigger players as above. By now, i hope the people of metafilter understand that i have integrity and took heed to their thoughts. Just remember i cannot please everyone or even sacrifice my style, because that is to stay. Btw i have always stated in other posts i don't mind criticism, so if you have the need... comment, I will answer. Oh and thats the 600's knocked off.TFC

Bruce Channel's "Hey Baby" -- a classic one-shot, number-one hit from 1962 -- is one of the many records proving that, during a period in which rock has sometimes been characterized as near death, the form was continuing to evolve in unexpected and delightful ways. An irresistible mid-tempo shuffle from the first few bars of homespun harmonica (played by Delbert McClinton), it was a seemingly effortless blend of rock, blues, country, and Cajun beats, featuring Channel's lazy, drawling vocals and an instantly catchy tune. It was perhaps too much of a natural; Channel could never recapture the organic spontaneity of the track, failing to re-enter the Top 40 despite many attempts.

The Texan had written "Hey Baby" around 1959 with his friend Margaret Cobb, and had already been performing the tune for a couple of years before recording it amidst a series of demos for Fort Worth producer Major Bill Smith. First released locally on Smith's label, it was picked up for national distribution by Smash. Channel would continue to write most of his own material (sometimes in collaboration with Cobb) for a series of moderately enjoyable follow-ups that echoed the riffs of "Hey Baby" too closely. McClinton played his immediately identifiable harmonica on several of these, and made his own contribution to rock history in 1962, when he was touring as a member of Channel's band in Britain. On one of their shows, they were supported by a then-unknown Liverpool group, the Beatles, who had yet to cut their first record. John Lennon was smitten by McClinton's style of playing, and picked up some pointers that he put to use on the Beatles' very first single, "Love Me Do"; in fact, McClinton's influence can be easily detected in Lennon's harmonica playing on many early Beatles tracks from 1962 and 1963.

Channel did get another Top 20 hit in Britain in 1968, "Keep On," which was written by Wayne Carson Thompson (famous for penning the Box Tops' "The Letter"). Nothing else clicked in a big way on either side of the ocean, and by the late '70s he was working in Nashville as a songwriter. ~ [Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide]

The key to the appeal of "Hey! Baby" is the sustained first note, with a rhythmic shuffle in the background. This had previously occurred on another recent hit, "Sherry" (1962) by The Four Seasons, and was later to recur on a Beatles song, "I Should Have Known Better" (on A Hard Day's Night - 1964 ~ [wikipedia]

For John Lennon see Number 639

For Beatles see Number 894, Number 947 & Number 587

For The Four Seasons see Number 690

Unfortunately ... awwww, this was before Rolling Stone Mag was around (They get out of another one)

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (You know our views on one hit wonders) and the album ranked at (What Album?)

This song has a crowbarred rating of 72.1 out of 108

Lyrics to the song

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Tags:Bruce Channel, 1962, Pop, John Lennon, Beatles, Four Seasons,Metafilter, Metallica, YouTube, Music Video, Rolling Stone Magazine, Crowbarred, New Zealand, Crowbarred Unleashed, The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time, Mellow Mix Volume 1

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