{"id":10190,"date":"1988-02-15T11:00:00","date_gmt":"1988-02-15T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/?p=10190"},"modified":"2026-02-07T17:00:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T01:00:58","slug":"matr-bruce-springsteen-and-ronnie-spector-be-my-baby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1988\/02\/15\/matr-bruce-springsteen-and-ronnie-spector-be-my-baby\/","title":{"rendered":"Be My Baby"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.<\/p>\n<p>It captured the top spot on the Cash Box Top 100.<\/p>\n<p><em>Rolling Stone<\/em> notched it at #22 on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.<\/p>\n<p><em>Billboard<\/em> named it the #1 Greatest Girl Group Song of All Time.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s in both the Grammy Hall of Fame and the United States National Recording Registry.<\/p>\n<p>It features a full orchestra, backing vocals by Darlene Love and Sonny and Cher.<\/p>\n<p>And of course, the 1963 smash &#8220;Be My Baby&#8221; features the inimitable Ronnie Spector on lead vocals, along with producer Phil Spector&#8217;s &#8220;wall of sound&#8221; that influenced Bruce&#8217;s &#8220;Born to Run&#8221; (along with Ronnie&#8217;s signature &#8220;whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh&#8221; that Bruce quotes in his own signature song).<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jSPpbOGnFgk?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>Bruce was a Ronnie Spector fan long before they ever met&#8211;and their meeting was musical providence by way of John Lennon. (Read that story in <em>Cover Me<\/em>\u00a0Volume Four.)<\/p>\n<p>On the night of November 4, 1976, Bruce finally had the chance to perform with Ronnie on stage when he invited her to join the E Street Band during their encore set at the Palladium in New York City. They performed three of her hits that night, culminating in their greatest hit. The E Street Band may not have been The Ronettes, but they were more than up for the challenge.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0AnDHaY-evE?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>Ronnie and Bruce would perform &#8220;Be My Baby&#8221; together four more times the following year, but even though Ronnie and Bruce have shared a stage as recently as 2016, it&#8217;s been more than three decades since they last performed Ronnie&#8217;s iconic hit together.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Be My Baby<br \/>\nFirst performed:<\/strong> November 4, 1976 (New York City, NY)<br \/>\n<strong>Last performed:<\/strong> January 18, 1989 (New York City, NY)<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 June 1, 2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bruce quoted it in &#8220;Born to Run&#8221; and imitated its sound, and in 1976 he finally had the chance to perform it with its original artist: Listen to Bruce Springsteen and Ronnie Spector play Spector&#8217;s signature &#8220;Be My Baby.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,3609,5],"tags":[2350,2351,306,2349],"class_list":["post-10190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover-me","category-little-help","category-meeting-across-the-river","tag-be-my-baby","tag-phil-spector","tag-ronnie-spector","tag-the-ronettes"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/bemybaby.jpg?fit=500%2C500&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9w3Lk-2Em","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":32316,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1988\/07\/20\/matr-ronnie-spector-and-the-e-street-band-walking-in-the-rain\/","url_meta":{"origin":10190,"position":0},"title":"Walking in the Rain","author":"Ken","date":"July 20, 1988","format":false,"excerpt":"Ronnie Spector (August 10, 1943 - January 12, 2022) \u2013 one of the greatest voices to ever grace the E Street stage.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cover Me&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cover Me","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/cover-me\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/walkingrain-1.jpg?fit=1198%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/walkingrain-1.jpg?fit=1198%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/walkingrain-1.jpg?fit=1198%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/walkingrain-1.jpg?fit=1198%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/walkingrain-1.jpg?fit=1198%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12011,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/27\/matr-ronnie-spector-and-the-e-street-band-say-goodbye-to-hollywood\/","url_meta":{"origin":10190,"position":1},"title":"MatR: Ronnie Spector and The E Street Band, Say Goodbye to Hollywood","author":"Ken","date":"August 27, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The E Street Band finally gets an official recording credit in 1977 when Steve Van Zandt recruits them to back Ronnie Spector in the studio. Listen to Ronnie and the band cover Billy Joel's \"Say Goodbye to Hollywood.\"","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cover Me&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cover Me","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/cover-me\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/ronnie.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/ronnie.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/ronnie.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/ronnie.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/ronnie.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4186,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1988\/08\/11\/meeting-across-the-river-bruce-springsteen-and-ronnie-spector-baby-i-love-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":10190,"position":2},"title":"Baby I Love You","author":"Ken","date":"August 11, 1988","format":false,"excerpt":"When Ronnie met Bruce: the iconic 60s singer would collaborate with Bruce and the E Street Band several times, both on stage and on vinyl. This performance is from the very fist time she graced an E Street Band stage.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cover Me&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cover Me","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/cover-me\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/maxresdefault-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/maxresdefault-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/maxresdefault-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/maxresdefault-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/maxresdefault-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15636,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2020\/02\/16\/cover-me-southside-johnny-and-ronnie-spector-you-mean-so-much-to-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":10190,"position":3},"title":"Cover Me, Southside Johnny and Ronnie Spector: You Mean So Much to Me","author":"Ken","date":"February 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The story of \"You Mean So Much to Me\" continues beyond its last E Street stage appearance. Listen to the definitive cover by Southside Johnny and Ronnie Spector, plus Bruce and Ronnie's unexpected 1977 team-up.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cover Me&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cover Me","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/cover-me\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/south-ronnie.jpg?fit=960%2C668&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/south-ronnie.jpg?fit=960%2C668&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/south-ronnie.jpg?fit=960%2C668&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/south-ronnie.jpg?fit=960%2C668&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55960,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/17\/kingdom-of-days-february-17-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":10190,"position":4},"title":"February 17","author":"Ken","date":"February 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"On this date: Bruce meets Nils for the first time and plays with Ronnie Spector and Flo and Eddie.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Kingdom of Days&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Kingdom of Days","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/kingdom-of-days\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/spector.jpg?fit=762%2C509&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/spector.jpg?fit=762%2C509&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/spector.jpg?fit=762%2C509&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/spector.jpg?fit=762%2C509&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":40755,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/10\/cover-me-the-sun-aint-gonna-shine-anymore\/","url_meta":{"origin":10190,"position":5},"title":"Cover Me: The Sun Ain&#8217;t Gonna Shine Anymore","author":"Ken","date":"January 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This Walker Brothers wall-of-sound classic features one of Springsteen's finest vocals on record.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cover Me&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cover Me","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/cover-me\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sunaint.jpg?fit=1024%2C1002&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sunaint.jpg?fit=1024%2C1002&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sunaint.jpg?fit=1024%2C1002&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sunaint.jpg?fit=1024%2C1002&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10190"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66262,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10190\/revisions\/66262"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}