Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby
Encyclopedia
"Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" is a 1957 song written by Carl Perkins
and originally released on the Sun Dance Album of ... Carl Perkins. A song with the same title was written in the mid-1930s by Alabama-born country songwriter Rex Griffin
. Griffin recorded the song for Decca Records
in 1936 under the title "Everybody's Tryin' To Be My Baby". Roy Newman and His Boys recorded a song with the same title in 1938. Rockabilly musician Carl Perkins
recorded his song with the same title but with different music in 1956 for Sun Records
. The Perkins song was featured on the 1957 Sun LP Dance Album of Carl Perkins, 1225, which was also released in the UK on London. The album was later re-released as Teen Beat: The Best of Carl Perkins. Perkins' recording was subsequently covered by The Beatles
in 1964. The Beatles' recording, the best known version of the song, is attributed to Carl Perkins. Lyrically, the Perkins and Griffin songs are similar, but musically they are different. The Carl Perkins song is more blues-based and closer to "Blue Suede Shoes
" in style.
on vocals. Harrison's vocals were heavily processed with the STEED
effect. It was first released as the final track on Beatles for Sale
in the United Kingdom later that year, and likewise as the concluding track on the North American album Beatles '65
.
The Beatles' recording finishes with a false ending, with the final phrase repeating itself after the song seems to have stopped. A version recorded live at the Star-Club
in Hamburg
in December 1962 contained four of these musical phrases.
Live performances of the Beatles' "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" were recorded in June 1963 for the BBC
radio
program Pop Go The Beatles, and in November 1964 for Saturday Club
. The latter recording can be heard on Live at the BBC
.
The Beatles continued to perform the song after their studio recording was released. The song was performed in Paris, France in 1965. The performance recorded at Shea Stadium
on August 15, 1965 was included on Anthology 2
.
George Harrison performed the song with Carl Perkins on the Cinemax cable special Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session
in 1985. Bruce Springsteen
performed the song live in concert in 1998 as a tribute to Carl Perkins on news of his death. Johnny Cash
recorded the song on the 2003 album Unearthed backed by Carl Perkins and Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
.
Paul McCartney administers the rights to the Carl Perkins song catalogue through MPL Communications
.
Carl Perkins
Carl Lee Perkins was an American rockabilly musician who recorded most notably at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning during 1954...
and originally released on the Sun Dance Album of ... Carl Perkins. A song with the same title was written in the mid-1930s by Alabama-born country songwriter Rex Griffin
Rex Griffin
Alsie "Rex" Griffin was an American country musician and songwriter.-Early years:Griffin was born in Gadsden, Alabama as the second of seven children to Marion and Selma Griffin. He grew up on a farm and received little schooling, eventually finding work in the factory where his father worked as a...
. Griffin recorded the song for Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
in 1936 under the title "Everybody's Tryin' To Be My Baby". Roy Newman and His Boys recorded a song with the same title in 1938. Rockabilly musician Carl Perkins
Carl Perkins
Carl Lee Perkins was an American rockabilly musician who recorded most notably at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning during 1954...
recorded his song with the same title but with different music in 1956 for Sun Records
Sun Records
Sun Records is a record label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27, 1952.Founded by Sam Phillips, Sun Records was known for giving notable musicians such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash...
. The Perkins song was featured on the 1957 Sun LP Dance Album of Carl Perkins, 1225, which was also released in the UK on London. The album was later re-released as Teen Beat: The Best of Carl Perkins. Perkins' recording was subsequently covered by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
in 1964. The Beatles' recording, the best known version of the song, is attributed to Carl Perkins. Lyrically, the Perkins and Griffin songs are similar, but musically they are different. The Carl Perkins song is more blues-based and closer to "Blue Suede Shoes
Blue Suede Shoes
"Blue Suede Shoes" is a rock and roll standard written and first recorded by Carl Perkins in 1955 and is considered one of the first rockabilly records and incorporated elements of blues, country and pop music of the time...
" in style.
The Beatles' version
After 1964, the Carl Perkins song became well known in the version recorded by the Beatles. The Fab Four recorded "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" on October 18, 1964 at EMI Studios, London, with George HarrisonGeorge Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
on vocals. Harrison's vocals were heavily processed with the STEED
Send tape echo echo delay
Send tape echo echo delay is a technique used in magnetic tape sound recording to apply a delay effect using tape loops and echo chambers....
effect. It was first released as the final track on Beatles for Sale
Beatles for Sale
Beatles for Sale is the fourth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released in late 1964 and produced by George Martin for Parlophone. The album marked a minor turning point in the evolution of Lennon and McCartney as lyricists, John Lennon particularly now showing interest in...
in the United Kingdom later that year, and likewise as the concluding track on the North American album Beatles '65
Beatles '65
Beatles '65 is The Beatles' fifth Capitol release, but seventh American album. It was released in mono and stereo versions. The album was also issued in Germany on the Odeon label....
.
The Beatles' recording finishes with a false ending, with the final phrase repeating itself after the song seems to have stopped. A version recorded live at the Star-Club
Star-Club
The Star-Club was a music club in Hamburg, Germany that opened Friday 13 April 1962 and was initially operated by Manfred Weissleder and Horst Fascher. In the sixties, many of the giants of rock music played at the club. The club closed on 31 December 1969 and the building it occupied was...
in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
in December 1962 contained four of these musical phrases.
Live performances of the Beatles' "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" were recorded in June 1963 for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
program Pop Go The Beatles, and in November 1964 for Saturday Club
Saturday Club
Prime Television's Saturday Club is a morning children's program, filmed in their Australian Capital Territory studios.Hosted by Prime Possum and Madelaine Collignon, The program is packaged around popular Disney Cartoons airing at 9am on Saturday Mornings...
. The latter recording can be heard on Live at the BBC
Live at the BBC (The Beatles album)
Live at the BBC is a 1994 compilation album featuring performances by The Beatles that were originally broadcast on various BBC Light Programme radio shows from 1963 through 1965. The monaural album, available in multiple formats but most commonly as a two-CD set, consists of 56 songs and 13 tracks...
.
The Beatles continued to perform the song after their studio recording was released. The song was performed in Paris, France in 1965. The performance recorded at Shea Stadium
Shea Stadium
William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...
on August 15, 1965 was included on Anthology 2
Anthology 2
Anthology 2 is a compilation album by The Beatles, released by Apple Records in March 1996. It is the second of the three-volume Anthology collection, all of which tie-in with the televised special The Beatles Anthology. The opening track is "Real Love", the second of the two recordings that...
.
George Harrison performed the song with Carl Perkins on the Cinemax cable special Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session
Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session
Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session was a concert that was held on 21 October 1985 in London England, and featured rock n' roll pioneer Carl Perkins and his house band, along with friends as guest stars, including Eric Clapton, former Beatles George Harrison and Ringo Starr, as well as Dave...
in 1985. Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
performed the song live in concert in 1998 as a tribute to Carl Perkins on news of his death. Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
recorded the song on the 2003 album Unearthed backed by Carl Perkins and Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers are an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. They were formed in 1976 by Tom Petty , Mike Campbell , Benmont Tench , , Ron Blair and Stan Lynch...
.
Paul McCartney administers the rights to the Carl Perkins song catalogue through MPL Communications
MPL Communications
MPL Communications is the holding company for the business interests of Sir Paul McCartney. In addition to handling McCartney's post-Beatles work, MPL is also one of the world's largest privately owned music publishers through its acquisition of numerous other publishing companies...
.
Personnel
- George HarrisonGeorge HarrisonGeorge Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
– vocals, lead guitar - John LennonJohn LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
– acoustic rhythm guitar, tambourine - Paul McCartneyPaul McCartneySir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
– bass - Ringo StarrRingo StarrRichard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
– drums
- Personnel per The Beatles Bible