She Called Me Baby
Encyclopedia
"She Called Me Baby" is a country song
written in 1961 by Harlan Howard
which despite a number of recorded versions did not appear in the Top 20 of the C&W chart
in Billboard
until 1974 when a mid-60s recording by Charlie Rich
was belatedly released to reach #1 C&W. In its female version, "He Called Me Baby", the song was a Top Ten R&B
hit for Candi Staton
in 1971.
- then married to Harlan Howard - recorded the first female version of the song: "He Called Me Baby" in a 30 April 1962 session at Columbia Recording Studio (Nashville);1 the track was featured on Jan Howard's Sweet and Sentimental album released that October.
Patsy Cline
recorded the song as "He Called Me Baby" in a February 1963 session at Columbia Recording Studio (Nashville). Cline had begun recording tracks for an album to be entitled Faded Love on 4 February 1963; "He Called Me Baby" was one of four tracks cut on 7 February 19631 in what would prove to be Cline's final recording session. After Cline's death on 5 March 1963 Decca Records
elected not to release the Faded Love album instead including Cline's final tracks on two 1964 album releases, the second of which: the 2 November 1964 release That's How a Heartache Begins, featured "He Called Me Baby" which track had been given single release that 19 September to reach #23 on the C&W charts
in December 1964, becoming Cline's final C&W Top 40 hit until 1980.
Three months after Cline's "He Called Me Baby" ended its run in the C&W Top 50 Carl Smith
brought "She Called Me Baby" onto that chart for the first time; Smith's version - cut 14 December 1964 at Columbia Recording Studio (Nashville)1 - rose as high as #32. "She Called Me Baby" next charted in November and December of 1972 when Dick Curless
took his version to #54 C&W.
The song has also been recorded - as "She Called Me Baby" - by Bobby Bare
, Glen Campbell
, Mickey Gilley
, Ferlin Husky
, Waylon Jennings
, John D. Loudermilk
, , Ernest Tubb
and Sheb Wooley
, and as "He Called Me Baby" by Jessi Colter
(A Country Star is Born
), Skeeter Davis
, Bobbi Martin
, Melba Montgomery
and Dinah Shore
.
recorded "She Called Me Baby" at one of a series of sessions produced by Chet Atkins
at RCA Victor Studio in Nashville which occurred between March 1964 and February 1965.1 Like many Atkins-produced tracks of this era, "She Called Me Baby" featured choral backing and strings, a style prominent on other Rich recordings of the time.
Rich's version of "She Called Me Baby" went unreleased as an album cut or single until after Rich had his star breakout in 1973, when he scored million-sellers with "Behind Closed Doors" and "The Most Beautiful Girl
." That run of success continued into 1974, when several of his older recordings made during his tenures at RCA, Mercury
and Sun records
— "She Called Me Baby" included — were released as singles to C&W radio.
Released in September 1974 — around the time his Epic single "I Love My Friend
" was peaking in popularity — "She Called Me Baby" reached #1 on the Billboard
C&W chart dated 7 December 1974. "She Called Me Baby" was Rich's fifth #1 C&W hit in 1974 alone and his seventh #1 C&W hit overall.
for the first time in December 1968 via a recording by Ella Washington
made for Nashville-based R&B
label Sound Stage 7
. Recorded at FAME Studios
in Muscle Shoals
, Washington's "He Called Me Baby" was only a moderate R&B hit (#38) but crossed-over
to the Billboard Hot 100
(#77) and earned Washington a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Performance - Female
.
Candi Staton
's Stand By Your Man album - cut at FAME Studios with studio owner Rick Hall
producing - included a version of "He Called Me Baby" issued as a single concurrently with the album's release in December 1970. Staton's version of "He Called Me Baby" - which Harlan Howard's widow says the composer "loved"http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2010/02/03/re-he-called-me-baby/ - reached #9 R&B in February 1971.
Nancy Wilson remade "He Called Me Baby" for her 1975 album Come Get to This; released as a single the track reached #74 R&B.
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
written in 1961 by Harlan Howard
Harlan Howard
Harlan Perry Howard was a prolific American songwriter, principally in country music. In a career spanning six decades, Howard wrote a large number of popular and enduring songs, recorded by a variety of different artists...
which despite a number of recorded versions did not appear in the Top 20 of the C&W chart
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
in Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
until 1974 when a mid-60s recording by Charlie Rich
Charlie Rich
Charles Rich was an American country music singer and musician. A Grammy Award winner, his eclectic-style of music was often hard to classify in a single genre, playing in the rockabilly, jazz, blues, country, and gospel genres.In the latter part of his life, Rich acquired the nickname The Silver...
was belatedly released to reach #1 C&W. In its female version, "He Called Me Baby", the song was a Top Ten R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
hit for Candi Staton
Candi Staton
Candi Staton is an American soul and gospel singer, best known for her 1970 remake of Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man" and her 1976 disco hit "Young Hearts Run Free". In 2007, Staton was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame.-Early years:...
in 1971.
C&W versions
"She Called Me Baby" was first recorded by the song's composer Harlan Howard for his September 1961 album release Harlan Howard Sings Harlan Howard. The track was released as a single in January 1962 and became a breakout hit in Texas where, according to his widow Melanie Howard, Harlan Howard spent two weeks doing promo before returning home to Nashville and refusing to do further promotion re his singing career as it interfered with his primary musical focus: songwriting.http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2010/02/03/re-he-called-me-baby/ Jan HowardJan Howard
Lula Grace Johnson , known professionally as Jan Howard, is an American country music singer and Grand Ole Opry star. She attained moderate success as a country female vocalist during the 1960s and early 1970s...
- then married to Harlan Howard - recorded the first female version of the song: "He Called Me Baby" in a 30 April 1962 session at Columbia Recording Studio (Nashville);1 the track was featured on Jan Howard's Sweet and Sentimental album released that October.
Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...
recorded the song as "He Called Me Baby" in a February 1963 session at Columbia Recording Studio (Nashville). Cline had begun recording tracks for an album to be entitled Faded Love on 4 February 1963; "He Called Me Baby" was one of four tracks cut on 7 February 19631 in what would prove to be Cline's final recording session. After Cline's death on 5 March 1963 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....
elected not to release the Faded Love album instead including Cline's final tracks on two 1964 album releases, the second of which: the 2 November 1964 release That's How a Heartache Begins, featured "He Called Me Baby" which track had been given single release that 19 September to reach #23 on the C&W charts
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
in December 1964, becoming Cline's final C&W Top 40 hit until 1980.
Three months after Cline's "He Called Me Baby" ended its run in the C&W Top 50 Carl Smith
Carl Smith (country musician)
Carl Milton Smith was an American country music singer. Known as "Mister Country," Smith was the husband of June Carter and Goldie Hill, the drinking companion of Johnny Cash, and the father of Carlene Carter...
brought "She Called Me Baby" onto that chart for the first time; Smith's version - cut 14 December 1964 at Columbia Recording Studio (Nashville)1 - rose as high as #32. "She Called Me Baby" next charted in November and December of 1972 when Dick Curless
Dick Curless
Richard William Curless was an American country-music singer, a pioneer of the trucking music genre, commonly known as the "Baron of Country Music." He was easily distinguished because of the patch he usually wore over his right eye.-Biography:Curless was born in Fort Fairfield, Maine, and moved...
took his version to #54 C&W.
The song has also been recorded - as "She Called Me Baby" - by Bobby Bare
Bobby Bare
Robert Joseph Bare is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is the father of Bobby Bare, Jr., also a musician.-Early career:...
, Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell
Glen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...
, Mickey Gilley
Mickey Gilley
Mickey Leroy Gilley is an American country music singer and musician. Although he started out singing straight-up country and western material in the 1970s, he moved towards a more pop-friendly sound in the 1980s, bringing him further success on not just the country charts, but the pop charts as...
, Ferlin Husky
Ferlin Husky
Ferlin Eugene Husky was an early American country music singer who was equally adept at the genres of traditional honky honk, ballads, spoken recitations, and rockabilly pop tunes...
, Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...
, John D. Loudermilk
John D. Loudermilk
John D. Loudermilk is an American singer and songwriter.-Biography:Born in Durham, North Carolina, Loudermilk grew up in a family who were members of the Salvation Army faith and was influenced by the church singing. His cousins Ira and Charlie Loudermilk were known professionally as the Louvin...
, , Ernest Tubb
Ernest Tubb
Ernest Dale Tubb , nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" , marked the rise of the honky tonk style of music...
and Sheb Wooley
Sheb Wooley
Shelby F. "Sheb" Wooley was a character actor and singer, best known for his 1958 novelty song "Purple People Eater"...
, and as "He Called Me Baby" by Jessi Colter
Jessi Colter
Jessi Colter is an American country music artist who is best known for her collaboration with her husband, country singer and songwriter Waylon Jennings and for her 1975 country-pop crossover hit "I'm Not Lisa"....
(A Country Star is Born
A Country Star Is Born
- Chart positions :Album – Billboard ,Singles – Billboard...
), Skeeter Davis
Skeeter Davis
Mary Frances Penick , better known as Skeeter Davis, was an American country music singer best known for crossover pop music songs of the early 1960s. She started out as part of The Davis Sisters as a teenager in the late 1940s, eventually landing on RCA Records. In the late '50s, she became a solo...
, Bobbi Martin
Bobbi Martin
Bobbi Martin was an American country and pop music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She grew up and began her singing career in Baltimore, working her way up from local venues onto the national nightclub circuit. She died at the age of 56 at the Brighton Wood Knoll medical facility in Baltimore...
, Melba Montgomery
Melba Montgomery
Melba Montgomery is an American country music singer. She is best known for duet hit recordings in the 1960s with country music singer George Jones....
and Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
.
Charlie Rich
Charlie RichCharlie Rich
Charles Rich was an American country music singer and musician. A Grammy Award winner, his eclectic-style of music was often hard to classify in a single genre, playing in the rockabilly, jazz, blues, country, and gospel genres.In the latter part of his life, Rich acquired the nickname The Silver...
recorded "She Called Me Baby" at one of a series of sessions produced by Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
at RCA Victor Studio in Nashville which occurred between March 1964 and February 1965.1 Like many Atkins-produced tracks of this era, "She Called Me Baby" featured choral backing and strings, a style prominent on other Rich recordings of the time.
Rich's version of "She Called Me Baby" went unreleased as an album cut or single until after Rich had his star breakout in 1973, when he scored million-sellers with "Behind Closed Doors" and "The Most Beautiful Girl
The Most Beautiful Girl
"The Most Beautiful Girl" is a song recorded by Charlie Rich and written by Bill Sherrill, Norris Wilson, and Rory Michael Bourke. The country & western ballad reached #1 in the United States in 1973 on three Billboard music charts: the pop chart ; the country chart ; and the adult contemporary...
." That run of success continued into 1974, when several of his older recordings made during his tenures at RCA, Mercury
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
and 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...
— "She Called Me Baby" included — were released as singles to C&W radio.
Released in September 1974 — around the time his Epic single "I Love My Friend
I Love My Friend
"I Love My Friend" is a 1974 single written by Billy Sherrill and Norro Wilson and recorded by Charlie Rich. "I Love My Friend" was Rich's sixth number one on the country chart. The single remained at number one for one week and spent a total of ten weeks on the chart....
" was peaking in popularity — "She Called Me Baby" reached #1 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
C&W chart dated 7 December 1974. "She Called Me Baby" was Rich's fifth #1 C&W hit in 1974 alone and his seventh #1 C&W hit overall.
R&B versions
"He Called Me Baby" entered the R&B chartsHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
for the first time in December 1968 via a recording by Ella Washington
Ella Washington
Ella Washington is an African-American former R&B and gospel singer, described as "an outstanding Southern soul vocalist" and best known for her 1969 hit "He Called Me Baby". She later became a church pastor....
made for Nashville-based R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
label Sound Stage 7
Sound Stage 7
Sound Stage 7 was an American, Nashville, Tennessee based record label of the 1960s and 1970s, noted mainly for its soul music releases. The label's biggest star was Joe Simon, who placed numerous singles on the U.S...
. Recorded at FAME Studios
FAME Studios
FAME Studios are located at 603 East Avalon in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. They have been an integral part of American popular music from the late 1950s to the present...
in Muscle Shoals
Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the city to be 12,846. The city is included in The Shoals MSA. It is famous for its contributions to American popular music.-Geography:Muscle Shoals is located...
, Washington's "He Called Me Baby" was only a moderate R&B hit (#38) but crossed-over
Crossover (music)
Crossover is a term applied to musical works or performers appearing on two or more of the record charts which track differing musical tastes, or genres...
to the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
(#77) and earned Washington a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Performance - Female
Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for quality R&B songs...
.
Candi Staton
Candi Staton
Candi Staton is an American soul and gospel singer, best known for her 1970 remake of Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man" and her 1976 disco hit "Young Hearts Run Free". In 2007, Staton was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame.-Early years:...
's Stand By Your Man album - cut at FAME Studios with studio owner Rick Hall
Rick Hall
Roe Erister "Rick" Hall is an American record producer, songwriter, music publisher and musician who is best known as the owner and proprietor of the FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.-Life and career:...
producing - included a version of "He Called Me Baby" issued as a single concurrently with the album's release in December 1970. Staton's version of "He Called Me Baby" - which Harlan Howard's widow says the composer "loved"http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2010/02/03/re-he-called-me-baby/ - reached #9 R&B in February 1971.
Nancy Wilson remade "He Called Me Baby" for her 1975 album Come Get to This; released as a single the track reached #74 R&B.
Patsy Cline
| Chart (1964) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 23 |
Carl Smith
| Chart (1965) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 32 |
Dick Curless
| Chart (1972) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 55 |
Charlie Rich
| Chart (1974) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 47 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks | 41 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 88 |
| Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks | 35 |