Take Good Care Of My Baby

Album

Colby O

Label

Liberty Records

Genre

Dance-pop

Composer(s)

Carole King;Gerry Goffin

Entered Chart

Aug 7, 1961

Peak Date

Sep 18, 1961

Released

July 20, 1961

Recorded

June 21, 1961 Studio United Recording Studios, Hollywood, California

Catalog #

Liberty 55354

B-Side

Bashful Bob

This song was written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin, part of the legendary Brill Building club. Carole King pecked out the tune on the piano, and almost handed it over to Cynthia Weil, but Gerry Goffin turned up some lyrics for it. The song became King and Goffin's second #1 single after The Shirelles' "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" put them on the map. It was also Bobby Vee's only #1. King and Giffin's next chart-topper would be "The Loco-Motion" in 1962. Before this song, Bobby Vee's claim to fame was filling in for Buddy Holly, who along with Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, died in rock history's most famous plane crash en route to a show in Fargo, North Dakota. Vee had been scraping up a band already. On the date of the crash, the local radio actually put out a call for replacements, and Vee and his band volunteered. Not that Vee was small potatoes - Bob Dylan played in his band early on! Vee charted three times previously and made the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 a total of 14 times. "Take Good Care Of My Baby" was notable for being used in baby care product commercials. This, despite the fact that this changes the complete meaning of the song. Only parts of the song would be used. Notable covers include The Beatles for their legendary audition at Decca Records in 1961, Gary Lewis & the Playboys, and Bobby Vinton, who got it to hit again at #33. As given in Rich Podolsky's book Don Kirshner: The Man with the Golden Ear, Bobby Vee was born Robert Velline, in Fargo, North Dakota. He filled in for Buddy Holly in the above-mentioned fact when he was 15, and said of the opportunity, "We didn't even have a name. We called the station and we just showed up and waited in the wings and that was it." By the time they had gotten onto the stage, Vee had blurted out "the Shadows" as their name. Vee capped on this new-found fame by writing the song "Suzie Baby," which was a moderate hit in the local Midwest markets. A producer named Tommy Garrett, also a Buddy Holly fan, heard word of Vee and gave him a call. Soon Vee moved out to Los Angeles to seek his fortune. Garrett produced Vee's hit "Rubber Ball." Writers Carole King and Gerry Goffin came out to L.A. at the behest of Garrett's calling Aldon Music, and at last when King and Goffin sat down to a piano to play "Take Good Care Of My Baby," Vee was blown away. They asked Don Kirshner at Aldon to come out and produce with them, and Kirshner came all the way from New York by train. Furthermore, another singer with Aldon, Dion Dimucci, had already been interested in the song. But when he tried to record it, it didn't take, so he had to settle for his later hit with "Runaround Sue." This left the song open for Vee. Ten days after Goffin and King signed the song off to Vee, they heard it playing on the car radio on the trip back home.

My tears are fallin'
'Cause you've taken her away
And though it really hurts me so
There's something that I've gotta say

Take good care of my baby
Please don't ever make her blue
Just tell her that you love her
Make sure you're thinking of her
In everything you say and do

Aww, take good care of my baby
Now don't you ever make her cry
Just let your love surround her
Paint a rainbow all around her
Don't let her see a cloudy sky
Once upon a time that little girl was mine
If I'd been true, I know she'd never be with you

So, take good care of my baby
Be just as kind as you can be
And if you should discover
That you don't really love her
Just send my baby back home to me

Well, take good care of my baby
Be just as kind as you can be
And if you should discover
That you don't really love her
Just send my baby back home to me

Aww, take good care of my baby
Well, take good care of my baby
Just, take good care of my baby