Baby, I Love You
Phil Spector decided to keep lead singer Ronnie Bennett in California to record "Baby, I Love You" while the other two Ronettes, Estelle Bennett and Nedra Talley, went out on the tour with Dick Clark. Ronnie's cousin, Elaine, took her place on the tour while Ronnie recorded the song at Gold Star Studios in California. Since the other Ronettes were unavailable for recording, Spector used Darlene Love and Cher to complete the backing vocals. The song also featured Leon Russell on piano. "Baby, I Love You" peaked at number 11 in the UK during January 1964, at a time when the Ronettes were touring the UK as the support act to the Rolling Stones.
The Ronettes
"Be My Baby" is also notable for being the first recording by Cher, who performed back-up vocals with Estelle, Nedra, and Sonny Bono. As the girlfriend of Bono, who was working for Phil Spector at the time, Cher was asked to join the back-up singers when one was a no-show. "'Be My Baby' was the first record I ever sang on," Cher later wrote. "... I went out and stood in front of this big speaker and sang 'be my, be my baby' with the Ronettes and all these other singers." After "Be My Baby", Cher became a permanent back-up singer on recordings by the Ronettes, as well as other songs Phil Spector produced until "You've Lost That Loving Feeling".