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 discography
During the Summer of 1964, the Ronettes spent a lot of time hanging out at Odine's, an exclusive East Side club on Fifty-Ninth Street in Manhattan. According to Ronnie, that is where the Ronettes were first introduced to Jimi Hendrix, who was an unknown guitarist there at the time. Ronnie used to get up and sing along with Hendrix as he played guitar. After running into Hendrix again at a party in 1969, Estelle and Ronnie were invited into the studio to do backing vocals on Hendrix's "Earth Blues" song. Their work on the backing vocals earned The Ronettes a credit on Hendrix's posthumously released LP "Rainbow Bridge", released in October 1971.