Baby's in Black

Infobox Song
Name = Baby's in Black


Artist = The Beatles
Album = Beatles for Sale
Released = 4 December 1964
track_no = 3
Recorded = Abbey Road: 11 August 1964
Genre = Country rock
Length = 2:02
Writer = Lennon/McCartney
Label = EMI, Parlophone, Capitol
Producer = George Martin
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Beatles for Sale
Type = studio
Tracks = ;Side one
# "No Reply"
# "I'm a Loser"
# "Baby's in Black"
# "Rock and Roll Music"
# "I'll Follow the Sun"
# "Mr. Moonlight"
# Medley: "Kansas City"/"Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey";Side two
# "Eight Days a Week"
# "Words of Love"
# "Honey Don't"
# "Every Little Thing"
# "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party"
# "What You're Doing"
# "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby"

"Baby's in Black" is a song by The Beatles, co-written by John Lennon and Paul McCartneycite book |first=David |last=Sheff |title=All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono |year=2000 |pages=205 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |location=New York |isbn=0-312-25464-4] cite book |first=Barry |last=Miles |authorlink=Barry Miles |title=Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now |year=1997 |pages=175 |publisher=Henry Holt & Company |location=New York |isbn=0-8050-5249-6] and released in the United Kingdom on "Beatles for Sale"cite book |first=Mark |last=Lewisohn |authorlink=Mark Lewisohn |title=The Beatles Recording Sessions |year=1988 |pages=200 |publisher=Harmony Books |location=New York |isbn=0-517-57066-1] and in the United States on "Beatles '65".cite book |first=Mark |last=Lewisohn |authorlink=Mark Lewisohn |title=The Beatles Recording Sessions |year=1988 |pages=201] Unusually for the Beatles, the song has a 6/8 time signaturecite book |author=Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation |title=The Beatles - Complete Scores |year=1993 |pages=79 |publisher=Hal Leanord |location=Milwaukee |isbn=0-7935-1832-6] with a moderate tempo that makes it sound like 3/4 (waltz-time). The song's lyrics may be about Astrid Kirchherr,cite book |first=Craig |last=Cross |title=The Beatles: Day-by-Day, Song-by-Song, Record-by-Record |year=2005 |pages=320 |publisher=iUniverse, Inc. |location=Lincoln, NE |isbn=0-595-34663-4] a friend and photographer the Beatles met during their first trip to Hamburg.cite book |first=Barry |last=Miles |authorlink=Barry Miles |title=Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now |year=1997 |pages=61, 63-64] cite book |first=Bob |last=Spitz |title=The Beatles: The Biography |year=2005 |pages=220-224 |publisher=Little, Brown |location=Boston |isbn=0-316-80352-9] She was Stuart Sutcliffe's fiancée,cite book |first=Bill |last=Harry |authorlink=Bill Harry |title=The Beatles Encyclopedia: Revised and Updated |year=2000 |pages=608 |publisher=Virgin Publishing |location=London |isbn=0-7535-0481-2] and was distraught over his death.

Recording

The Beatles recorded "Baby's in Black" on 11 August 1964, the first song recorded for "Beatles for Sale".cite book |first=Mark |last=Lewisohn |authorlink=Mark Lewisohn |title=The Beatles Recording Sessions |year=1988 |pages=47]

Lennon and McCartney sang their vocal parts simultaneously through the same microphone. This was done at their own insistence in order to achieve a closer feel to the performance. McCartney was subsequently contacted by their music publisher in 1964 inquiring as to which melody line was the main tune (i.e. Paul's higher or John's lower melody). McCartney later said that he told the publisher they were both the main melody. [Barry Miles: Many Years From Now On]

The song was a lament to Astrid Kirchner, who favoured dressing in black. Astrid was the German female photographer who styled the Beatles famous moptop haircut during their time in Hamburg, and had a deeply romantic relationship with Stu Sutcliffe, The Beatles' first bassist, and a cohort of Lennon's from his art college days. Sutcliffe died from a brain hemorrhage in Germany. It's said that Astrid never got over this hence the inspiration for the lyrics of this song.Fact|date=March 2007

Although "Baby's in Black", which AMG described as "a love lament for a grieving girl that was perhaps more morose than any previous Beatles song," was, as described by some, as mostly Lennon's work, it was written in the same room with McCartney, who contributed a harmony to it. Other therefore dispute that the song was mostly Lennon's work and claim that Lennon and McCartney were equally responsible for the song's composition; a claim that might be supported by the fact that both Lennon and McCartney shared lead vocal duties.

Live performances

The Beatles performed "Baby's in Black" live during their appearances from late 1964 until their last tour in 1966, and usually as the third song in their set after "Rock and Roll Music" and "Long Tall Sally." McCartney said they introduced the song by saying, "'And now for something different.' ... We used to put that in there, and think, 'Well, they won't know quite what to make of this, but it's cool.'"

In 1996, a live version of "Baby's in Black" was released as a B-side to the second (and last but one) Beatles "reunion" single, "Real Love".cite book |first=Craig |last=Cross |title=The Beatles: Day-by-Day, Song-by-Song, Record-by-Record |year=2005 |pages=484-485, 543]

Baby's In Black was also performed at The Beatles 1965 concert at Shea Stadium.

Cover versions

*In 1965, the Charles River Valley Boys covered "Baby's in Black" on their album of Beatle covers, "Beatle Country".cite web |first=Richie |last=Unterberger |authorlink=Richie Unterberger |url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:cs9ss32la3ng |title=Review of "Baby's in Black" |publisher=Allmusic |accessdate=2007-03-20]
*Rubén Blades covered the song (in English) on his 1992 Grammy-nominated album Amor Y Control.
*Country band Flynnville Train covered the song on their 2007 debut album.

Notes

External links

*cite web |url=http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/bib.shtml |last=Pollack |first=Alan W. |author link=Alan Pollack |title=Notes on Baby's in Black |accessdate=2003-03-19 |year=1992
* [http://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/babys-in-black/ The Beatles Bible: Baby's In Black]