Baby, Baby Don't Cry

"Baby, Baby Don't Cry"
"Baby, Baby Don't Cry"
Single by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
from the album Time Out for Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
B-side	"Your Mother's Only Daughter"
Released	December 12, 1968
Recorded	Hitsville USA (Studio A): 1968
Genre	Soul; pop;
Length	3:55 (7")
Label	Tamla; T 54178
Songwriter(s)	Smokey Robinson; Al Cleveland; Terry Johnson;
Producer(s)	Smokey Robinson; Warren Moore; Terry Johnson;
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles singles chronology

"Baby, Baby Don't Cry", released in December 1968, is a single recorded by The Miracles for Motown Records' Tamla label. The composition was written by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson, Motown staff writers Al Cleveland and Terry Johnson, a former member of The Flamingos. Robinson, Johnson, and Miracles member Warren "Pete" Moore were the song's producers.

Background

The song is noted for Smokey's spoken recitation at the beginning as well as before the second verse. The spoken lines are: "Nothing so blue as a heart in pain/Nothing so sad as a tear in vain", and "You trusted him and gave him your love/A love he proved unworthy of". The song uses an extended bridge that repeats the minor and diminished chords before going up half a step for the final repeated Choruses.

Although not given writing credit on this particular tune, Miracle Marv Tarplin's outstanding guitar work plays an important role in this song, his gentle but effective riffs being evident from the song's beginning, giving a "raindrop" effect reminiscent of someone crying (the song's main theme).

The Miracles performed this song on a 1969 telecast of The Mike Douglas Show, a performance that was re-broadcast many years later on VH-1.^[1] The success of this song ended a period of relatively mediocre chart action for The Miracles during 1968, and set the stage for their biggest hit ever with Smokey as lead singer, 1970's multi-million selling #1 hit "The Tears of a Clown".

Personnel: The Miracles

Smokey Robinson - lead vocals
Claudette Rogers Robinson - background vocals
Pete Moore - background vocals
Ronnie White - background vocals
Bobby Rogers - background vocals
Marv Tarplin - guitar

Other Credits

The Funk Brothers - instrumentation

Chart performance

"Baby Baby Don't Cry" was a top 10 pop hit for The Miracles, peaking at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, and, was a Top 10 R&B hit as well, peaking as number three on Billboard's R&B singles chart.^[2] It sold over one million copies,^[3]

Cover versions

Gerald Wilson and His Orchestra
Projekt

References

^ "Baby Baby Don't Cry". YouTube. 2015-04-01. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 404.
^ "WBMM the Miracles Facts". Archived from the original on 2012-07-25. Retrieved 2012-12-02.