Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby

"Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" is a rockabilly song credited to Carl Perkins. Based on a 1934 song written by singer/songwriter Rex Griffin, it achieved widespread popularity when it was released in 1956 by Carl Perkins and covered by the Beatles in 1964.

Background[]

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"Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" borrows from a song with the same title, chorus and verses written in the mid-1930s by Alabama-born country songwriter Rex Griffin. Griffin recorded the song for Decca Records in 1936 with the title "Everybody's Tryin' to Be My Baby". Perkins recorded his song with the same title with similar music but an updated arrangement in 1956 for Sun Records. Lyrically, the Perkins and Griffin songs are similar, but musically, the arrangement is more modern. The melody, later used in "Rock Around the Clock", was also borrowed by Hank Williams for "Move It On Over" and "Mind Your Own Business". The Carl Perkins song is more blues-based and closer to "Blue Suede Shoes" in style.

The recording was re-released on the 1961 Sun Records album Teen Beat: The Best of Carl Perkins, Carl Perkins' Original Golden Hits by Sun International in 1969, Original Sun Greatest Hits by Rhino Records in 1986, Blues Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session, and on a Rhino Records CD EP Lil' Bit of Gold in 1988.

The Beatles' version[]

"Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby"
Sheet music cover
Song by the Beatles
Released	December 4, 1964 (1964-12-04) (UK: Beatles for Sale) December 15, 1964 (US: Beatles '65)
Recorded	October 18, 1964
Studio	EMI, London
Genre	Rock and roll, rockabilly
Length	2:23
Label	Parlophone (UK) Capitol (US)
Songwriter(s)	Carl Perkins
Producer(s)	George Martin

The Beatles recorded "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" on October 18, 1964, at EMI Studios, London, with George Harrison (a lifelong fan of Perkins) on vocals.^[1] Harrison's vocals were heavily processed with the STEED effect. It was first released as the final track on Beatles for Sale in the United Kingdom later that year,^[2] and likewise as the concluding track on the North American album Beatles '65.^[3]

The Beatles' recording finishes with a false ending, with the final phrase repeating itself after the song seems to have stopped. A version recorded live at the Star-Club in Hamburg in December 1962 contained four of these musical phrases.

Live performances of the Beatles' "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" were recorded in June 1963 for the BBC radio program Pop Go The Beatles, and in November 1964 for Saturday Club. The latter recording can be heard on Live at the BBC.

The Beatles continued to perform the song after their studio recording was released. The song was performed in Paris, France in 1965. The performance recorded at Shea Stadium on August 15, 1965, was included on Anthology 2.

In 1976, Capitol released the song on the compilation album Rock 'n' Roll Music.^[4]

George Harrison performed the song with Carl Perkins on the Cinemax cable special Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session in 1985. Bruce Springsteen performed the song live in concert in 1998 as a tribute to Carl Perkins on news of his death. Johnny Cash’s mid-90s version of the song backed by Carl Perkins and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers was included on his 2003 concept-compilation album Unearthed'.^[5]

In 2016, the song was featured as a bonus track on the remastered Live at the Hollywood Bowl album in a live performance from August 30, 1965 in conjunction with the release of the Ron Howard concert film The Beatles: Eight Days a Week.^[6][7]

Personnel[]

• George Harrison – double-tracked lead vocals, lead guitar
• John Lennon – acoustic rhythm guitar, tambourine
• Paul McCartney – bass guitar
• Ringo Starr – drums

References[]