Oh No Not My Baby

"Oh No Not My Baby" is a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King.[1] The song's lyrics describe how friends and family repeatedly warn the singer about a partner's infidelities. The song is regarded as an American standard due to its long-time popularity with both music listeners and recording artists.

"Oh No Not My Baby"
Single by Maxine Brown
from the album Spotlight on Maxine Brown
B-side"You Upset My Soul"
ReleasedSeptember 1964
RecordedBell Sound Studios
New York, New York, U.S.
GenreR&B
Length2:36
LabelWand Records
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Luther Dixon, Stan Greenberg

History

The first released version of "Oh No Not My Baby" was by Maxine Brown, according to whom the song had first been recorded by her Scepter Records' roster-mates the Shirelles with the group's members alternating leads, an approach which had rendered the song unreleasable.

Brown says that Scepter exec Stan Greenberg gave her the song with the advisement that she had to "find the original melody" from the recording by the Shirelles: "they [had gone] so far off by each [group member] taking their own lead, no one knew any more where the real melody stood."

Brown recalls sitting on the porch of her one-level house in Queens listening to the Shirelles' track play through her open window. A group of children skipping rope on the sidewalk picked up the song's main hook before Brown, hearing the children singing "Oh no not my baby" as they skipped, gave Brown the idea for the song's melody. Brown recorded her vocal over the Shirelles' track with the group's vocals erased; Dee Dee Warwick provided the harmony vocal on the chorus.[2]

Released in September 1964, Brown's "Oh No Not My Baby" spent seven weeks in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1964 - January 1965 with a #24 peak.[3] The song was included on her second studio album Spotlight on Maxine Brown, released in 1965.

Rod Stewart version

In 1973 Rod Stewart (backed by his Faces bandmates Ron Wood, Kenny Jones and Ian McLagan) charted with "Oh No Not My Baby"; his self-produced version — a single with no parent album — reached #6 UK in September 1973 subsequently reaching #59 on both the U.S.[4], and Canadian charts before the year's end. The B-side, credited on the single to Faces, was "Jodie" written by Ron Wood, Rod Stewart and Ian McLagan.

Cher version
"Oh No Not My Baby"
Single by Cher
from the album Greatest Hits: 1965–1992
B-side"Love Hurts"
Released1992
Recorded1992
GenreSoft rock
Length3:12
LabelGeffen
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Peter Asher
Cher singles chronology
"Could've Been You"
(1992)		 "Oh No Not My Baby"
(1992)		 "Whenever You're Near"
(1992)

In December 1992 Cher released "Oh No Not My Baby" as the follow-up to her international hit "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" and likewise produced by Peter Asher; the track became a moderate international hit early in 1993. AllMusic editor J. F. Promis called her cover "gutsy."[5]

Track listing
  • European 7" and cassette single
  1. "Oh No Not My Baby" – 3:09
  2. "Love Hurts" – 4:19
  • European 12" and CD single
  1. "Oh No Not My Baby" – 3:09
  2. "Love on a Rooftop" – 4:22
  3. "Love Hurts" – 4:19
  4. "Main Man" – 3:48

Charts
Chart (1992–93) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[6] 30
Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[7] 87
European Adult Contemporary Top 25[8] 4
European Hit Radio Top 40[9] 14
Germany (Official German Charts)[10] 52
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[11] 28
Poland (LP3)[12] 18
Spain Top 40 Radio (Promusicae)[13] 35
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[14] 19
UK Singles (OCC)[15] 33

Other cover versions

Samples

References
  1. Oh No Not My Baby Retrieved November 29, 2011
  2. Freeland, David (2001). Ladies of Soul. Jackson MS: University Press of Mississippi. pp. 150–51. ISBN 1-57806-330-2.
  3. Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 116.
  4. Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 806.
  5. Review by Allmusic Retrieved 15 October 2013
  6. "Cher – Oh No Not My Baby" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  7. "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  8. "European Adult Contemporary Top 25, page 20" (PDF). Music & Media. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  9. "Music & Media, EHR top40, page 14" (PDF). Music & Media. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  10. "Cher - Top Titel" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  11. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (vikan 28.1. - 4.2. '93)" (in Icelandic). Dagblaðið Vísir. Retrieved July 20, 2018. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  12. "Notowanie nr572" (in Polish). LP3. January 29, 1993. Retrieved February 28, 2019. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  13. Fernando Salaverri (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  14. "Cher – Oh No Not My Baby". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  15. "Cher: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  16. "officialcharts.com". Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  17. Billboard 27 January 1973 p.15
  18. "RPM Top 100 Singles - April 18, 1994" (PDF).
  19. "RPM Top 40 AC - April 11, 1994" (PDF).
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