Barbara McNair - Here I Am Baby

[DJMoch]

To go back to the Motown music that I love, I'm very partial to this Barbara McNair gem, "Here I Am Baby". This is also a case where I also love the Marvelette's version just as much as Barbara's original, yet much more dramatic reading of the lyrics. What say you?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZjcM4yEgXg

[nabob]

Barbara McNair hands down. IMHO the song would have been a sizable hit with that arrangement for the Marvelettes. Just sayin'. It was in the same vein as Hunter and You're the One. The latter is one of my faves by the Marvelettes.

[DJMoch]

I like the funkiness of the Marvelette's rendition. But actually on reflection, Barbara's version takes the lead, slightly. Her vocal delivery suits the song more. The dramatic backing helps sell it.

[robb_k]

12715
They're pretty close. I like The Marvelettes' a little better.

[DJMoch]

And here's the Marvelette's version, for contrast:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuhsSnQagAs

[TomatoTom123]

I like this very much! I have to go for The Marvelettes oh-so-slightly-funky version though.

Ooh, just heard some nice flute-thing on Barbara's rendition!!!

[daviddesper]

I heard and loved the Marvs version first, years before I even knew there WAS a Barbara version. So I am partial to theirs but each time I listen to Barbara's, I appreciate it a little more. Sexy vs. funky I guess you could say.

[theboyfromxtown]

I love the rendition by Barbara McNair. I am cleayly in the minority her because I dont care for the other version - I used to play the flip side Keep Off No Trespassing

[DJMoch]

I just like how the same song can have two completely different arrangements and sound so utterly unlike each other. That was the magic of Motown.

[arr&bee]

Not bad at all,she sounds almost as sexy as wanda,of course i said[almost]

[144man]

I am going to very firmly and definitely stay on the fence on this one. I love them both.

[thommg]

I love both versions. To me, Wanda's version is the pop version while Barbara's is the adult contemporary version. Wanda sounds younger and Barbara sound more grown up.

[RanRan79]

I like Barbara's version. I love the Marvelettes' version. It's just a damn good song, overall.

[lockhartgary]

I like Barbara McNair's version as well as the Marvelettes' version, but have to say the Marvelettes version is a tad more of my taste preference.

[marv2]

To go back to the Motown music that I love, I'm very partial to this Barbara McNair gem, "Here I Am Baby". This is also a case where I also love the Marvelette's version just as much as Barbara's original, yet much more dramatic reading of the lyrics. What say you?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZjcM4yEgXg

The Marvelettes hands down!

[marv2]

And here's the Marvelette's version, for contrast:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuhsSnQagAs

Wanda sounds so smooth, so sexy. This is the Marvelettes song!

[westgrandboulevard]

I liked both versions, and still do, but for different reasons.

Barbara's version is more as a Miracles album version might have sounded, with a change in lyrics. There's an elegant, cool,and rather 'knowing' worldly feel to it.

The Marvelettes version [[Wanda sounding both mischievous and innocent) was recorded two years later, and at the Golden World studio. It has a much funkier sound, more like just a basic rhythm track, with prominent guitar and organ. That did disappoint me when I first heard it. The intro lacked impact, and the production didn't speak 'Motown' to me. I just felt it needed some different overdubs to make it really shine. I'm still not quite sure that piccolo sound whistling away really works for me.....

The Marvelettes version is the more suitable as a single [[and for live performances, both for voices and movements)...but my ideal would have been for the studio recording to have had Wanda in her 'Don't Mess With Bill' mood, with that Hitsville/Snakepit sound of Barbara's version.

But, by 1968, I guess that sound would have been considered 'dated'......