It is a cornerstone of rock ‘n’ roll legend and lore.
Brian Wilson, creative mastermind and primary songwriter for The Beach Boys, heard the Phil Spector-produced “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes’ and had what we now recognize to be a breakdown.
Wilson found himself unable to leave the confines of his bed for months, endlessly dissecting every layer of the song's arrangement and production.
His fascination with “Be My Baby” became and obsession with Wilson locking himself away in his room to tirelessly try to understand the Phil Spector’s production technique hoping to push the boundaries of his own creative genius.
Although not to the same degree, local musician Dustin Jones understands Wilson’s obsession.
“I fell in love with Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys when I was about 12 years old,” says Jones.
“When I heard the song ‘Don’t Worry Baby’ for the first time, I didn’t really understand anything about production,” says Jones.
“I just thought it was a fun tune.”
But the song stuck with him.
“I soon discovered the Beach Boys song was actually an ode to the Ronettes’ Be My Baby.”
Jones was then led to Phil Spector and his cutting-edge production technique.
For the now-local songwriter, musician, producer, and studio owner, it was a pivotal moment even though it would still be a few years before Jones started his own recording journey with a little Fostex 4-track recorder.
“As years went on and the more I learned, especially after dissecting Brian Wilson’s productions, the more I could hear all the crossover with Phil Spector’s stuff,” he says.
“The amount of power and instruments he somehow managed to jam into a box, all mished and mashed together to create its own sound is kind of special. I went down the rabbit hole of Brian Wilson always longing to be like Phil Spector.”
Fast forward to 2022, Jones decided to take his fascination further by trying to record a rendition of Be My Baby.
“30-some years later, I thought to myself, ‘Hey, I own a studio so why don’t I try to recreate the song that my idol obsessed over,’” says Jones.
“It only made sense,”
So Jones began recording the instrumentation for the song in random sessions over about a year’s time.
Jones tells me that since Phil Spector was famous for using a group of highly talented and versatile session musicians who played on a vast number of hit records in the 1960s and 1970s called the “Wrecking Crew,” he assembled what he jokingly calls his own “Soo Wrecking Crew.”
Jones laid down the acoustics and pianos, then brought in Chris Johns on drums, Jay Case on bass guitar, Sheldon Jaaskelainen on strings, and Josh Norling and Vince Filetti on the horns. Jones himself, with his daughter Jett, and singers Storm Rausch, Isabelle Deady-Bell, and Madii Schomogyi completed the backing vocals.
With the track basically complete, but there was still one problem: Who was going to sing Ronnie Spector’s iconic vocal part?
“It was a waiting game,” says Jones.
Then early last year, Jones got a message from Kevin Rusnell, friend and Peace Restaurant owner, asking if he had heard of a local singer name Gabrielle Dumas, who was working at Rusnell’s restaurant.
“He said to me, ‘You have to hear her sing,’” says Jones.
“The musical universe works in mysterious ways. In walks Gabrielle Dumas with this voice filled with that same depth, rasp, and soul as Ronnie Spector’s. Gabi has a great natural feel for melody and words. The muse really speaks to her. She’s been blessed, and that voice, like, come on now.”
There was a point during the “Be My Baby” vocal recording session when Jones simply sat behind the recording studio glass in awe.
“I was thinking to myself, ‘This is as close as I will ever get to my idol. This moment right here.’ With me behind the console, and a voice that sounds like the ‘original bad girl of rock ‘n’ roll’ singing ‘Be My Baby’ in the vocal booth. It was pretty surreal.”
In addition to singing on the Jonesy Land single, Gabrielle Dumas is currently recording an album of her own with Jones.
“It’s been amazing to work with her,” he says.
“We have been working together on her own music over the past year. You’ll be able to hear some of that really soon now.”
Jones says the entire experience of recording the song “was a trip.”
“Let’s just say I can see how the song may have driven Brian Wilson mad for a time,” he laughs.
“I just hope we did the song justice.”
Find out more about Mission Control Studios here.
Find out more about Dustin Jones here.