Don't Worry Baby

"Don’t Worry Baby" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Roger Christian, produced by Wilson and first recorded by the Beach Boys. The band's version, a tender ballad with falsetto lead vocal by Brian, was first released on their 1964 album Shut Down Volume 2. It was also released as the B-side of The Beach Boys' first U.S. #1 hit single, "I Get Around", managing to reach #24 on the US Hot 100 in its own right. The single was released in the United States in May, 1964 through Capitol Records. It was released a month later, in June 1964, in the United Kingdom.

Brian Wilson cited the song as his attempt to capture the essence of his all-time favourite record, "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes, who would later cover his song. At one time, Wilson listened to his 45 record of the song he "could never do" up to 100 times a day.

John Lennon's 1980 hit "(Just Like) Starting Over" strongly borrows from the verse melody of "Don't Worry Baby"^{[citation needed]}, while Garbage's 1998 hit Push It contains an interpolation of its chorus.

The song is prominently featured in the 2006 thriller Déjà Vu.

The song "Don't Worry Baby" is part of the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list.^[1]

It is ranked #176 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

[edit] Cover versions

Keith Moon, drummer for The Who, covered this song on his only solo album, Two Sides of the Moon, with Dick Dale on solo guitar. Bryan Ferry, B.J. Thomas, the Everly Brothers, the Fun & Games and most recently, singer-songwriter Andy Pratt have also offered cover versions of "Don't Worry Baby". New Zealand band Zed performed an uptempo rock-oriented cover version in 2003 on their album This Little Empire.

The song as originally performed by the Beach Boys, is about a teenager who agrees to a challenge to race a rival in order to defend his honor after bragging about his car, and his girlfriend's plea to take her love with him when he races. The B.J. Thomas version has a more mature theme, as a man waking up to his partner every morning, thinking that her love for him is fading, but his spirits rise as she reminds him how much she believes in him and loves him.

Billy Joel performed the cover version of this song at "An All-Star Tribute to Brian Wilson (2001)". Before he sang, he mentioned that his daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, adored the song from Never Been Kissed and dedicated the song to her.