"Baby Blue" is a song by the band Badfinger from their 1971 album, Straight Up. The song was written by Pete Ham, produced by Todd Rundgren, and released on Apple Records. It regained fame four decades later upon being featured in the series finale of AMC's Breaking Bad, which uses the track's title lyric as a reference to the special and iconic blue methamphetamine produced by main character Walter White.
Video Baby Blue (Badfinger song)
Writing
Ham wrote the song about a woman named Dixie Armstrong, whom he had dated during Badfinger's last US tour.
Maps Baby Blue (Badfinger song)
Release
"Baby Blue" was released as a single in the US on 6 March 1972, in a blue-tinted picture sleeve and featuring a new mix. Because Al Steckler, the head of Apple US, felt that it needed a stronger hook in the opening, he remixed the track with engineer Eddie Kramer in February 1972, applying heavy reverb to the snare during the first verse and middle eight. It was the group's last Top 20 single, peaking at number 14 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart.
However, the chaos that was enveloping the Apple UK operation at the time was strongly evident with regard to this song. While Apple US gave the song a picture sleeve and a remix to ensure that it was a hit, Apple UK remained unaware of its commercial potential. Although the single was even assigned a release number for the UK (Apple 42), "Baby Blue" was never actually released as a UK single.
Resurgence of popularity
The song experienced a resurgence of popularity in 2013 when it was featured in the television program Breaking Bad during the closing scene of the series finale. Online streams increased in popularity immediately following the broadcast. According to Nielsen Soundscan, 5,300 downloads were purchased the night of the broadcast. and the song appeared on the Billboard Digital Songs chart at No. 32 the week ending October 19, 2013. Joey Molland, the last surviving member of the classic line-up of Badfinger, took to Twitter to express his excitement at the song's use in the finale and subsequently began to retweet news articles about the song's usage in the finale. It became a top-selling song on iTunes following the broadcast. As a result, the song charted in the UK for the first time, reaching No. 73. It also charted at No. 35 in Ireland.
Personnel
- Pete Ham - lead vocals, rhythm guitar
- Tom Evans - backing vocals, bass guitar
- Joey Molland - lead guitar
- Mike Gibbins - drums, percussion
Cover versions
Aimee Mann covered the song as the B-side to her 1993 single "I Should've Known".
Singer-songwriter Barbara Manning covered the song with her band, S.F. Seals, on the 1994 album Nowhere.
Phil Keaggy covered the song in his album Blue in 1994.
References
External links
- Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
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