Australian
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Clip description

This 1959 recording of ‘She’s My Baby’ by Johnny O’Keefe was recorded in Los Angeles, as part of an attempt to crack the US market. Produced by Ernie Freeman, the record features Scotty Turner on lead guitar and Barney Kessell on rhythm guitar. This excerpt is the first 30 seconds of the song.

Curator’s notes

Johnny O’Keefe recorded 'She’s My Baby’ in Los Angeles during his first visit to the US in October 1959. O’Keefe was already a seasoned performer on stage, television and radio and had amassed a number of Top 40 hits at home. But 'She’s My Baby’ has a slick and polished sound, compared even to his previous record ('Shout’), as production quality was far superior in America than Australia in those days. O’Keefe’s band had to work hard to reproduce a similar quality to the smooth studio sound when they toured the record in Australia.

The record was JOK’s first Australian number one on its release in January 1960, and was a top 20 hit nine years later when it was re-released in 1969. The high-pitched backing vocals were characteristic of many pop records of the time. Like many 'I love you’-type pop songs, the lyrics are straightforward and determined not to exclude a young or wide audience. References to Spain and Paris in the last verse may have also been a nod to the song’s intended international audience if it became a hit overseas.