Be-Bop Baby

Last night one of those songs from, oh, more than sixty years ago popped up into my brain (like a long-submerged ping pong ball)—and refused to depart until I wrote about it. (Funny thing, that.)

I remembered a few of the lyrics—“she’s the gal for me-e,” etc. But not enough to satisfy me. So ... here I am, the servant of Google, trying to rediscover who performed the song—when it was released—and what the lyrics are.

I just discovered the singer was Ricky Nelson (that was not one of the names I’d thought of), the son of Ozzie and Harriet, the son who became, for a while, a pop star and heartthrob. He looked like a genial Elvis.

The song, written by Pearl Lendhurst (never would have guessed a woman had written the suggestive lyrics—goes to show my daffiness), was released in mid-September 1957 (my year in 8th grade) and reached #3 in America.

Link to a performance by Nelson.

I’m not sure how I felt about Ricky Nelson back in 8th grade. I had really liked the old TV show Ozzie and Harriet (which ran from 1952-1966), but when RN became a favorite of many of the girls, I think my jealousy overcame my fondness for the old show. And maybe I hated him for a while? Could be.

Another, less Darwinian part of myself, liked him. His songs were easy to understand, easy to dance to (even for a less-than-adept dancer like me), and annoyed many adults—which, of course, is a great attraction for the young and the restless.

The song, I recall, was a favorite at our dances and sockhops, and so I must have danced to it countless times throughout my early teens. And during its period of popularity it seemed to have been on the radio about every two or three minutes.

Now ... how about those lyrics?

A Bebop Baby A Bebop Baby*
A Bebop Baby she's the gal for me
She's got plenty of rhythm got plenty of jive
And when we dance I really come alive
My love for her is so tender and sweet
My heart starts pounding every time we meet
My Bebop Baby still in her teens
Just as sweet as she can be
My Bebop Baby in her old blue jeans 
Is the Bebop Baby for me
A Bebop Baby for me
A Bebop Baby A Bebop Baby
A Bebop Baby she's the gal for me
I'm gonna find her tonight
I'm gonna have a time
I want that baby to be mine all mine
A big day is comin' for my baby and me
The day she says she belongs to me
My Bebop Baby still in her teens
Just as sweet as she can be
My Bebop Baby in her old blue jeans 
Is the Bebop Baby for me

The part that got me last night: “still in her teens.”

Hmmm, what did that mean?  And “I’m gonna find her tonight”?

A little creepy?

Or just, you know, Young Love? Of the Innocent sort.

Let’s assume Innocence. That way, no one gets in trouble ... right?

*The record itself says “Be-bop”—the lyrics make a single word of it.