About The Song
“Since I Met You Baby” was written and first recorded by R&B singer and pianist Ivory Joe Hunter in 1956. Sonny James released his country version in August 1969 on Capitol Records, with “Clinging to a Hope” as the B-side. The recording appeared on the album *The Astrodome Presents in Person Sonny James*, which was presented as a live set even though the audience reaction was added to a studio performance. Produced by George Richey, the single became one of James’s most successful covers of an earlier R&B hit.
The record reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in October 1969, marking James’s thirteenth country chart-topper. It also crossed over to the pop market, peaking at number sixty-five on the Billboard Hot 100. In Canada the song performed well on the country chart as well. The success fit into a remarkable streak of consecutive number-one country singles that James was then enjoying.
The lyric is a simple and direct expression of how meeting a particular person has transformed the singer’s life. He no longer needs to share troubles with anyone else, and he describes himself as a happier man determined to please the one he loves. James’s smooth, measured delivery and the clean country arrangement of the late 1960s gave the familiar material a polished new identity without losing its emotional core.
James had a personal connection to the song that dated back more than a decade. In 1957 he met Ivory Joe Hunter backstage at *The Ed Sullivan Show* and suggested that “Since I Met You Baby” could work well as a country number. Hunter encouraged him to try it. James waited until 1969, a period when he was systematically recording successful covers of earlier R&B and pop songs, before following through on the idea.
By the late 1960s James had already established himself as a consistent hitmaker known for bringing outside material into the country mainstream. “Since I Met You Baby” was one of several such covers that reached number one during his long run at the top of the country chart. The approach broadened his repertoire while maintaining the accessible, gentlemanly style that had earned him the nickname “the Southern Gentleman.”
Within Sonny James’s career and the country music of 1969, “Since I Met You Baby” stands as a successful example of an R&B standard reinvented for a country audience. Its chart performance, connection to an earlier hit, and place in James’s streak of number-one singles have kept it among the more memorable recordings of his peak years.
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Lyric
Since I met you baby
My whole life has changed
Since I met you baby
My whole life has changed
And everybody tells me
That I am not the sameI don’t need nobody
To tell my troubles to
I don’t need nobody
To tell my troubles to
Cause since I met you baby
All I need is youSince I met you baby
I’m a happy man
Since I met you baby
I’m a happy man
I’m gonna try to please you
In every way I can