Song:Ruby Baby
Album:Greatest Hits
Dion DiMucci has been around since the 50s, first as lead singer of Dion & The Belmonts, then he topped the charts in 1960 with Runaround Sue. He signed with Columbia in 1962 and Ruby Baby was a top five hit. After a couple more hits, Dion disappeared until the late 60s. Believe it or not, Dion was the first rock artist to sign with Columbia Records. It's well known that Columbia A&R head Mitch Miller hated rock music. When he signed Aretha Franklin, he refused to produce her music in a contemporary style and she would eventually leave for Atlantic. Miller passed on Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and The Beatles. Dion was assigned to Columbia house producer Robert Mersey. Ruby Baby was the first Columbia single. It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was written by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller and first recorded by The Drifters. Mersey was an arranger for Lieber and Stoller at the time. Dion's other big hit at Columbia was Donna The Prima Donna in 1963. Then things went off the rails. The British Invasion arrived and Dion's heroin addiction became a problem. And he learned about the blues from Columbia producer John Hammond. He recorded a 1965 album with Bob Dylan's producer Tom Wilson and pianist Al Kooper. When the singles stiffed, the album was not released. But it is said that it was influential in Wilson and Kooper convincing Dylan to go electric. Dion's album was recently released by Norton Records. Dion left Columbia in 1966. It looked like his career was over until he kicked his heroin habit and became a Christian. And this led to his 1968 comeback hit Abraham, Martin and John and to Christian music in the 70s. This Dion & The Belmonts comp from the British label Repertoire also includes Dion's solo recordings with Laurie and Columbia. Dion is currently working on a stage musical about his life called The Wanderer. Dion occasionally posts about the progress of The Wanderer on Instagram. Dion was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Here's Dion performing Ruby Baby in the 60s in Europe.
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