B-side "I Got My Baby Back" Recorded 1966 Length 3:29 | Released October 1966 Genre Soul Label Warner Bros. 5850 | |
"Stay with Me" (often credited as "Stay with Me Baby") is a soul song co-written by Jerry Ragovoy and George David Weiss. It was first recorded in 1966 by Lorraine Ellison, and produced by Ragovoy.
Ellison recorded "Stay With Me" at a last-minute booking, following a studio cancellation by Frank Sinatra. With a 46-piece orchestra already hired, Warner Bros. Records asked Ragovoy, with two days' notice, to take over the session at no cost. Ragovoy and arranger Garry Sherman worked up an orchestral arrangement of the song, and called Ellison into the studio to record it live with the orchestra. The recording was engineered by Phil Ramone.
"Stay With Me" was issued as a single on the Warner record label. It entered the U.S. Billboard R&B chart on October 15, 1966, and reached No. 11; and peaked at No. 64 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Her follow-up single was "Heart Be Still", a minor hit in 1967.
The track has appeared on numerous compilation albums over the years, but 2006's Sister Love: The Warner Bros. Recordings contains all Ellison's songs.
Cover versions
"Stay With Me" has been covered by numerous musicians, including Bette Midler, in the film The Rose. "Stay With Me" by The Faces is a different song.
Other versions include those by The Walker Brothers, Charity Brown, David Essex, Ruby Turner, Rebecca Wheatley, Janis Joplin, Bobby Hatfield, Bob Dylan, Robin Lee, Genya Ravan, Terry Reid, Steve Marriott, Long John Baldry, Sharon Tandy, Les Fleur de Lys, Natalie Cole, Jimmy Witherspoon, Dan McCafferty, Kiki Dee, Shirley Brown, Samantha Rose, Sam Brown, Phil Seymour, Trine Rein, Whitesnake, Ronnie Montrose, Duffy, Mary J. Blige, Melissa Etheridge and Chris Cornell. The versions by the first four artists named in the previous sentence, all reached the UK Singles Chart.
Duffy's version was the only newly recorded song on the soundtrack of the 2009 UK comedy film, The Boat That Rocked. Although it was the original version that appeared in the film, Duffy's version did feature in the closing credits.
It was also performed by Karise Eden on June 17, 2012, for her finale performance on The Voice Australia, reaching No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart and by La'Porsha Renae on March 31, 2016 on the final season of American Idol.
Alisan Porter covered the song on The Voice, season 10.