The track was released as a single in January 1962 and became a breakout hit in Texas where, according to his widow Melanie Howard, Harlan Howard spent two weeks doing promotion before returning home to Nashville and refusing to do further promotion re his singing career as it interfered with his primary musical focus: songwriting.
[1] Charlie Rich recorded "She Called Me Baby" at one of a series of sessions produced by Chet Atkins at RCA Victor Studio in Nashville which occurred between March 1964 and February 1965.
[2] Like many Atkins-produced tracks of this era, "She Called Me Baby" featured choral backing and strings, a style prominent on other Rich recordings of the time.
Released in September 1974 – around the time his Epic single "I Love My Friend" was peaking in popularity — "She Called Me Baby" reached No.
The song has also been recorded – as "She Called Me Baby" – by Eddy Arnold, Bobby Bare, Glen Campbell, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Mickey Gilley, Ferlin Husky, Waylon Jennings, John D. Loudermilk, Ernest Tubb and Sheb Wooley; and as "He Called Me Baby" by Jessi Colter (A Country Star is Born), Skeeter Davis, Bobbi Martin, Melba Montgomery and Dinah Shore and Lee Ann Womack in 2017.
"He Called Me Baby" entered the R&B charts for the first time in December 1968 via a recording by Ella Washington made for Nashville-based R&B label Sound Stage 7.