Ruby Baby

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote Ruby Baby, and the Drifters recorded it first, in a 1956 Atlantic single that reached number ten on the R&B chart. Columbia released Dion's remake, and it reached number two on the Hot 100 and number five on the R&B chart. It was the first single of his Columbia years. The record features Dion's foot stomping, which one interviewer described as a blues tradition, and Dion has used Martin guitars on recordings as early as Ruby Baby.

In 1963 he filmed a promotional video for the song in Paris. As he recalled, it was an experiment to put short films on jukeboxes with television screens, which never caught on because it would have cost a quarter instead of a dime.