"Tell Me Baby" is a song from the

Red Hot Chili Peppers The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (musician), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of a ...

' ninth studio album ''

Stadium Arcadium ''Stadium Arcadium'' is the ninth studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. It is a double-album, first released in Germany on May 5, 2006, and released on May 9, 2006 in the United States on Warner Bros. Records. It produced f ...

''. The song was released as the follow-up to the hit single "

Dani California "Dani California" is a song from American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers' ninth studio album, ''Stadium Arcadium'' (2006). The single was first made available at the iTunes Music Store and was officially released on April 28, 2006. The internati ...

" on July 17, 2006. The single was not as successful as their prior single "Dani California" nor their next single "

Snow (Hey Oh) "Snow (Hey Oh)" (occasionally stylized as "Snow ((Hey Oh))") is a song by American band Red Hot Chili Peppers from their 2006 double album, ''Stadium Arcadium''. The song was released as the follow-up single to " Tell Me Baby" in 2006, and beca ...

" as far as chart success, but did reach number one on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Modern Rock chart and remained there for four weeks making it the band's second straight number one on that chart from ''Stadium Arcadium'' and tenth number one overall.

Composition

"Tell Me Baby" incorporates both the old

funk rock Funk rock is a fusion genre that mixes elements of funk and Rock music, rock. James Brown and others declared that Little Richard and his mid-1950s road band, The Upsetters (American band), the Upsetters, were the first to put the funk in the ...

sound from their ''

Blood Sugar Sex Magik ''Blood Sugar Sex Magik'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on September 24, 1991, by Warner Bros. Records. Produced by Rick Rubin, its musical style differed notably from the band's previous album ' ...

'' days in the verses of the song, and the chorus focuses on the more melodic sound found on more recent Chili Peppers albums. The song is about the dreams of pilgrims in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

who want to obtain fame and fortune.

Reception

Nick Mitchell at '' The Skinny'' gave the song three out of five stars, stating "Neither particularly complex nor memorable, "Tell Me Baby" is nevertheless an upbeat little number that may well ingratiate itself on your eardrums."

Music video

The music video for "Tell Me Baby" was directed by

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris Jonathan Dayton (born July 7, 1957) and Valerie Faris (born October 20, 1958) are a duo of American directors and producers for films and music videos. They started their career directing videos for such artists as Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M. ...

, a directing duo that has worked on many other Chili Peppers videos. Flea said, "It's the best

ideo IDEO () is a design firm, design and consulting firm with offices in the U.S., England, and China. It was founded in Palo Alto, California, in 1991. The company's 500 staff uses a design thinking approach to design products, services, environmen ...

we ever did." For the video, Dayton and Faris interviewed and auditioned people who originally came to California to achieve some sort of fame and people who play music just for the sake of playing music. During the callback for the auditioned people, their second audition was filmed and the members of the Chili Peppers surprisingly entered the room during auditions to join in playing along.

Live performances

"Tell Me Baby" was performed often on the

Stadium Arcadium World Tour The Stadium Arcadium World Tour (also known as The Intergalactic Tour) was a 2006–2007 concert tour by the band Red Hot Chili Peppers in support of their ninth studio album, ''Stadium Arcadium''. The band started out with a pre-tour promotiona ...

and has been featured on all the tours that followed.

Formats and track listings

;CD version 1 5439 15673-2 # "Tell Me Baby" – 4:07 # "A Certain Someone" – 2:25 ;CD version 2 9362 42956-2 # "Tell Me Baby" – 4:07 # "Mercy Mercy" – 4:01 # "Lyon 6.6.06" (Live) – 3:53 ;7" Picture Disc 5439 15973-2 # "Tell Me Baby" – 4:07 # "Mercy Mercy" – 4:01

Personnel

Red Hot Chili Peppers *Anthony Kiedis – lead vocals *John Frusciante – guitar, backing vocals, keyboards *Flea – bass *Chad Smith – drums, percussion

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control Red Hot Chili Peppers songs 2006 singles Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin Music videos directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris