As the first song mentions the word "baby" 68 times, the same song-writing team of Holland-Dozier-Holland thought it best that their next single had that word in the title. "Baby Love" was the sequel to "Where Did Our Love Go," which was The Supremes' breakout hit which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Unlike his rockier numbers, this song was a tender ballad. From advance orders, they knew they had a big hit as it went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
Elvis sang it on the "Ed Sullivan Show", weeks before the song and movie were released.
Taking that song's melody, Darby and Elvis worked up the song on set, recording it on a soundstage with session musicians on August 24, 1956. He found "Aura Lee," a traditional piece from 1861. Musical director, Ken Darby, explored songs from that era to adapt for Elvis. His character is killed at the end of the movie, but Elvis re-appears to reprise the song. Originally, Elvis had just a small role in the movie, but during filming it became apparent that he was a really big deal, and his role was expanded to take advantage of his stardom. Consequently Elvis's role in the movie, originally a small part, was expanded because of the success of the song. This was a song written for the movie, "The Reno Brothers" but the movie was renamed the same as this song to capitalise on the success of the song.