My Babe
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| “My Babe” | ||
|---|---|---|
| Single by Little Walter | ||
| Released | 1955 | |
| Format | 7" 45rpm | |
| Recorded | January 25, 1955 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
|
| Genre | Blues | |
| Label | Checker (catalog no. 811) | |
| Writer(s) | Willie Dixon | |
"My Babe" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon for Little Walter.[1] Released in 1955 on Checker Records, a subsidiary of Chess Records, the song was the only Dixon composition to become a no. 1 R&B single, a position the song held for 5 weeks in mid-1955, and one of the biggest hits of their careers.[1]
The song was based on the traditional gospel song "This Train (Is Bound For Glory)", which Sister Rosetta Tharpe recorded in the 1939 hit, "This Train". Dixon reworked the arrangement and lyrics from the sacred, the procession of saints into Heaven, into the secular, a story about a woman that won't stand for her man to cheat: "My baby, she don't stand no cheating, my babe, she don't stand none of that midnight creeping". Ray Charles pioneered the approach the year before, reworking the gospel hymn "Jesus Is All the World to Me" into "I Got a Woman" (1954) for a no. 1 hit.
Although no verification exists, the song was probably recorded at Universal Recorders in Chicago, the site of most Chess and Checker sessions until Chess opened their own studio c. 1956/'57.[citation needed] Backing Little Walter's vocals and harmonica were Robert Lockwood, Jr. and Leonard Caston on guitars, Willie Dixon on double-bass, and Fred Below on drums.[2] Guitarist Luther Tucker, then a member of Walter's band, was absent from the recording session that day. "My Babe" was re-issued in 1961 with an overdubbed female vocal backing chorus and briefly crossed over to the pop charts.[1]
The success of song lead to dozens of cover versions by artists as diverse as Elvis Presley, Dale Hawkins, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Narvel Felts, Sonny Burgess, Cliff Richard, Mickey Gilley, Ricky Nelson, Peter & Gordon, Ronnie Milsap, Conway Twitty, Ramsey Lewis, Grant Green, Coleman Hawkins, Gene Ammons, The Animals, The Spencer Davis Group, the Steve Miller Band, Lou Rawls, Ike & Tina Turner, and many others.
"My Babe" was performed by Ben Harper, with James Cotton sitting in on blues harp, during the induction ceremony for Little Walter into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on March 10, 2008.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Dirks, Scott; & Komara, Edward M. [ed.] (2006). Encyclopedia of the Blues. Routledge. p. 982. ISBN 0415926998
- ^ Obrecht, Jas. (2000). Rollin' and Tumblin': The Postwar Blues Guitarists. Backbeat Books. p. 179. ISBN 0879306130
- Dixon, Willie (1991). The Chess Box [CD liner notes]. Chess Records.
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