"My Babe" is a

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of the first half of the twentieth cen ...

song and a

blues standard Blues standards are blues songs that have attained a high level of recognition due to having been widely performed and recorded. They represent the best known and most interpreted blues songs that are seen as standing the test of time. Blues ...

written by Willie Dixon for

Little Walter Marion Walter Jacobs (May 1, 1930 – February 15, 1968), known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning him ...

. Released in 1955 on

Checker Records Checker Records is an inactive record label that was started in 1952 as a subsidiary of Chess Records in Chicago, Illinois. The label was founded by the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil, who ran the label until they sold it to General Recor ...

, a subsidiary of

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and r ...

, the song was the only Dixon composition ever to become a number one R&B single and it was one of the biggest hits of either of their careers.Dirks, Scott; & Komara, Edward M. d. (2006). ''Encyclopedia of the Blues''.

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, ...

. p. 982.

Background

Dixon based "My Babe" on the traditional

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

song "This Train (Is Bound For Glory)", recorded by

Sister Rosetta Tharpe Sister Rosetta Tharpe (born Rosetta Nubin, March 20, 1915 – October 9, 1973) was an American singer and guitarist. She gained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her gospel recordings, characterized by a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics a ...

as "This Train". He 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's cheating): "My baby, she don't stand no cheating, my babe, she don't stand none of that midnight creeping."

Recording

In his autobiography, Dixon recalled: Little Walter recorded the song on January 25, 1955. Accompanying his vocal and harmonica were Robert Lockwood, Jr. and

Leonard Caston Leonard "Baby Doo" Caston (June 2, 1917 – August 22, 1987) was an American blues pianist and guitarist. He is best noted for the tracks "Blues at Midnight" and "I'm Gonna Walk Your Log". Life and career Leonard Caston Sr. was born in Sum ...

on guitars, Willie Dixon on double-bass, and

Fred Below Frederick Below, Jr. (September 6, 1926 – August 13, 1988) was an American blues drummer, best known for his work with Little Walter and Chess Records in the 1950s. According to Tony Russell, Below was a creator of much of the rhythmic struc ...

on drums. Guitarist

Luther Tucker Luther Tucker (January 20, 1936 – June 18, 1993) was an American blues guitarist. While soft-spoken and shy, Tucker made his presence known through his unique and clearly recognizable guitar style. Tucker helped to define the music known as ...

, 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 Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...

female vocal backing chorus and briefly crossed over to the pop charts.

Releases and charts

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

had famously, and controversially, pioneered the gospel-song-to-secular-song approach with his reworking of the gospel hymn "It Must Be Jesus" into " I Got a Woman," which hit the ''Billboard'' R&B charts on January 22, 1955, later climbing to the number one position for one week. Within days of the appearance of Charles's song on the national charts, Little Walter recorded "My Babe" and Checker released it while "I've Got a Woman" was still on the charts. The single eclipsed Charles's record by spending 19 weeks on the ''Billboard'' R&B charts beginning on March 12, 1955, including five weeks at the top position, making it one of the biggest R&B hits of 1955. The B-side of "My Babe" was the harmonica instrumental "Thunderbird," following the pattern established by the release of Little Walter's number one hit single from 1952, "

Juke Juke may refer to: * Juke (football move), a deceptive move in American football * "Juke" (song), a harmonica instrumental recorded by Little Walter Jacobs * Juke joint, an informal establishment featuring blues music, dancing, and alcoholic ...

," of featuring a vocal performance one side and a harmonica instrumental on the flip side.

Recognition and influence

In 2008, "My Babe" was inducted into the

Blues Foundation The Blues Foundation is an American nonprofit corporation, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the County seat, seat of Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County in the southwest part of t ...

Hall of Fame in the "Classic of Blues Recording – Singles or Album Tracks" category. The song has been recorded by artists with a variety of backgrounds, including rock, R&B,

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...

, and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:My Babe 1955 songs Little Walter songs Songs written by Willie Dixon Blues songs Checker Records singles Ike & Tina Turner songs