"My Babe" is a
Chicago blues
Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but is performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of African Americans of the fi ...
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 s ...
written by
Willie Dixon
William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...
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 a defunct 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 Recorded T ...
, 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 an ...
, 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 corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...
. p. 982.
Background
Willie Dixon
William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...
based "My Babe" on the traditional
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
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, songwriter and guitarist. She gained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her gospel recordings, characterized by a unique mixture of spirit ...
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 who worked with Little Walter and Chess Records in the 1950s. According to Tony Russell, Below was a creator of much of the rhythmic structure of Chicago ...
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 a ...
female vocal backing chorus and briefly crossed over to the
pop charts.
Releases and charts
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...
had famously, and controversially, pioneered the
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
-song-to-secular-song approach with his reworking of the gospel hymn "It Must Be Jesus" into "
I Got a Woman
"I Got a Woman" (originally titled "I've Got a Woman") is a song co-written and recorded by American R&B and soul musician Ray Charles. Atlantic Records released the song as a single in December 1954, with " Come Back Baby" as the B-side. Both ...
," which hit the
''Billboard'' R&B charts
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...
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," of featuring a vocal performance ("Can't Hold On Much Longer") on 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, that is affiliated with more than 175 blues organizations from various parts of the world.
Founded in 1980, a 25-person board of directors governs 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
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
, R&B,
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
, 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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
.
[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:My Babe
1955 songs
Little Walter songs
Songs written by Willie Dixon
Blues songs
Checker Records singles
Ike & Tina Turner songs