"I Can't Quit You Baby" | |
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Single by Otis Rush | |
B-side | "Sit Down Baby" |
Released | 1956 |
Recorded | c. July 1956 |
Studio | Boulevard Recording, Chicago |
Genre | Blues |
Length | 2:56 |
Label | Cobra |
Songwriter(s) | Willie Dixon |
Producer(s) | Willie Dixon |
"I Can't Quit You Baby" is blues song written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Chicago blues artist Otis Rush in 1956. [1] It is a slow twelve-bar blues ensemble piece, with lyrics about the consequences of an adulterous relationship which is difficult to end.
"I Can't Quit You Baby" was Rush's first recording and Cobra Records's debut single. It became a record chart hit as well as a blues standard. Rush updated the song in 1966 with a modified arrangement, which was adapted by Led Zeppelin for their 1969 debut album.
According to biographer Mitsutoshi Inaba "the song subject is the consequences of adultery and the feeling that a man cannot give up a relationship": [2]
I can't quit you, baby
But I've got to put you down for awhile
You know I can't quit you, baby
But I've got to put you down for awhile
Well, you messed up my happy home, babe
Made me mistreat my only child [3]
In his autobiography, Willie Dixon explained that "I Can't Quit You Baby" was written about a relationship Rush was preoccupied with at the time; Dixon used this to draw out an impassioned performance by Rush. [3] Despite being solely credited to Dixon, Rush felt that the song's identity is very much his own:
Willie would just hum the sound, he never played anything, you know. He would try to give me some phrases how the song go and I pretty much did it on my own, the way it sounded. The way I sang the song and the way I played my guitar is what I wanted to play. [2]
Inaba added: "Otis' passionate vocal melody with alternations of natural voice, falsetto, shouts, and growls, is his singing style indeed". [2] The song is notated in the key of A major in 12/8 time with a "slow blues" tempo. [4] Rush's original version consists of four twelve-bar vocal sections with lead guitar fills. It was Rush's first recording and took place in Chicago around July 1956. [5] Accompanying Rush on lead guitar and vocal are Big Walter Horton on harmonica, Red Holloway on tenor sax, Lafayette Leake on piano, Wayne Bennett on second guitar, Dixon on bass, and Al Duncan on drums. [5]
"I Can't Quit You Baby" was a vehicle for arranger-producer Dixon to launch Rush and Cobra Records, as it was the first single for both. [3] In this regard, it was a success, reaching number six on Billboard's Rhythm & Blues Records chart in 1956. [6]
Otis Rush revisited "I Can't Quit You Baby" several times over the years. His 1966 re-recording for the 1966 blues compilation Chicago/The Blues/Today! Vol. 2 [7] uses an altered arrangement with an unusual turnaround (tonic chord followed by a half-step above the tonic chord). [8] [9] Subsequent cover versions usually use the chord substitutions found in Rush's Vanguard rendition. [8]
"I Can't Quit You Baby" | |
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Song by Led Zeppelin | |
from the album Led Zeppelin | |
Released | January 12, 1969 |
Recorded | October 15, 1968 [10] |
Studio | Olympic, London [10] |
Genre | Blues rock |
Length | 4:42 |
Label | Atlantic |
Songwriter(s) | Willie Dixon |
Producer(s) | Jimmy Page |
English rock band Led Zeppelin recorded "I Can't Quit You Baby" for their 1969 debut album Led Zeppelin . [11] According to music journalist Cub Koda, their rendition is "a note-for-note copy of Otis Rush's" 1966 Vanguard version, [12] although with different instrumentation and dynamics. [13] It also incorporates a break during the guitar solo where Jimmy Page plays a four-bar unaccompanied set-up before relaunching into the solo. Although biographer Keith Shadwick notes Page's fluff on the turnaround coming out of the solo, he concludes the song "ends up as one of the most successful pieces on the first album, with no flat spots and a perfectly symmetrical form, all within the classic blues tradition". [13]
Led Zeppelin regularly performed "I Can't Quit You Baby" in concert from 1968 to early 1970. [14] Two live versions from 1969 are included on the 1997 BBC Sessions . A performance of the song on January 9, 1970, at Royal Albert Hall is included on the 2003 Led Zeppelin DVD (an edited version of this performance was released on the 1982 Coda album). In 1970, the song was dropped from Led Zeppelin's typical concert lineup as they incorporated material from Led Zeppelin III into their shows, with "I Can't Quit You Baby" essentially being replaced by "Since I've Been Loving You". It was however revived as part of the "Whole Lotta Love" medley during some Led Zeppelin concerts in 1972 and 1973. [14] The song was rehearsed by the surviving members of Led Zeppelin for the May 14, 1988, Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary Celebration, but was not performed during the event. [14]
In a contemporary review for the Coda album, Kurt Loder of Rolling Stone found the Coda version of "I Can't Quit You Baby", "tossed off a sound check [in 1970]", "perfectly captures the bluesmania of the period, complete with a classically overwrought guitar solo." [15]
"I Can't Quit You Baby" is a blues standard [1] that has been recorded by more than 30 artists. [16] Rush's original Cobra single was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1994 that noted "a Willie Dixon production revealing Rush as an extraordinary talent with an impassioned approach." [5]
According to Jean-Michel Guesdon and Philippe Margotin: [10]
William James Dixon 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 is perhaps best known as one of the most prolific songwriters of his time. Next to Muddy Waters, Dixon is recognized as the most influential person in shaping the post–World War II sound of the Chicago blues.
"Whole Lotta Love" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It is the opening track on the band's second album, Led Zeppelin II, and was released as a single in 1969 in several countries; as with other Led Zeppelin songs, no single was released in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it became their first hit and was certified gold. Parts of the song's lyrics were adapted from Willie Dixon's "You Need Love", recorded by Muddy Waters in 1962; originally uncredited to Dixon, a lawsuit in 1985 was settled with a payment to Dixon and credit on subsequent releases.
Otis Rush Jr. was an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. His distinctive guitar style featured a slow-burning sound and long bent notes. With qualities similar to the styles of other 1950s artists Magic Sam and Buddy Guy, his sound became known as West Side Chicago blues and was an influence on many musicians, including Michael Bloomfield, Peter Green and Eric Clapton.
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"You Shook Me" is a 1962 blues song recorded by Chicago blues artist Muddy Waters. Willie Dixon wrote the lyrics and Earl Hooker provided the instrumental backing; the song features Waters' vocal in unison with Hooker's slide-guitar melody. "You Shook Me" became one of Muddy Waters' most successful early-1960s singles and has been interpreted by several blues and rock artists.
"Since I've Been Loving You" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in 1970 on the album Led Zeppelin III.
"Hey, Hey, What Can I Do" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in 1970 as the B-side of the single "Immigrant Song" in the US.
"All My Love" is the sixth song on Led Zeppelin's 1979 album In Through the Out Door. Credited to Robert Plant and John Paul Jones, it is a rock ballad that features a synthesizer solo by Jones. It was written in honour of Plant's son Karac, who died while Led Zeppelin were on their 1977 North American tour.
"Tangerine" is a folk rock song by the English band Led Zeppelin. Recorded in 1970, it is included on the second, more acoustic-oriented side of Led Zeppelin III (1970). The plaintive ballad reflects on lost love and features strummed acoustic guitar rhythm with pedal steel guitar.
"In My Time of Dying" is a gospel music song by Blind Willie Johnson. The title line, closing each stanza of the song, refers to a deathbed and was inspired by a passage in the Bible from Psalms 41:3 "The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing, thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness". Numerous artists have recorded variations, including Bob Dylan and Led Zeppelin.
"Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" is a song recorded by English rock band Led Zeppelin for their third album, Led Zeppelin III, released in 1970.
"Spoonful" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon and first recorded in 1960 by Howlin' Wolf. Called "a stark and haunting work", it is one of Dixon's best known and most interpreted songs. Etta James and Harvey Fuqua had a pop and R&B record chart hit with their duet cover of "Spoonful" in 1961, and it was popularized in the late 1960s by the British rock group Cream.
"Baby Come On Home" is a soul song by English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was recorded during sessions for the band's debut album but remained unreleased until 1993, when it was included on the compilation Boxed Set 2. The song was also included as a bonus track on some CD editions of the band's ninth studio album Coda as included in The Complete Studio Recordings (1993) and Definitive Collection Mini LP Replica CD Boxset (2008). In 2015, the song was included on disc one of the two companion discs of the reissue of Coda.
I Am the Blues is the sixth studio Chicago blues album released in 1970 by the well-known bluesman Willie Dixon. It is also the title of Dixon's autobiography, edited by Don Snowden.
Cobra Records was an independent record label that operated in Chicago from 1956 to 1959 and launched the careers of Chicago blues artists Otis Rush, Magic Sam and Buddy Guy, a new generation who pioneered the West Side Sound.
"All Your Love (I Miss Loving)" or "All Your Love" is a blues standard written and recorded by Chicago blues guitarist Otis Rush in 1958. Of all of his compositions, it is the best-known with versions by several blues and other artists. "All Your Love" was inspired by an earlier blues song and later influenced other popular songs.
"You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover" is a 1962 song by rock and roll pioneer Bo Diddley. Written by Willie Dixon, the song was one of Diddley's last record chart hits. Unlike many of his well-known songs, "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover" does not rely on the Bo Diddley beat. A variety of rock and other performers have recorded renditions of the song.
"Double Trouble" is a blues song written and recorded by Chicago blues guitarist Otis Rush in 1958. Since its release as a single in 1959, the song has been recorded by several blues and other artists, including several versions by Eric Clapton. Stevie Ray Vaughan named his band "Double Trouble" after Rush's song. In 2008, Rush's original version was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame, who called it a "minor-key masterpiece".
"You Need Love" is a song with lyrics written by American blues musician Willie Dixon. The instrumentation was recorded first by slide guitarist Earl Hooker and backing musicians, then Chicago blues artist Muddy Waters overdubbed vocals, and Chess Records released it as a single in 1962.