I Can't Quit You Baby
"I Can't Quit You Baby" | |
---|---|
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
Original song
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
Led Zeppelin versions
"I Can't Quit You Baby" | |
---|---|
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.
In a contemporary review for the Coda album,
Recognition and influence
"I Can't Quit You Baby" is a
Personnel
According to Jean-Michel Guesdon and Philippe Margotin:[10]
- Robert Plant – vocals
- Jimmy Page – guitars
- John Paul Jones – bass
- John Bohnam – drums
See also
References
- ^ a b
Herzhaft, Gerard (1992). "I Can't Quit You Baby". Encyclopedia of the Blues. Fayetteville, Arkansas: ISBN 1-55728-252-8.
- ^ a b c
Inaba, Mitsutoshi (2011). Willie Dixon: Preacher of the Blues. Lanham, Maryland: ISBN 978-0810869936.
- ^ a b c
ISBN 0-306-80415-8.
- ^
Hal Leonard (1995). "I Can't Quit You Baby". The Blues. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: ISBN 0-79355-259-1.
- ^ a b c Blues Foundation (November 10, 2016). "1994 Hall of Fame Inductees: I Can't Quit You Baby – Otis Rush (Cobra 1956)". The Blues Foundation. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
- ^
ISBN 0-89820-068-7.
- ^ O'Neal, Jim (November 10, 2016). "Chicago/The Blues/Today! Vol. 1-3 – Various Artists (Vanguard, 1966)". Blues Foundation. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
- ^ a b
Lawalree, Dominique (2015). Led Zeppelin: Un guide pour les écouter (in French). Camion Blanc. eBook. ISBN 978-2-35779-740-6.
- ^
Marvin, Elizabeth West; Hermann, Richard, eds. (1995). Concert Music, Rock, and Jazz Since 1945. Rochester, New York: ISBN 1-878822-42-X.
- ^ a b c Guesdon & Margotin 2018, p. 76.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Led Zeppelin [album] – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
- ^ Koda, Cub. "Chicago/The Blues/Today! – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
- ^ a b
Shadwick, Keith (2005). Led Zeppelin: The Story of a Band and Their Music 1968–1980 (1st ed.). San Francisco: ISBN 0-87930-871-0.
- ^ ISBN 1-84449-141-2.
- ^ Loder, Kurt (January 20, 1983). "Coda". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 2, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
- ^ "Otis Rush: I Can't Quit You Baby – Also Performed By". AllMusic. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
Bibliography
- Guesdon, Jean-Michel; Margotin, Philippe (2018). Led Zeppelin All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. ISBN 978-0-316-448-67-3.