" My Babe" is a Chicago blues song and a blues standard written by Willie Dixon for Little Walter.[Dirks, Scott; & Komara, Edward M. ed. (2006). Encyclopedia of the Blues. Routledge. p. 982. ]
Background
Willie Dixon based "My Babe" on the traditional
gospel music song "This Train (Is Bound For Glory)", recorded by Sister Rosetta Tharpe 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.[Obrecht, Jas. (2000). Rollin' and Tumblin': The Postwar Blues Guitarists. Backbeat Books p. 179. ] 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.
Releases and charts
Ray Charles had famously, and controversially, pioneered the
Gospel music-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 Records 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 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 music, R&B,
country music, and
jazz.
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]
