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This week’s song comes from volume 3 of Ed Parker’s Yer Blues playlist. Thanks again, Ed! Volume 3 begins with song number 53 on the playlist, Willie Dixon’s “Seventh Son,” as sung by pianist Willie Mabon in 1955. Here’s Willie Dixon doing it in late ’77, from I Am The Blues, a concert film that shares a name with his autobiography, one of his albums (see song listing and personnel at video, there’s at least one other guitarist on the album), and a song (recorded by Muddy Waters on After The Rain). Willie Dixon (vocal, bass), Carey Bell (harmonica), Lafayette Leake (piano), I’m not sure of the other musicians; I don’t necessarily believe what I’ve read. Your knowledge would be welcome.
Here’s the full movie. “Yeah, yeah, baby…”
Here are some of the same people at around the same time, please see the YouTube video for details. See sidebar below on Lurrie Bell, one of the “young guns” of 1977.
Willie Dixon is also responsible for writing “I Just Want to Make Love to You” (the main feature today), writing the lyrics to “You Shook Me” (also featured), and writing “I Can’t Quit You Baby” (which I plan to come back to in an upcoming OBR).
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Volume 3 is represented by songs 53 to 79.
“THE SEVENTH SON” WILLIE MABON
“THE SEVENTH SON” MOSE ALLISON
“SEVENTH SON” JOHNNY RIVERS“PARCHMAN FARM BLUES” BUKKA WHITE
“PARCHMAN FARM BLUES” JEFF BUCKLEY“BABY PLEASE DON’T GO” BIG JOE WILLIAMS
“BABY, PLEASE DON’T GO” THE ORIOLES
“BABY, PLEASE DON’T GO” THEM“YOU SHOOK ME” MUDDY WATERS
“YOU SHOOK ME” THE JEFF BECK GROUP“I WISH YOU WOULD” BILLY BOY ARNOLD
“I WISH YOU WOULD” THE YARDBIRDS“BIG TEN INCH RECORD” MOOSE JACKSON
“BIG TEN INCH RECORD” AEROSMITH“BIG RAILROAD BLUES” GUS CANNON’S JUG STOMPERS
“BIG RAILROAD BLUES” THE GRATEFUL DEAD“I CAN’T QUIT YOU BABY” OTIS RUSH
“I CAN’T QUIT YOU BABY” LED ZEPPELIN“CHUMP MAN BLUES” BLIND BLAKE
“CHUMP MAN BLUES” DAVID BROMBERG“SATAN YOUR KINGDOM MUST COME DOWN” BLIND JOE TAGGART
“SATAN, YOUR KINGDOM MUST COME DOWN” UNCLE TUPELO“I JUST WANT TO MAKE LOVE TO YOU” MUDDY WATERS
“I JUST WANT TO MAKE LOVE TO YOU” THE ROLLING STONES
“I JUST WANT TO MAKE LOVE TO YOU” THE SHADOWS OF KNIGHT“ROLL ’EM PETE” BIG JOE TURNER & PETE JOHNSON
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Muddy Waters recorded the original in 1954 (written by Willie Dixon, it’s number 75 on the playlist); Muddy Waters (vocal, guitar), Little Walter (harp), Jimmy Rogers (guitar), Otis Spann (piano), Willie Dixon (bass), Fred Below (drums). He recorded it again in 1967 and 1968 (they’re below, in chronological order).
★★★★★Chuck Berry covered it in 1959 (on Chess)
Etta James covered it in 1961 (on Chess)
Memphis Slim (vocal, piano), Willie Dixon (bass), Jump Jackson (drums), at the first American Folk Blues Festival, October 20, 1962
Barbara Dane, early-mid ’60s
The Rolling Stones recorded it on January 10, 1964, and released it on England’s Newest Hit Makers, the Rolling Stones on May 30, 1964.
Just after that, they appeared on Hollywood Palace, with Dean Martin, June 1964.
The Animals, 1965
Ann Margaret, 1966 (check out the information at this YouTube video, it lists the groups who covered “I Just Want to Make Love to You”).
The Super Super Blues Band: Muddy Waters (vocal, guitar), Bo Diddley (vocal, guitar), Little Walter (vocal, harmonica), Otis Spann (piano), Buddy Guy, Sonny Wimberley (guitars), Frank Kirkland (drums), Cookie Vee (tambourine, backing vocal), Chicago, January 4, 1967. Little Walter was gone in just over a year.
Muddy Waters hit it again in 1968 on his Electric Mud, an album that didn’t satisfy anyone at the time, least of all Muddy Waters.
I still owe you the completion of the Blues Roots post about Muddy Waters and His Guitarists (part 2 in link, which contains link to part 1).
★★★★★ Here’s Willie Dixon’s version, not sure at all when it was recorded but I think it was around the time of I Am The Blues and the next one with Johnny Winter.
Willie Dixon and Johnny Winter, late ’60s or early ’70s.
Junior Wells on the Southside Blues Jam with Buddy Guy, Otis Spann, Fred Below (recorded 1969, released 1970)
Mungo Jerry did it nice on Baby Jump (Electronically Tested), 1971
Freddie King, approx. 1970-73, it was first released on King of the Blues in 1995, and that collection draws on his Shelter years.
It was around the same time Foghat created this, which I admit to loving as a 13-year-old—still puts me in mind of some good times. I think Muddy Waters loved this one, as it put some money in the bank for him.
Joe Simon, 1976
★★★★★ Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, David Honeyboy Edwards, Otis Blackwell, Eddie Kirkland, Johnny Winter with Foghat. It was called The Foghat Blues Tribute at the Palladium, New York City, Friday, September 30, 1977—looks like a good time was being had by all.
Here’s a duplicate of The Foghat Blues Tribute, just in case anything happens to it.
This playlist contains the overflow, check them out! This song has been covered and recovered and rererecovered—some of the ones here are pretty great, others are kind of loungey kitsch that I wouldn’t go out of my way to hear, but I wanted to show the broad cross-section of musicians touched by this song. By now, there must be covers by people who think Adele was the original artist.
Eddie Clearwater playing at Natchel Blues Networks’ Blues at the Beach Festival September 2009 in Virginia Beach, VA. There are some great videos on this channel, see below for another that appears to be from the same night.
Jimmy Smith featuring Etta James from his Dot-Com Blues, Russell Malone on guitar, 2001
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★★★★★This rhythm
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Lurrie Bell was one of the featured up-and-coming blues musicians in the “Willie Dixon and the New Generation of Chicago Blues, 1977—Germany” video above. He’s alive and well, and touring with his Chicago Blues Band with Roosevelt Purifoy (piano) Melvin Smith (bass), Willie “The Touch” Taylor (drums). I saw them last Saturday night at Roulette in Brooklyn. His next date is this coming Saturday at the Savannah Music Festival in Georgia, here are some others following. They were fired up and swinging, they had the crowd up and dancing (I was the only person in the front row still in my seat, my back was hurting, I was lucky to make it home before it went out, started treatment Monday and feeling better already). It felt so good to be drenched in his music, I really wasn’t thinking about my pain. These videos are a good start but go out and hear them if you can, Chicago, South Dakota, California, Europe, check back at the link above.
Last May, I posted a short appreciation of his take on “Reconsider Baby.” Here it is again.
Full Blues Roots feature on Lurrie Bell to follow.
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Muddy Waters “You Shook Me” is song number 61. Chess bought the rights to Earl Hooker’s May 3, 1961, recording of “Blue Guitar” (below); Willie Dixon wrote lyrics for Muddy Waters to sing to make “You Shook Me” (1962) right over the recording made by Earl Hooker (guitar), A.C. Reed (tenor), Lafayette Leake (piano), Earnest Johnson (bass), Bobby Little (drums).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rky4KKq3augHere’s another blues in D. Wonder why he called it “Blues In D Natural”?
Here’s a later, slower variant on it.
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Don D.
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Thank you, Ron. I’m glad you’re enjoying it. I was really surprised by the number of “I Just Want To Make Love To You” covers on YouTube. I wonder what the most covered song ever has been.
Hi John! Thanks for the correction. There are two volumes of the Super Blues Band. Howlin’ Wolf isn’t on the one with Little Walter. This one is actually called Super Blues, not the Super Super Blues Band. Both came out in 1967, I don’t remember which one was first.
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CORRECTION: One of the things I said was a little misleading. Willie Dixon wrote hundreds of songs, if not a thousand (these are just ones he plays on or produced, not including all the covers—as you can see by “I Just Want To Make Love To You,” there are many), not just the four I mentioned. I meant he was the author of four songs on this volume of Ed Parker’s Yer Blues playlist.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMmEMbMSu1Q&list=PLsY6VJc9zDqn5IlSMBGnUwMh-3VwbWAjW&index=1Don D.
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Don as I am sure you know he is the songwriter of loads of song that the Stones put out in their first albums. When they hit the record shops here in the UK in the 60s I can recall seeing this Dixon tribute on the labels repeatedly and I just wondered who he was cause I knew I liked the genre but at that point had no idea it came from Chicago!
JohnStrat -
I’m in the middle of reading “Deep Blues” by Robert Palmer (a great read that traces the Blues from the Delta to Chicago) and I just finished the chapter that mentions that while Willie Dixon played bass for Muddy Waters he wrote 3 songs in 1954 that turned out to be the biggest R&B hits of Muddy Waters’ career:
Hoochie Coochie Man
I’m Ready
I Just Want to Make Love to YouI’m Ready and I Just Want to Make Love to You made it into the top 5 on the R&B list.
Sweet Home Chicago
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