I Can't Quit You Baby

{{Infobox song

| name = I Can't Quit You Baby

| cover = I Can't Quit You Baby.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Otis Rush

| B-side = Sit Down Baby

| released = {{Start date|1956}}

| recorded = {{circa}} July 1956

| studio = Boulevard Recording, Chicago

| genre = Blues

| length = 2:56

| label = Cobra

| writer = Willie Dixon

| producer = 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.

{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Herzhaft |first=Gerard |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the Blues |section=I Can't Quit You Baby |date=1992 |location=Fayetteville, Arkansas |publisher=University of Arkansas Press |isbn=1-55728-252-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofbl00herzh/page/453 453] |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofbl00herzh/page/453}} 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.

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":

{{Cite book |last=Inaba |first=Mitsutoshi |title=Willie Dixon: Preacher of the Blues |date=2011 |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0810869936 |pages=158–159}}

{{poemquote|

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}}

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. Despite being solely credited to Dixon, Rush felt that the song's identity is very much his own:

{{quote|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.}}

Inaba added: "Otis' passionate vocal melody with alternations of natural voice, falsetto, shouts, and growls, is his singing style indeed". The song is notated in the key of A major in 12/8 time with a "slow blues" tempo.

{{Cite book |author=Hal Leonard |title=The Blues |section=I Can't Quit You Baby |date=1995 |location=Milwaukee, Wisconsin |publisher=Hal Leonard |isbn=0-79355-259-1 |page=100}} 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. 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.

"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.

{{Cite book |last1=Dixon |first1=Willie| author-link1 = Willie Dixon |last2=Snowden |first2=Don |title=I Am the Blues |publisher=Da Capo Press |date=1989 |isbn=0-306-80415-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/iamblueswilliedi00dixo/page/102 102, 106–107] |url=https://archive.org/details/iamblueswilliedi00dixo/page/102}} In this regard, it was a success, reaching number six on Billboard's Rhythm & Blues Records chart in 1956.

{{Cite book |last=Whitburn |first=Joel| author-link = Joel Whitburn |title=Top R&B Singles 1942–1988 |date=1988 |location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin |publisher=Record Research |isbn=0-89820-068-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whit/page/301 301] |url=https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whit/page/301}}

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{{Cite web |first=Jim |last=O'Neal |author-link= Jim O'Neal |date=November 10, 2016 |url=https://blues.org/blues_hof_inductee/chicagothe-bluestoday-vol-1-3-various-artists-vanguard-1966/ |title=Chicago/The Blues/Today! Vol. 1-3 – Various Artists (Vanguard, 1966) |website=Blues Foundation |access-date=March 16, 2020}} uses an altered arrangement with an unusual turnaround (tonic chord followed by a half-step above the tonic chord).

{{Cite book |last=Lawalree |first=Dominique |date=2015 |title=Led Zeppelin: Un guide pour les écouter |language=fr |publisher=Camion Blanc |isbn=978-2-35779-740-6 |at=eBook}}

{{Cite book| editor-last1 = Marvin| editor-first1 = Elizabeth West| editor-last2 = Hermann| editor-first2 = Richard |date=1995 |title=Concert Music, Rock, and Jazz Since 1945 |location=Rochester, New York |publisher=University of Rochester Press |isbn=1-878822-42-X |page=327, fn 59}} Subsequent cover versions usually use the chord substitutions found in Rush's Vanguard rendition.

Led Zeppelin versions

{{Infobox song

| name = I Can't Quit You Baby

| artist = Led Zeppelin

| album = Led Zeppelin

| released = {{Start date|1969|01|12}}

| recorded = October 15, 1968{{sfn|Guesdon|Margotin|2018|p=76}}

| studio = Olympic, London{{sfn|Guesdon|Margotin|2018|p=76}}

| genre = Blues rock

| length = {{Duration|4:42}}

| label = Atlantic

| writer = Willie Dixon

| producer = Jimmy Page

}}

English rock band Led Zeppelin recorded "I Can't Quit You Baby" for their 1969 debut album Led Zeppelin.

{{Cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/led-zeppelin-mw0000194593 |title=Led Zeppelin [album] – Review |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas| author-link = Stephen Thomas Erlewine |website=AllMusic| access-date = January 21, 2018}} According to music journalist Cub Koda, their rendition is "a note-for-note copy of Otis Rush's" 1966 Vanguard version,{{Cite web |first=Cub |last=Koda |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/chicago-the-blues-today%21-mw0000668478 |title=Chicago/The Blues/Today!{{snd}}Review |website=AllMusic |access-date=March 16, 2020}} although with different instrumentation and dynamics.

{{Cite book |last=Shadwick |first=Keith |title=Led Zeppelin: The Story of a Band and Their Music 1968–1980 |date=2005 |edition=1st |location=San Francisco |publisher=Backbeat Books |isbn=0-87930-871-0 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ledzeppelinstory0000shad/page/52 52–53] |url=https://archive.org/details/ledzeppelinstory0000shad/page/52}} 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".

Led Zeppelin regularly performed "I Can't Quit You Baby" in concert from 1968 to early 1970.{{Cite book |last=Lewis |first=Dave |title=Led Zeppelin: The Complete Guide to Their Music |edition=1st |location=London |publisher=Omnibus Press |date=2004 |isbn=1-84449-141-2}} 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. 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.

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."{{Cite magazine |last=Loder |first=Kurt|author-link=Kurt Loder |title=Coda |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/coda-19830120 |magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=July 27, 2017 |date=January 20, 1983|archive-date=January 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102191400/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/coda-19830120|url-status=dead}}

=Personnel=

According to Jean-Michel Guesdon and Philippe Margotin:{{sfn|Guesdon|Margotin|2018|p=76}}

Robert Plant – vocals
Jimmy Page – guitars
John Paul Jones – bass
John Bonham – drums

Recognition and influence

"I Can't Quit You Baby" is a blues standard that has been recorded by more than 30 artists.

{{Cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/i-cant-quit-you-baby-mt0004946282/also-performed-by |title=Otis Rush: I Can't Quit You Baby – Also Performed By |website=AllMusic| access-date = May 5, 2019}} 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."

{{Cite web |url=https://blues.org/blues_hof_inductee/i-cant-quit-you-baby-otis-rush-cobra-1956/ |author=Blues Foundation |title=1994 Hall of Fame Inductees: I Can't Quit You Baby – Otis Rush (Cobra 1956) |website=The Blues Foundation |date=November 10, 2016| access-date = February 8, 2017}}

References

Bibliography

{{cite book|first1=Jean-Michel|last1=Guesdon|first2=Philippe|last2=Margotin|year=2018|title=Led Zeppelin All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track|publisher=Running Press|isbn=978-0-316-448-67-3}}