Reconsider Baby

{{Short description|Blues standard written by Lowell Fulson}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Reconsider Baby

| cover = Reconsider Baby single cover.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Lowell Fulson

| album =

| B-side = I Believe I'll Give It Up

| released = {{Start date|1954|}}

| recorded = Dallas, Texas, September 27, 1954

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Blues

| length = {{Duration|m=3|s=08}}

| label = Checker (no. 804)

| writer = Lowell Fulson

| producer = Leonard Chess, Phil Chess

| prev_title = I'm a Night Owl

| prev_year = 1951

| next_title = Loving You

| next_year = 1955

}}

"Reconsider Baby" is a blues song written and recorded by Lowell Fulson in 1954. Performed in the West Coast blues style, it was Fulson's first record chart hit for Checker Records, a subsidiary of Chess Records. With memorable lyrics and a driving rhythm, "Reconsider Baby" became a blues standard and has been recognized by the Blues Foundation and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

==Original song==

Blues historian Jim O'Neal describes "Reconsider Baby" as "Lowell Fulson's wistful goodbye and plea to a departing lover, with a lyrical message so strong (and memorable music to match) that it became a standard in the modern-day blues repertoire."

{{poemquote|So long, oh, I hate to see you go (2×)

And the way that I will miss you

I guess you will never know}}

Music critics have noted the song's strong rhythmic element – Bill Dahl describes it as a "relentless mid-tempo blues"

{{cite encyclopedia

| last = Dahl

| first = Bill

| title = All Music Guide to the Blues: The Experts' Guide to the Best Blues Recordings

| editor-last = Erlewine

| editor-first = Michael

| editor-link = Michael Erlewine

| encyclopedia = All Music Guide to the Blues

| section = Lowell Fulson

| year = 1996

| location = San Francisco

| publisher = Miller Freeman Books

| isbn = 0-87930-424-3

| page = [https://archive.org/details/allmusicguidetob00erle/page/90 90]

| section-url = https://archive.org/details/allmusicguidetob00erle/page/90

}} and Don Snowden comments on its "utterly assured, swingtime groove".

{{cite AV media notes

| title = Hung Down Head

| others = Lowell Fulson

| year = 1991

| last = Snowden

| first = Don

| type = Reissue album notes

| location = Universal City, California

| publisher = MCA Records/Chess Records

| id = CHD-9325

| pages = 2, 4

}}

"Reconsider Baby" has a twelve-bar structure with prominent guitar soloing by Fulson. It was recorded September 27, 1954, in Dallas, Texas, under the supervision of Leonard Chess associate and Jewel Records owner Stan Lewis. Backing Fulson on vocal and guitar are Paul Drake on piano, Bobby Nicholson on bass, and Chick Booth on drums, plus a horn section with Phillip Gilbeaux on trumpet, Phatz Morris on trombone, Julian Beasley on alto and baritone saxophones, and Choker Campbell on tenor sax. The song became a hit, spending 15 weeks during 1954 and 1955 on Billboard's Rhythm & Blues Records chart where it reached number three.

{{cite book

| last = Whitburn

| first = Joel

| author-link = Joel Whitburn

| title = Top R&B Singles 1942–1988

| year = 1988

| location = Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin

| publisher = Record Research

| isbn = 0-89820-068-7

| page = [https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whit/page/161 161]

| url = https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whit/page/161

}} The song has been included on several Fulson compilation albums, including 1970's Hung Down Head (Chess 9325).