Baby What You Want Me to Do
Encyclopedia
"Baby What You Want Me to Do" (sometimes called "You Got Me Running" or "You Got Me Runnin'") is a blues
song that was written and recorded by Jimmy Reed
in 1959. It was a record chart hit for Reed and, as with several of his songs, it has appeal across popular music genres, with numerous recordings by a variety of musical artists.
s in bars nine and ten:
Backing Reed are his wife Mary "Mama" Reed (harmony vocal), Eddie Taylor
(guitar), Lefty Bates
(guitar), Marcus Johnson (bass), and Earl Phillips (drums).
Jimmy Reed received the sole credit for the song, although one source claimed "like almost all of Reed's pieces and whatever the official credits are, it is an original composition by his wife, Mama Reed". Mama Reed can be heard at the recording session for the song:
Of note, nowhere in the song do the lyrics "baby what you want me to do" appear, although later cover versions would often wrongly include the phrase in place of the original "baby why you wanna let go". "Baby What You Want Me to Do" was included on Jimmy Reed's second album Found Love (1960), the Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall
album (1961), as well as numerous compilation albums.
R&B
chart
and #37 in the Billboard Hot 100
in 1960. In 2004, Reed's song was inducted into the Blues Foundation
Hall of Fame in the "Classic of Blues Recordings" category.
from their album A Date with The Everly Brothers
(1961), Etta James
as a single which reached #84 on the Billboard Hot 100 (1964), Johnny Rivers
from Here We à Go Go Again!
(1964), Little Richard
as "Anyway You Want Me", medley with "You Don't Have to Go" from Little Richard's Greatest Hits: Recorded Live!
(1967), Elvis Presley
from Elvis 1968 Comeback Special
, Lonnie Mack
from Whatever's Right
(1969), The Byrds
from Live at Royal Albert Hall 1971
(released 2008), Wishbone Ash
from Live Dates
(1973), John Cale
from Helen of Troy
(1975), and Neil Young
& Crazy Horse from Broken Arrow
(1996).
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
song that was written and recorded by Jimmy Reed
Jimmy Reed
Mathis James "Jimmy" Reed was an American blues musician and songwriter, notable for bringing his distinctive style of blues to mainstream audiences. Reed was a major player in the field of electric blues, as opposed to the more acoustic-based sound of many of his contemporaries...
in 1959. It was a record chart hit for Reed and, as with several of his songs, it has appeal across popular music genres, with numerous recordings by a variety of musical artists.
Original song
"Baby What You Want Me to Do" is a mid-tempo blues shuffle in the key of E that features "Reed's unique, lazy loping style of vocals, guitar and harmonica". A 1959 review called it "uninhibited and swampy ... deliver[ed] freely in classic, gutbucket fashion". The song has been described as "deceptively simple" and as "one of the true irreducibles [sic] of the blues, a song so basic and simple it seems like it's existed forever". However, unlike a typical twelve-bar blues, it includes chord substitutionChord substitution
In music theory, chord substitution is the use of a chord in the place of another related chord in a chord progression. Jazz musicians often substitute chords in the original progression to create variety and add interest to a piece. The substitute chord must have some harmonic quality and degree...
s in bars nine and ten:
| I | I | I | I | IV | IV | I | I | II–V | II–V | I | I–V |
Eddie Taylor
Eddie Taylor was an American electric blues guitarist and singer.-Biography:Born Edward Taylor in Benoit, Mississippi, United States, as a boy Taylor taught himself to play the guitar. He spent his early years playing at venues around Leland, Mississippi, where he taught his friend Jimmy Reed to...
(guitar), Lefty Bates
Lefty Bates
Lefty Bates was an American Chicago blues guitarist. He led the Lefty Bates Combo, and variously worked with the El Dorados, the Flamingos, Jimmy Reed, John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy, Etta James, the Aristo-Kats, the Hi-De-Ho Boys, the Moroccos, the Impressions, and a latter day version of the Ink Spots...
(guitar), Marcus Johnson (bass), and Earl Phillips (drums).
Jimmy Reed received the sole credit for the song, although one source claimed "like almost all of Reed's pieces and whatever the official credits are, it is an original composition by his wife, Mama Reed". Mama Reed can be heard at the recording session for the song:
- Calvin CarterCalvin CarterCalvin Carter is the brother of the founder of Vee-Jay Records Vivian Carter. Born May 27, 1925. He joined the company in 1953 and became the principal producer, in charge of the recording sessions. He is a songwriter and composer of jazz and popsongs....
(Vee-Jay record producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
): What's the name of this? - Mama Reed: Uh...
- Carter: "You Got Me Doin' What You Want Me"? Oh yeah...
- Jimmy Reed: Naw...
- Mama Reed: "Baby What You Wanna Let Go".
- Carter: No, "Baby What You Want Me to Do". "Baby What You Want Me to Do".
- Mama & Jimmy Reed: "Baby Why You Wanna Let Go".
- Mama Reed: Yeah.
- Jimmy Reed: You could even make it "Why Let Go". Make it short. "Why Let Go".
Of note, nowhere in the song do the lyrics "baby what you want me to do" appear, although later cover versions would often wrongly include the phrase in place of the original "baby why you wanna let go". "Baby What You Want Me to Do" was included on Jimmy Reed's second album Found Love (1960), the Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall
Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall
Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall is a double LP album by Jimmy Reed, released in 1961. Though the title suggests that the record was recorded live, it consists of a studio recreation of a Carnegie Hall performance on one disc and a second disc that is identical to an LP released separately as The Best...
album (1961), as well as numerous compilation albums.
Charts and recognition
"Baby What You Want Me to Do" reached #10 in the BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
and #37 in the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in 1960. In 2004, Reed's song was inducted into the Blues Foundation
Blues Foundation
The Blues Foundation is an American nonprofit corporation, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, that is affiliated with more than 175 Blues organizations from various parts of the world....
Hall of Fame in the "Classic of Blues Recordings" category.
Other versions
"Baby What You Want Me to Do" "was already a barroom staple of blues, country, and rock & roll bands by the early '60s", spawning versions by a variety of blues, R&B, and rock artists. The song continues to be performed and recorded, making it perhaps the most covered of Reed's songs. Some of these include The Everly BrothersThe Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers are country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing...
from their album A Date with The Everly Brothers
A Date with The Everly Brothers
A Date with The Everly Brothers is an album by the rock and roll duo The Everly Brothers, released in 1961. It peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Pop albums charts and reached No. 3 in the UK....
(1961), Etta James
Etta James
Etta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...
as a single which reached #84 on the Billboard Hot 100 (1964), Johnny Rivers
Johnny Rivers
Johnny Rivers is an American rock and roll singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. His styles include folk songs, blues, and revivals of old-time rock 'n' roll songs and some original material...
from Here We à Go Go Again!
Here We à Go Go Again!
Here We à Go Go Again! was Johnny Rivers's second official album, and like his first album, At the Whisky à Go Go, it was recorded live at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles, California...
(1964), Little Richard
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
as "Anyway You Want Me", medley with "You Don't Have to Go" from Little Richard's Greatest Hits: Recorded Live!
Little Richard's Greatest Hits: Recorded Live!
Little Richard's Greatest Hits - Recorded Live! is the second and last album from Little Richard for the Okeh label. A live album, it was recorded in the CBS Studios at Hollywood .-History:...
(1967), Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
from Elvis 1968 Comeback Special
Elvis (NBC TV Special)
Elvis is the thirty-fourth album by Elvis Presley, released on RCA Victor Records in mono, LPM 4088, in November 1968. Recording sessions took place in Burbank, California at Western Recorders on June 20, 21, 22, and 23, 1968, and at NBC Studios on June 27 and 29, 1968. It peaked at #8 on the...
, Lonnie Mack
Lonnie Mack
Lonnie Mack is an American rock, blues and country guitarist and vocalist....
from Whatever's Right
Whatever's Right
-Track listing:#"Untouched by Human Love" 3:40#"I Found a Love" 3:34#"Share Your Love With Me" 4:12#"Teardrops on Your Letter" 4:14...
(1969), The Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
from Live at Royal Albert Hall 1971
Live at Royal Albert Hall 1971
Live at Royal Albert Hall is a live album by the American rock band The Byrds, released in 2008 on Sundazed Records. The album consists of recordings from the band's appearance at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England on May 13, 1971...
(released 2008), Wishbone Ash
Wishbone Ash
Wishbone Ash are a British rock band who achieved success in the early and mid-1970s. Their popular records included Wishbone Ash , Argus , There's the Rub , and New England...
from Live Dates
Live Dates
Live Dates is the first live album by the British rock band Wishbone Ash. It was a critical and commercial success and was one of the best-selling live albums of the 1970s....
(1973), John Cale
John Cale
John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
from Helen of Troy
Helen of Troy (album)
Helen of Troy is an album by John Cale, the last of three albums for Island Records.This album came out without the consent of Cale, who considered that the tapes were not finished...
(1975), and Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
& Crazy Horse from Broken Arrow
Broken Arrow (album)
Broken Arrow is the twenty-fourth studio album by Neil Young, and his seventh with Crazy Horse. The first three songs are in the form of long, structured jams...
(1996).