Baby, Let Me Follow You Down
| "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down" AKA "Baby, Let Me Lay It On You" |
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| Written by | traditional, often credited to Reverend Gary Davis |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Form | traditional folk / blues |
| Recorded by | Bob Dylan, Eric von Schmidt, Dave Van Ronk, The Animals, Bryan Ferry, Medeski Martin & Wood |
"Baby, Let Me Follow You Down" is a traditional folk song popularised in the late 1950s by blues guitarist Eric Von Schmidt. The song is best known from its appearance on Bob Dylan's debut album Bob Dylan.
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[edit] Early years of the song
The song was adapted by Eric Von Schmidt, a blues-guitarist and singer-songwriter of the folk revival in the late 1950s. Von Schmidt was a well-known face in the east coast folk scene and was reasonably well-known across the United States. His chronicles of the Cambridge Folk era, also called "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down," describes the evolution of the song. Eric had first heard a song by Blind Boy Fuller called "Baby, Let Me Lay It On You." Eric von Schmidt credits Reverend Gary Davis for writing "three quarters" of this song[1] (the melody is very similar to Davis' "Please Baby").
The first known recording, titled "Mama, Let Me Lay It On You," was made by Walter Coleman in 1936; however, Tony Russell claims that Memphis Minnie recorded and released a duet version (with her husband Joe McCoy) as early as 1930,[2] with the arrangement reused by McCoy and his band The Harlem Hamfats in a Jazz song titled "Let Your Linen Hang Low".
The title was changed to "Baby, Let Me follow You Down" around 1959, and became a feature in the coffee houses of Greenwich Village in the early 1960s. The song was sung by local musicians such as Dave Van Ronk. The song was later picked up by the young, up and coming folk singer Bob Dylan, who made the song famous on his Columbia Records debut.
The Animals's "Baby Let Me Take You Home" (1964), is said to be an adaptation of "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down".
An alternative history of the song is given on Arnold Ryens' site "The Originals".[3] He claims that the earliest version was by the "State Street Boys" (featuring Big Bill Broonzy). It was issued in 1935 under the title "Don't You Tear My Clothes" (with Lyrics credited to Sam Hopkins). Washboard Sam apparently recorded it under the same title in 1936.
[edit] Dylan years
| "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by Bob Dylan from the album Bob Dylan | ||||
| Released | March 19, 1962 | |||
| Recorded | 1962 | |||
| Genre | Folk | |||
| Length | 2:37 | |||
| Label | Columbia/Capitol (US) | |||
| Writer | Reverend Gary Davis, Dave van Ronk, Eric von Schmidt,[4] | |||
| Bob Dylan track listing | ||||
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The song became very popular amongst Dylan's following and was a regular feature of Dylan's song list. During his 1966 World Tour Bob Dylan electrified the sound of the song, playing the song with electric guitar and a five-piece electric band including drum-kit as backing. Dylan performed the song with a medley of "Forever Young" at The Band's Last Waltz concert.
[edit] Additional verses
An early version of the song contained two verses and a main chorus. Bob Dylan added another verse to the song which appeared regularly. The song has also been edited and changed over the last half a century.
[edit] Dylan albums containing the song
- Bob Dylan, recorded November 1961, issued 1962
- Biograph, from Bob Dylan, issued 1985
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert, recorded May 1966, issued 1998
- The Last Waltz, live with The Band, recorded November 1976, issued April 1978
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 9 – The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964, recorded January 1964, issued October 2010
[edit] Other recordings
- Dave Van Ronk recorded "Baby, Let Me Lay It On You" on his 1964 album Just Dave Van Ronk (Mercury SR/MR 20908).
- Jackie DeShannon covered the song on her 1965 album Jackie: In the Wind.
- Eric von Schmidt, recorded "Baby, Let Me Lay It on You" as the title track of his 1995 album.
- Bryan Ferry recorded the song on his album Dylanesque, released 2007. He also performed the song throughout his 2007 tour.
- Experimental jazz trio Medeski Martin & Wood arranged and recorded an instrumental blues version for their 2009 album Radiolarians 2, part of their The Radiolarian Series.
- French mash-up bootlegging artist ToToM used Dylan's original version with the The Rapture's Get Myself Into It in the mash-up song Rapture (Let Me Follow You Down) for his 2009 album, Dylan Mashed.
- Widespread Panic has covered the song 9 times to date, most recently at the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater on Sept 30th, 2011.
[edit] References
- ^ von Schmidt, Eric, with John Kruth: Remembering Reverend Gary Davis. Sing Out! 51(4) 67-73 2008.
- ^ Russell, Tony. "The Blues Collection, No. 52: Blind Boy Fuller," (p. 624) http://www.bobdylanroots.com/gdavis.html
- ^ The Originals: DON'T TEAR MY CLOTHES http://www.originals.be/eng/main.cfm?c=t_upd_show&id=336
- ^ von Schmidt, Eric, with John Kruth: Remembering Reverend Gary Davis, Sing Out! 51(4) 67-73 2008
[edit] External links
- Eric Von Schmidt on SongTalk, 1993 - Von Schmidt speculates about the origins and evolution of the song he popularized.
- Rev. Gary Davis bio at BobDylanRoots.com - Short bio examines Davis' claim that he authored the song.
