Addendum to last week’s Our Blues Roots, “Ain’t That Lovin’ You, Baby”

[Don D.]

For whatever reason, when I was putting the last Blues Roots together I didn’t think there were sufficient high-quality covers of Jimmy Reed’s fine “Ain’t That Lovin’ You, Baby” from January 1956 (number 326 on volume 14 of Ed Parker’s Yer Blues playlist) to merit a feature. I was wrong. Very wrong. Very, very wrong.

Jimmy Reed was backed, as usual, by Eddie Taylor and by another unknown guitarist, and by Vernel Fournier (on drums) on December 30, 1955. Vernel Fournier was an outstanding jazz drummer whose regular gig was with Ahmad Jamal. The Ahmad Jamal Trio with Israel Crosby and Vernel Fournier perform on this completely classic version of “Poinciana,” which everyone should hear at least once (from Live at the Pershing: But Not for Me).

“Ain’t That Lovin’ You, Baby” hit number 8 on the R&B charts in March 1956, 2 months after it was released. It was also issued on Jimmy Reed’s 1958 Vee-Jay album, I’m Jimmy Reed (cheapest copy is available for under US$3).

Jimmy Reed talks about how he got to writing the song on the first video, followed by the song itself (number 1 on the playlist). Number 2 is a repeat of Jimmy Reed’s version, followed by the covers in as chronological an order as I can. If you enter the playlist through this link, you’ll find the years and other germane comments to the right of the titles (unless they’re mentioned in the title itself).

The Human Beings version in 1965 sounds like it takes some of the drum patterns and energy from the Eddie Riff/Elvis Presley version (see below) and applies them to the lyrics and melody from Jimmy Reed (number 15 on the playlist)

…………A…i…n..’..t………T…h…a…t………L…o…v…i…n..’………Y…o…u………B…a…b…y…………

There’s another fine tune with almost the same title, “Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby,” written by Clyde Otis and Ivory Joe Hunter (author of “I Almost Lost My Mind,” heard on Albert King’s 1967 classic Born Under a Bad Sign), and first recorded by Eddie Riff in 1956 (but no comma after “You” in the title, not that anyone pays strict attention to that).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2A8tPSvZhI

It was recorded by Elvis Presley on June 10, 1958 (not released until 1964), and I found a lot of other versions while searching for covers of the Jimmy Reed tune; most of these sounded like rockabilly tunes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHORjtXMCf4

Bachman & Cummings, 2007
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3uFmaSoAdY

Don D.

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