B-side "Oh Yeh" Genre Chicago blues | Released May 1954 (1954-05) Length 2:49 | |
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Format 10-inch 78 rpm, 7-inch 45 rpm Recorded Chicago, April 13, 1954 | ||
"I Just Want to Make Love to You" is a 1954 blues song written by Willie Dixon, first recorded by Muddy Waters, and released as "Just Make Love to Me" (Chess 1571). The song reached number four on Billboard magazine's R&B Best Sellers chart.
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Backing Waters on vocals are Little Walter on harmonica, Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Otis Spann on piano, Willie Dixon on bass, and Fred Below on drums. Waters recorded the song again for the album Electric Mud (1968).
Etta James
In 1961, Etta James recorded the song for her début album At Last! Her rendition also served as the B-side to her hit of that name. In 1996, it was released as a single in the UK after being featured in a Diet Coke advertising campaign. James' version uses somewhat different lyrics than Muddy Waters' original. For example, "I don't want you to make my bed" becomes "I just want to make your bed". Instead of forgoing the traditionally female domestic chores eschewed in the original, James clearly states that she wants to perform all of those duties as well as "make love to you", whereas in the original, the male singer is essentially saying that his lover need not perform any of the traditional domestic duties—love making is all he needs.
The CD single also included James' "Tell Mama" and "Stormy Weather". In 1996, it reached number five on the UK Singles chart, as well as number 27 on the Dutch singles chart. In 1998, the single also reached the records charts in Belgium: number 31 on the Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart and number 15 on the Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart.
- "I Just Want to Make Love to You"
- "Tell Mama"
- "Stormy Weather"
Foghat
Blues-rock group Foghat released a studio version of "I Just Want to Make Love to You" on their self-titled debut album in 1972 and released the song as a single the same year where it reached number 83 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was their first hit. A live version was released on Foghat Live and released as another 45 rpm single with "Fool for the City" as the B-side; the single was edited from over eight minutes to 3:56. This single version reached number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100. Foghat's version of the song was used in the films Dazed and Confused and Halloween II. A version with modified lyrics was also used as introductory music to Wolfman Jack's radio show in the 1970s.
Other artists
Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, and Little Walter recorded the song for Super Blues in 1967. The song has also been recorded by The Rolling Stones, Adele, Willie Dixon, Barbara Dane, Chuck Berry, Etta James, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, the Grateful Dead, Buddy Guy, Mungo Jerry, The Kinks, Shadows of Knight, Robben Ford, Rod Stewart, Van Morrison, Lou Rawls, The Righteous Brothers, the Yardbirds, the Animals, Janis Siegel, Black Sorrows, Meat Puppets, Cold Blood, April Wine, Louise Hoffsten, Lee Aaron, Saxon, Cold Sweat, Nanette Workman, Jimmy Smith, Smith, Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, James Blood Ulmer, Junior Wells, Memphis Slim, Johnny Otis, Paul Rodgers, the New Orleans Radiators, Eddy Clearwater, Thornetta Davis, Botafogo, Louise Hoffsten, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Cash McCall.