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If You Love Me, Baby

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B-side
  
"You Know I Love You"

Genre
  
Chicago Blues

Label
  
Vee-Jay (Cat. no.314)

Released
  
1959 (1959)

Length
  
2:22

If You Love Me, Baby

Format
  
10" 78 rpm & 7" 45 rpm record

"Take Out Some Insurance" also known as "Take Out Some Insurance on Me, Baby (If You Love Me, Baby)" or on many releases simply as "Take Out Some Insurance on Me Baby" is a blues song released in 1959 by Jimmy Reed and credited to Jesse Stone. The copyright registration for the song lists its title as "Take Out Some Insurance on Me, Baby."

Contents

Original recording by Jimmy Reed

Riding a string of popular releases, Jimmy Reed recorded "Take Out Some Insurance" (with that title) in early 1959 and released the record in April. The singles, Vee Jay 314, was Billboard's R & B "Best Buy" for the week of May 11. According to Billboard the song sold well in Louisiana but never made the national charts.

Tony Sheridan and the Beatles version

On June 22, 1961, Tony Sheridan and the Beatles played a cover version of the song. It was recorded in Hamburg while the Beatles were playing at the Top Ten Club. Bert Kaempfert produced the session for Polydor, but the recording was not immediately released. After the Beatles became popular, Polydor prepared two singles of unreleased material, one of which contained their recording of this song (German Polydor NH 52-317, released in mid-April). Due to the song's relative obscurity and the fact that the lyrics that Sheridan sang are almost entirely different from Reed's version, the song was mistitled at first as "If You Love Me, Baby." When the singles were sent to Atlantic Records in the United States for release in that country, apparently someone recognized the song (and copyrighted it to Singleton and Hall). Corrected labels of the June album, The Beatles' First (German Polydor LPHM 46-432), show the proper title; the album was released in England in 1967.

The American release of the single came slightly later due to Atlantic/Atco's decision to overdub drum and guitar work by Bernard Purdie and Cornell Dupree. Due to one brief use of language that was inappropriate for radio in 1964, Atco also edited the song.

Singles

  • "Take Out Some Insurance" / "You Know I Love You" - released April, 1959, on Vee Jay Records VJ 314.
  • "Ain't She Sweet" / "If You Love Me, Baby (Take Out Some Insurance on Me, Baby)" — released 15 April 1964 on Polydor NH 52-317 (Germany).
  • "Ain't She Sweet" / "If You Love Me, Baby (Take Out Some Insurance on Me, Baby)" — released 29 May 1964 on Polydor NH 52-317 (UK).
  • "Sweet Georgia Brown" / "Take Out Some Insurance on Me, Baby" — released 1 June 1964 on Atco 45-6302 (US).

    • Albums

  • The Beatles' First, released April 1964 in Germany.
  • The Beatles' First, released 4 August 1967 in the UK.
  • Very Together, released October 1969 in Canada.
  • In the Beginning (Circa 1960), released 4 May 1970 in the US.

    • Personnel

  • Tony Sheridan – lead vocals
  • John Lennon – rhythm guitar
  • Paul McCartney – bass guitar
  • George Harrison – lead guitar
  • Pete Best – drums
  • Karl Hinze – engineer
  • Bert Kaempfert – producer

    • American release:

  • Cornell Dupree - guitar overdub
  • Bernard Purdie - drum overdub

    • References

    If You Love Me, Baby Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA