B-side "Goin' Home" Recorded 1959 Length 2:05 | Released 1959 (1959) Genre Blues, R&B | |
Format Seven-inch 45 rpm record | ||
"Just a Little Bit" is an R&B-style blues song recorded by Rosco Gordon in 1959. It was a hit in both the R&B and pop charts. Called "one of the standards of contemporary blues," "Just a Little Bit" has been recorded by a variety of artists, including Little Milton and Roy Head who also had record chart successes with the song.
Contents
Background
"Just a Little Bit" was developed when Rosco Gordon was touring with West Coast blues artist Jimmy McCracklin. According to Gordon, McCracklin started to write the song and agreed that Gordon could finish it with both of them sharing the credit. Gordon later presented a demo version to Ralph Bass at King Records, who was reportedly uninterested in the song. Gordon then approached Calvin Carter at Vee-Jay Records, who agreed to record it. Meanwhile, Federal Records, a King Records subsidiary released a version of "Just a Little Bit" by R&B singer Tiny Topsy (1959 Federal 45-12357), with songwriting credit given to Ralph Bass and several others unknown to Gordon. The Tiny Topsy song, featuring a pop-style arrangement with background singers and flute, did not reach the record charts.
Rosco Gordon song
Rosco Gordon's "Just a Little Bit" was released in late 1959 and entered the Billboard R&B chart in February 1960. An early review described the song as "a rhymba [rhumba] blues", a reference to Gordon's "slightly shambolic, loping style of piano shuffle called 'Rosco's Rhythm'". The original Vee-Jay single lists Gordon as the songwriter, although some later issues (and versions by other artists) list Bass and others as the writers. "Just a Little Bit" was Rosco Gordon's fourth (and last) single to enter the R&B chart, where it reached number two during a stay of seventeen weeks in 1960. "Just a Little Bit" also appeared in the Hot 100 at number 64, making it Gordon's only song to enter the pop chart.
Influence and other recordings
According to music writer Steve Turner, the opening horn line of the original Roscoe Gordon version influenced Paul McCartney during the writing of the Beatles hit "Birthday". Several musicians have recorded "Just a Little Bit". In 1965, Roy Head had a Top 40 pop hit with the song and when Little Milton recorded it in 1969 (Checker 1217), it reached number 13 in the R&B chart and number 97 in the pop chart. Other recordings include: Them (for their 1965 album The Angry Young Them); Etta James (1967 Tell Mama); Magic Sam (1968 Black Magic); Elvis Presley (1973 Raised on Rock/For Ol' Times Sake); Rory Gallagher (1973 Tattoo). Jerry Lee Lewis (1974 Southern Roots); Slade (1974 Old New Borrowed and Blue); The Animals (1977 Before We Were So Rudely Interrupted); Joe Louis Walker (1990 Live at Slim's, Vol. 2); and Johnny Winter (1997 Live in NYC '97).