"Baby, Let Me Follow You Down" is a traditional folk song popularised in the late 1950s by blues guitarist

Eric Von Schmidt Eric Von Schmidt (May 28, 1931 – February 2, 2007) was an American singer and guitarist, songwriter, painter and illustrator, and Grammy Award recipient. He was associated with the folk boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s and a key part o ...

. The song is best known from its appearance on

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

's debut album ''

''.

Early years of the song

The song was first recorded as "Don't Tear My Clothes" in January 1935 by the State Street Boys, a group that included

Big Bill Broonzy Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1903 – August 14, 1958) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he played country music to mostly African American audiences. In the 1930s ...

and

Jazz Gillum William McKinley "Jazz" Gillum (September 11, 1902 or 1904 – March 29, 1966) was an American blues harmonica player. Biography Gillum was born in Indianola, Mississippi. He ran away from home at age seven and for the next few years lived in ...

. The next few years saw several more versions, including "Don't Tear My Clothes" by

Washboard Sam Robert Clifford Brown (July 15, 1910 – November 6, 1966), known professionally as Washboard Sam, was an American blues musician and singer. Biography Brown's date and place of birth are uncertain; many sources state that he was born in 191 ...

in June 1936, "Baby Don't You Tear My Clothes" by the

Harlem Hamfats The Harlem Hamfats was a Chicago jazz band formed in 1936. Initially, they mainly provided backup music for jazz and blues singers, such as Johnny Temple, Rosetta Howard, and Frankie Jaxon, for Decca Records. Their first record, "Oh! Red", be ...

in May 1937, "Let Your Linen Hang Low" by Rosetta Howard with the Harlem Hamfats in October 1937 and "Mama Let Me Lay It On You" by

Blind Boy Fuller Blind Boy Fuller (born Fulton Allen, July 10, 1904February 13, 1941) was an American blues guitarist and singer. Fuller was one of the most popular of the recorded Piedmont blues artists, rural African Americans, along with Blind Blake, Josh Wh ...

in April 1938. The song was adapted by

, 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 Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

scene and was reasonably well-known across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. According to his chronicle of the Cambridge Folk era, also called ''"Baby, Let Me Follow You Down"'', Eric had first heard the song via the Blind Boy Fuller recording. Von Schmidt credits

Reverend Gary Davis Reverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis (born Gary D. Davis, April 30, 1896 – May 5, 1972), was a blues and gospel singer who was also proficient on the banjo, guitar and harmonica. Born in Laurens, South Carolina and blind since infancy ...

for writing "three quarters" of his version of the song (the melody is very similar to Davis's "Please Baby"). Van Ronk's version became a feature in the coffee houses of

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

in the early 1960s.

Dylan years

The song was later picked up by the young, up and coming folk singer

, who made it famous on his

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

debut. As an introduction to the song on the album, Dylan pays homage to Schmidt, saying: "I first heard this from Ric von Schmidt. He lives in Cambridge/ Ric is a blues guitarplayer. I met him one day on/ The green pastures of the Harvard University." The song became very popular amongst Dylan's following and was a regular feature of Dylan's song list. During his 1966 World Tour, Dylan electrified the sound of the song, playing it on electric guitar with a five-piece electric band as backing. A decade later, he performed the song with a medley of " Forever Young" at The Band's Last Waltz concert.

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.

Dylan albums containing the song

*''

'', recorded in studio November 1961, issued 1962 *'' Biograph'', from ''Bob Dylan'', issued 1985 *'' The Bootleg Series Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964'', recorded in studio January 1964, issued 2010 *''Live 1962-1966: Rare Performances From The Copyright Collections'', recorded live May 11, 1966, issued 2018 *'' The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert'', recorded live May 17, 1966, issued 1998 *''The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert'', recorded live May 26, 1966, issued 2016 *''

The 1966 Live Recordings ''The 1966 Live Recordings'' is a 36-CD boxset of live recordings from the Bob Dylan World Tour 1966, 1966 Live Tour by Bob Dylan, released on Legacy Records in November 2016. It includes every known recording from the tour, including Bootleg recor ...

'', all 1966 live recordings, issued 2016 *''

The Last Waltz ''The Last Waltz'' was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. ''The Last Waltz'' was advertised as The Band's "farewell concert a ...

'', live with The Band, recorded live November 1976, issued 1978

Other recordings

Dave Van Ronk David Kenneth Ritz Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 – February 10, 2002) was an American folk singer. An important figure in the American folk music revival and New York City's Greenwich Village scene in the 1960s, he was nicknamed the "Mayor of Mac ...

recorded "Baby, Let Me Lay It On You" on his 1964 album '' Just Dave Van Ronk'' (Mercury SR/MR 20908). *

Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to ' ...

recorded the song on his album ''

Dylanesque ''Dylanesque'' is the twelfth studio album by English singer Bryan Ferry, released on 5 March 2007 by Virgin Records. The album consists of cover versions of ten Bob Dylan songs and one traditional song that Dylan himself covered on his first ...

'', released 2007. He also performed the song throughout his 2007 tour. * French mash-up bootlegging artist ''ToToM'' used Dylan's original version with The Rapture's Get Myself Into It in the mash-up song ''Rapture (Let Me Follow You Down)'' for his 2009 album, ''Dylan Mashed''. * English singer-songwriter

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...

recorded the song on the 2012 charity

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

'' Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International''.

References

External links

Eric Von Schmidt on SongTalk, 1993
- Von Schmidt speculates about the origins and evolution of the song he popularized.

- Short bio examines Davis' claim that he authored the song. {{Authority control Bob Dylan songs American folk songs 1930s songs