"Take Out Some Insurance" is a
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
song released in 1959 by
Jimmy Reed written by
Charles Singleton and Waldenese Hall but originally credited to
Jesse Stone
Jesse Albert Stone (November 16, 1901 – April 1, 1999) was an American rhythm and blues musician and songwriter whose influence spanned a wide range of genres. He also used the pseudonyms Charles Calhoun and Chuck Calhoun. His best-know ...
. The copyright registration for the song lists its title as "Take Out Some Insurance on Me, Baby"..
Tony Sheridan recorded it with different lyrics in 1961 with
The Beatles as his backing band. Misidentified, it was released in Germany in 1964 as "If You Love Me, Baby (Take Out Some Insurance on Me, Baby)" but subsequently as "Take Out Some Insurance on Me, Baby (If You Love Me, Baby)" , "Take Out Some Insurance on Me, Baby" or erroneously as "If You Love Me, Baby" .
Original recording by Jimmy Reed
Riding a string of popular releases,
Jimmy Reed recorded this song in early 1959 and it was released as a single in April with the title "Take Out Some Insurance" (Vee Jay 314). It was
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
's R & B "Best Buy" for the week of May 11. According to this magazine, the song sold well in Louisiana but never made the national charts.
The Beatles with Tony Sheridan
The song was covered by
Tony Sheridan and
The Beatles in Hamburg while they were playing at the
Top Ten Club. On June 22, 1961, they recorded a version of the song.
Bert Kaempfert produced the session for Polydor, of which a single with the songs "
My Bonnie" and "
The Saints" was issued in 1961. The other recordings were not immediately released. After the Beatles became popular, Polydor prepared three more singles of unreleased material, one of which contained their recording of this song (German Polydor NH 52-317, released in mid-April 1964). These songs were also compiled in the album ''
The Beatles' First!'' that same month. 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" (even being credited as traditional without authorship on early German and British pressings). When the singles were sent to
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
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; this album was released in England in 1967, in Canada in 1969 and in the US in 1970.
The American release of the single came slightly later due to Atlantic/
Atco's decision to overdub drum (possibly by
Bernard Purdie
Bernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie (born June 11, 1939) is an American drummer, and an influential R&B, soul and funk musician. He is known for his precise musical time keeping and his signature use of triplets against a half-time backbeat: the "Purdie ...
) and guitar (possibly by
Cornell Dupree). Due to one brief use of language that was inappropriate for radio in 1964, Atco also edited the song.
Release details
Singles
* "
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).
:: 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
These four Polydor albums have the same tracklist.
* ''
The Beatles' First!'', released April 1964 in
Germany.
* ''
The Beatles' First'', released 4 August 1967 in the
UK.
* ''
Very Together
''Very Together'' is an album by the English rock band the Beatles and the first compilation of the band's early recordings supporting Tony Sheridan to be released in Canada. It was issued in November 1969 by Polydor Records, with the catalogue ...
'', released 12 November 1969 in
Canada.
* ''
In the Beginning (Circa 1960)'', released 4 May 1970 in the
US.
1964
US album by Atco Records.
* ''
Ain't She Sweet'', released 5 October 1964.
1984 CD reissue by Polydor.
* ''
The Early Tapes of the Beatles'' — The song reverts to its erroneous title "''If You Love Me, Baby''".
Personnel
*
Tony Sheridan – lead vocals
*
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
– lead guitar
*
John Lennon – rhythm guitar
*
Paul McCartney – bass guitar
*
Pete Best – drums
* Karl Hinze – engineer
*
Bert Kaempfert – producer
American release:
* Cornell Dupree – guitar overdub
* Bernard Purdie – drum overdub
Notes
References
Sources
Liner notes by Tony Sheridan for "The Beatles' First" (Polydor Records Ltd., UK 236.201)
External links
The Beatles Bible about the song, with the textThe Beatles Bible about the recording session
{{Authority control
1964 singles
Polydor Records singles
Songs written by Charles Singleton (songwriter)
The Beatles with Tony Sheridan songs
Year of song missing