"Just a Little Bit" is an R&B-style blues song recorded by

Rosco Gordon Rosco N. Gordon III (April 10, 1928 – July 11, 2002), sometimes billed as Roscoe Gordon, was an American blues singer, pianist, and songwriter. He is best known for his hit songs "Booted," (1952), "No More Doggin'" (1952), and " Just a Littl ...

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 various other artists, including

Little Milton James Milton Campbell Jr. (September 7, 1934 – August 4, 2005), better known as Little Milton, was an American blues singer and guitarist, best known for his number-one R&B single " We're Gonna Make It". His other hits include " Baby, I Love ...

and

Roy Head Roy Kent Head (January 9, 1941 – September 21, 2020) was an American singer, best known for his hit song "Treat Her Right". Career Roy Kent Head was born in Three Rivers, Texas and achieved fame as a member of musical group The Traits from ...

, who also had record chart successes with the song.

Background

"Just a Little Bit" was developed when Rosco Gordon was touring with

West Coast blues West Coast blues is a type of blues music influenced by jazz and jump blues, with strong piano-dominated sounds and jazzy guitar solos, which originated from Texas blues players who relocated to California in the 1940s. West Coast blues also ...

artist

Jimmy McCracklin James David Walker Jr. (August 13, 1921 – December 20, 2012), better known by his stage name Jimmy McCracklin, was an American pianist, vocalist, and songwriter. His style contained West Coast blues, Jump blues, and R&B. Over a career tha ...

. 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 Ralph Basso Jr. (May 1, 1911 – March 5, 1997), known as Ralph Bass,The birth surname of Ralph Bass's paternal grandfather, who was born in Italy, was DuBasso. was an American rhythm-and-blues record producer and talent scout for several indepen ...

at King Records, who was reportedly uninterested in the song. Gordon then approached

Calvin Carter Calvin T. Carter (May 27, 1925 – July 9, 1986) was an American record producer, record label manager and songwriter of jazz and pop songs. Calvin Carter was born in Gary, Indiana, in 1925. He joined Vee-Jay Records, founded by his sister ...

Vee-Jay Records Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. The label was founded in Gary, Indiana in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a h ...

, who agreed to record it. Meanwhile,

Federal Records Federal Records was an American record label founded in 1950 as a subsidiary of Syd Nathan's King Records and based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was run by famed record producer Ralph Bass and was mainly devoted to Rhythm & Blues releases. The comp ...

, a King Records subsidiary, released a version of "Just a Little Bit" by R&B singer

Tiny Topsy Otha Lee Moore (May 22, 1930 – August 16, 1964), better known as Tiny Topsy, was an American R&B singer. The music journalist, Mark Lamarr, noted "Tiny in the same spirit you'd call a bald man curly, Tiny Topsy definitely had the lungpower to ...

, 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

humba ''Humbà'', also spelled ''hombà'', is a Filipino braised pork dish originating from the Visayas Islands of the Philippines. It traditionally uses pork belly slow-cooked until very tender in soy sauce, vinegar, black peppercorns, garlic, bay ...

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 on ''Billboard''s

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

at number 64, making it Gordon's only song to enter the broader chart.

Renditions and influence

Several musicians have recorded "Just a Little Bit". In 1965, a version by American singer

reached numbers 39 on the Hot 100 and 18 on the Canadian singles chart. When

soul blues Soul blues is a style of blues music developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s that combines elements of soul music and urban contemporary music. Origin African American singers and musicians who grew up listening to the electric blues by ar ...

artist

recorded it in 1969, it peaked at number 13 on ''Billboard''s Hot R&B Sides chart and number 97 on the Hot 100.Whitburn 1988, p. 259. According to music writer Steve Turner, the opening horn line of the original Roscoe Gordon version influenced

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

during the writing of the 1968 Beatles song "Birthday".

References

{{authority control 1959 songs Blues songs 1960 singles Vee-Jay Records singles 1965 singles 1969 singles Roy Head songs