"Rock Me Baby" is a

blues standard Blues standards are blues songs that have attained a high level of recognition due to having been widely performed and recorded. They represent the best known and most interpreted blues songs that are seen as standing the test of time. Blues ...

that has become one of the most recorded

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 ...

songs of all time. It originated as "Rockin' and Rollin'", a 1951 song by Lil' Son Jackson, itself inspired by earlier blues. Renditions by

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...

and

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

made the song well-known. When B.B. King's recording of "Rock Me Baby" was released in 1964, it became his first single to reach the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

in ''Billboard'' magazine'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 ...

chart. In 2022, King's recording was inducted into the

Blues Hall of Fame The Blues Hall of Fame is a music museum located at 421 S. Main Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Initially, the "Blues Hall of Fame" was not a physical building, but a listing of people who have significantly contributed to blues music. Started in 1 ...

in the 'Classics of Blues Recording – Singles' category.

Earlier songs

B.B. King's "Rock Me Baby" is based on the 1951 song "Rockin' and Rollin'" by Lil' Son Jackson. King's lyrics are nearly identical to Jackson's, although instrumentally the songs are different: "Rockin' and Rollin'" is a solo piece, with Jackson's vocal and guitar accompaniment, whereas "Rock Me Baby" is an ensemble piece.

' song "Rock Me", recorded in 1956, is also based on Jackson's song. Some of Jackson's lyrics were used, but Waters incorporated a couple of verses from his 1951 song "All Night Long" (that is also based on "Rockin' and Rollin'"). Muddy Waters' version also uses Jackson's guitar figure and the starting of the vocal on the IV chord and he interpreted it as an unusual fifteen-bar blues (an uneven number of measures, rather than the traditional twelve bars or somewhat less common eight or sixteen bars). Muddy Waters recorded a second version of "Rock Me" for his 1978 album '' I'm Ready''. Lil' Son Jackson's "Rockin' and Rollin'" was inspired by earlier blues songs. Many songs from the 1920s through the 1940s have some combination of ''rock'', ''roll'', ''baby'', and ''mama'' in the title or lyrics, although instrumentally they are different than "Rock Me Baby", "Rock Me", or "Rockin' and Rollin'".

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 ...

's 1940 song "Rockin' Chair Blues" serves as the basis for several renditions and makes frequent use of the phrase "rock me baby" as in "Rock me baby now, rock me slow ... now rock me baby, one time before you go". Arthur Crudup's 1944 song, "Rock Me Mama", is also based on Broonzy's song and repeats the same refrain, but uses "mama" in place of "baby". "Roll Me Mama", a 1939 song by Curtis Jones shares a couple of phrases ("like a wagon wheel", "ain't got no bone") with "Rockin' and Rollin'".

B.B. King song

"Rock Me Baby" is a medium-tempo twelve-bar blues notated in the

key of C C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and i ...

in common or time. King's guitar fills are a key feature of the song, leading to its appeal to guitarists. The piano part is also prominent. Kent part-owner

Joe Bihari The Bihari brothers, Lester, Jules, Saul and Joe, were American businessmen of Hungarian Jewish origins. They were the founders of Modern Records in Los Angeles and its subsidiaries, such as Meteor Records, based in Memphis. The Bihari brothers we ...

recalled the pianist as King's frequent collaborator

Maxwell Davis Thomas Maxwell Davis, Jr. (January 14, 1916 – September 18, 1970), was an American rhythm and blues saxophonist, arranger, bandleader and record producer. Biography Davis was born in Independence, Kansas in 1916. In 1937, he moved to Lo ...

, although others have been suggested, such as

Lloyd Glenn Lloyd Colquitt Glenn (November 21, 1909 – May 23, 1985) was an American R&B pianist, bandleader and arranger, who was a pioneer of the "West Coast" blues style. Career Born in San Antonio, Texas, from the late 1920s, Glenn played with vari ...

and

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 ...

. There is some confusion as to when B.B. King recorded "Rock Me Baby". Although King had signed to

ABC-Paramount Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels befo ...

on January 14, 1962, his former label,

Kent Records Kent Records was a Los Angeles-based record label, launched in 1958 by the Bihari brothers. It was subsidiary of Crown Records Corporation. Kent was a follow-up to Modern Records which ceased operations in 1958. The label reissued Modern's singles, ...

, continued to release singles (and albums) well into the 1970s. Recording dates have been estimated as "about 1958" to before 1962. The song was released shortly after King's Paramount release "

How Blue Can You Get "How Blue Can You Get" (alternatively "Downhearted") is a blues song first recorded by Johnny Moore's Three Blazers in 1949. It is a slow 12-bar blues that jazz critic Leonard Feather and his wife, Jane Feather, are credited with writing. The so ...

" in 1964 and reached number 34 in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "Rock Me Baby" was the first of six B.B. King records to reach the Top 40. In 1997, King re-recorded the song with

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

for the album ''

Deuces Wild ''Deuces Wild'' is a 2002 American crime drama film directed by Scott Kalvert and written by Paul Kimatian and Christopher Gambale, who also created the story. The film stars Stephen Dorff, Brad Renfro, James Franco, Matt Dillon, and Fairuza Ba ...

''.

Influence

Over the years, many blues and other artists have interpreted and recorded "Rock Me Baby" and it has become a blues standard. Although Lil' Son Jackson's 1951 "Rockin' and Rollin'" serves as the basis for many versions, B.B. King's and Muddy Waters' renditions are credited for making it well-known.

Notes

Footnotes Citations References * * * * * * {{Authority control 1956 songs 1956 singles 1964 singles 1973 singles Muddy Waters songs B.B. King songs Big Bill Broonzy songs Otis Redding songs The Animals songs Lee Michaels songs Blues songs A&M Records singles Songwriter unknown Okeh Records singles Bluebird Records singles Kent Records singles