| "Reconsider Baby" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Lowell Fulson | ||||
| B-side | "I Believe I'll Give It Up" | |||
| Released | 1954 | |||
| Format | 10" 78 rpm & 7" 45 rpm record | |||
| Recorded | Dallas, Texas September 27, 1954 |
|||
| Genre | Blues | |||
| Length | 3:08 | |||
| Label | Checker (Cat no. 804) | |||
| Writer(s) | Lowell Fulson | |||
| Producer | Leonard Chess, Phil Chess | |||
| Lowell Fulson singles chronology | ||||
|
||||
"Reconsider Baby" is a blues song written and recorded by Lowell Fulson in 1954. Performed in the West Coast blues style, it became Fulson's first record chart hit for Checker Records, a subsidiary of Chess Records. "Reconsider Baby" has become a standard of the blues and has been recorded by numerous blues and other artists.[1]
Contents |
Called a "relentless mid-tempo blues",[2] "Reconsider Baby" has a twelve-bar structure with prominent guitar soloing by Fulson. The song was recorded in Dallas, Texas under the supervision of Leonard Chess associate and Jewel Records owner Stan Lewis. Backing Fulson (vocal and guitar) are members of Ray Charles' band David "Fathead" Newman (tenor sax) and Leroy "Hog" Cooper (baritone sax), plus unidentified trumpet, trombone, piano, bass, and drums. The song became a hit, spending fifteen weeks during 1954 and 1955 in the Billboard R&B chart where it reached number three.[3] The song has been included on several Fulson compilation albums, including 1970's Hung Down Head (Chess 9325).
Many blues and other artists have recorded Lowell Fulson's "Reconsider Baby". In 1960, Elvis Presley recorded it for his Elvis Is Back! album. Presley recorded an earlier version in 1956 during a jam session at Sun Studio with Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis, later known as the "Million Dollar Quartet"; he also recorded several live versions in the 1960s and 1970s. Other versions include those by Bobby Bland (in 1964 from his album Ain't Nothing You Can Do); Magic Sam (1966 as "Hate to See You Go" from Magic Touch); Ike and Tina Turner (1969 Outta Season); Freddie King (1972 The Texas Cannonball); Eric Clapton (1994 From the Cradle); Robin Trower (1994 20th Century Blues); and Joe Bonamassa (2004 Had to Cry Today).
In 1993, Fulson's original "Reconsider Baby" was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in the "Classics of Blues Recordings" category.[4] The song is also included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of the "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".[5]