Big Joe Williams – "Baby, Please Don't Go" (1935)

Baby, please don’t go

Back to New Orleans

And get your cold ice cream

“Baby, Please Don’t Go” has been described as “one of the most played, arranged, and rearranged pieces in blues history.”

Click here to listen to the original 1935 recording of the song by Big Joe Williams.  Williams released other versions of the song in 1941 and 1947.

Blues legends Lightnin’ Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, and Muddy Waters recorded “Baby, Please Don’t Go” in 1947, 1949, and 1953, respectively.  (The Hooker version is titled “Don’t Go Baby.”)

The Them (who were fronted by Van Morrison) released their cover of the song in 1964.  Click here to listen to that version, which was a hit in the UK but not in the U.S.  (The single’s B-side – “Gloria” – is much better known on this side of the pond.)

The song was later covered by many others, including the Amboy Dukes, AC/DC (who often performed it in their live shows), and Aerosmith.  Click here to listen to the Amboy Dukes version, which featured Ted Nugent (a/k/a/ “The Motor City Mad Man”) on lead guitar.

Click here to buy the original Big Joe Williams recording of “Baby, Please Don’t Go.”  As far as I can tell, it is the only recording of the song that uses the “Get your cold ice cream” line.