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Rolling Stones songs: I Just Want to Make Love to You
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I don’t want ’cause I’m sad and blue/ I just want to make love to you, baby…

Written by: Dixon
Recorded: Regent Sound Studios, London, England, Feb. 24-25 1964
*Data taken from Martin Elliott’s book THE ROLLING STONES COMPLETE RECORDING SESSIONS 1962-2012

From Songfacts:
It’s obvious what Muddy Waters is after in this sultry blues number. He doesn’t expect his woman to take on the traditional domestic responsibilities like cooking, cleaning, or doing laundry, as long as she’s available for lovemaking. Also known as “Just Make Love To Me,” it was written by Willie Dixon, a Chicago bluesman who played bass for Chess Records’ house band and wrote tunes for the label, often deciding who would record what. He went on to become an influential figure in blues and rock ‘n roll, performing on early hits from Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley and writing the blues standards “Little Red Rooster,” “Hoochie Coochie Man,” and “Spoonful,” among others.

Waters is accompanied by Dixon on bass, Little Walter on harmonica, Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Otis Spann on piano and Fred Below on drums.

Waters, whose original version landed at #4 on the R&B chart, recorded this again for his 1968 album, Electric Mud, with the psychedelic soul group Rotary Connection as his backing band. It also showed up on 1967’s Super Blues, a collaboration between Waters, Bo Diddley, and Little Walter.

Several other artists recorded this, including the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead, the Kinks, the Yardbirds, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Righteous Brothers, Rod Stewart, Van Morrison, Adele, and many more.

Foghat earned their first hit when they included the cover on their 1972 debut album, reaching #83 on the Hot 100. In 1977 their live version from the album Foghat Live peaked at #33. Their version was also used in the 1993 comedy Dazed and Confused and was included on the soundtrack to Rob Zombie’s Halloween II in 2009.

Etta James recorded this for her debut album, At Last! (1960), as the flip-side to the hit title track. In a distinct change from Dixon’s original lyrics, James is eager to tackle the domestic chores for her lover/husband that Waters said he didn’t want. While he insisted, “I don’t want you to bake my bread,” she sang, “All I want you to do is to bake your bread, just to make sure that you’re well fed.”

Her version was resurrected in 1994 for a Diet Coke commercial that shows a group of women taking a break from work to check out a sexy construction worker (Lucky Vanous) outside their office building. Due to the ad’s popularity for its comic gender flip on objectification, James’ single was re-released and peaked at #5 in the UK. In 2013, the same song was used in a similar ad for the soft drink, this time casting a sexy gardener (Andrew Cooper) instead of a construction worker. A woman tosses him a Diet Coke, which overflows on him when he cracks it open, and he gives her group of friends a show by taking off his shirt.

From the The Rolling Stones – All the Songs book:
“I Just Want to Make Love to You” is a blues number in the purest tradition of Chess Records, the label that epitomizes modern Chicago blues. It was written by Willie Dixon and recorded in 1954 by Muddy Waters (vocal) with the best lineup he ever had: Dixon himself on double bass, Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Little Walter on harmonica, Otis Spann on piano, and Fred Below on drums. The song was released as a single with the title “Just Make Love to Me” (with “Oh Yeh” as the B-side) and reached number 4 on the rhythm ’n’ blues chart of the day. Although Etta James put her name to a superb adaptation in 1961, and
Muddy Waters recorded a new version in 1968 for the album Electric Mud, the task of bringing “I Just Want to Make Love to You” (whose words have the merit of being extremely unambiguous) to the attention of their generation fell to the Rolling Stones. If there is any need to point out one more difference between the Stones and the Beatles, this is it: while the Fab
Four were singing “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” the Stones were extolling the virtues of a far more raunchy form of intimacy!

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