Listen - Billy Boy Arnold performs I Wish You Would
"Early in the morning, about the break of day." Most know that opening line from The Yardbirds' stellar debut single from 1964, I Wish You Would. But nine years before Eric Clapton's heavily fuzzed Telecaster spit out the two note riff, Billy Boy Arnold recorded his original for Vee Jay Records in Chicago. Billy Boy Arnold had served as Bo Diddley's harp man on the Chess Recording of Diddley Daddy and took the spirit of that song to create his own debut single. It's a gem. Hope you like it.
Below is a nice vid from 1964 of The Yardbirds, with Eric Clapton, performing the same number. This live version tracks much closer to the original than did the Epic Records release.
I love this song. And I never notice the distinctive beat also occurring in Bo Diddley's Diddley Daddy. It should be noted that the song Diddley Daddy originated from the Arnold composition, not the other way around and, it appears, was actually recorded after I Wish You Would.
ReplyDeleteI have no way of knowing how available this single was in England in 1963, but it's safe to assume that it was obscure in comparison to a Bo Diddley release. I wonder how the Yardbirds came upon it (I suspect Clapton). Although they did their share of Diddley and Muddy Water tunes like the rest of them, the fact that the Yardbirds covered the bluesy Arnold tune while the Rolling Stones did the poppier Diddley tune indicates that the path these bands would take was established early on.
I also would add, although I have nothing to base it on, that the all-too-short instrument jam in Arnold's recording of I Wish You Would may have been the inspiration or the template for the extended rave-ups that the Yardbirds became known for. The Yardbirds apparently did long version of this song live.
"It should be noted that the song Diddley Daddy originated from the Arnold composition, not the other way around and, it appears, was actually recorded after I Wish You Would."
ReplyDeleteWould love to see the documentation on that. They were both released in June of 1955. The not always reliable Wikipedia implies I Wish You Would came out of Diddley Daddy. The Follow-Up single to I Wish You Would was I Ain't Got You, which was also covered by the Clapton era Yardbirds.
So, I just found some documentation that says I Wish You Would was recorded 10 days earlier than Diddley Daddy. I bow to you.
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