"I Can't Quit You Baby" is blues song written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Chicago blues artist Otis Rush in 1956. It is a slow twelve-bar blues ensemble piece, with lyrics about the consequences of an adulterous relationship which is difficult to end.
English rock band Led Zeppelin recorded "I Can't Quit You Baby" for their 1969 debut album Led Zeppelin. According to music journalist Cub Koda, their rendition is "a note-for-note copy of Otis Rush's" 1966 Vanguard version, although with different instrumentation and dynamics. It also incorporates a break during the guitar solo where Jimmy Page plays a four-bar unaccompanied set-up before relaunching into the solo. Although biographer Keith Shadwick notes Page's fluff on the turnaround coming out of the solo, he concludes the song "ends up as one of the most successful pieces on the first album, with no flat spots and a perfectly symmetrical form, all within the classic blues tradition".
Led Zeppelin regularly performed "I Can't Quit You Baby" in concert from 1968 to early 1970.
Two live versions from 1969 are included on the 1997 BBC Sessions. A performance of the song on January 9, 1970, at Royal Albert Hall is included on the 2003 Led Zeppelin DVD
Lyrics
I can't quit you babe
Woman I think I'm gonna put you down for a little while
I can't quit you babe
I... think I'm gonna put you down for a while
I said you messed up my happy home
Made me mistreat my only child
You built my hopes so high
Baby then you let me down so low
You built my hopes so high then ya let me down... so low
Don'tcha realize sweet baby?
Woman I don't know... which way to go
Woman I can't quit you babe
I think I'm gonna put you down for a while
Songwriters: Willie Dixon
I Can't Quit You Baby (2014 Remaster) lyrics © BMG Rights Management