"I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" is a 1967 song by Bob Dylan first released on John Wesley Harding. It features Pete Drake on pedal steel guitar, and two other Nashville musicians, Charlie McCoy on bass guitar and Kenneth Buttrey on drums, both of whom had appeared on Dylan's previous album, Blonde on Blonde.
Dylan first performed the song in concert at the Isle of Wight Festival with the Band on August 31, 1969. Since then, he has included it in more than 650 live performances. "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" has been covered by many artists, including Robert Palmer with UB40 in 1990.
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The Rock Machine Turns You On
Dylan's I'll Be Your Baby Tonight was the first track on the 1968 CBS budget sampler album The Rock Machine Turns You On which, in the aftermath of the 1960s British dominance of pop music, was a successful marketing exercise in introducing the UK audience to contemporary USA pop output.
Robert Palmer and UB40 version
In 1990, English singer and songwriter Robert Palmer and English reggae band UB40 released a cover version of the song. It was released as a single by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe. It appears on Robert Palmer's albums Don't Explain and on the 1995 best of The Very Best of. The song reached the top 10 in Australia, Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland, and it also secured a number-six placing in both the United Kingdom and Ireland. In New Zealand, it reached number one for a week in February 1991.
Critical reception
David Giles of Music Week described the Robert Palmer and UB40 cover version as having "a dainty reggae beat", but deemed this "uninspiring pop... never really goes anywhere" and that success would depend on the music video.
Track listings
7-inch single
"I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" – 3:26
"Deep End" – 4:33
CD single
"I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" – 3:26
"Deep End" – 4:33
CD maxi
"I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" – 3:30
"I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" (extended version) – 7:25
"Deep End" – 4:33
12-inch single
"I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" (extended version) – 7:25
"I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" – 3:30
"Deep End" – 4:33