Grateful Dead Family Discography: Baby Let Me Follow You Down

Baby Let Me Follow You Down

Composer: Traditional / Rev. Gary Davis

Baby Let Me Follow You Down was played by Phil Lesh & Friends in August 2016.

Baby Let Me Follow You Down is derived from the song Baby, Let Me Lay It On You which also occurs as Mama Let me Lay It On You. This song is usually attributed to Rev Gary Davis, Blind Boy Fuller or as traditional.

This song is credited on the 1962 Dylan album to Eric Von Schmidt as Dylan learnt the song from Eric Von Schmidt. In the notes for his 1995 album Baby Let MeLay It On You Von Schmidt write:

"I learned this from blues wunderkind Geno Foreman in the late '50s; he'd found it on a Blind Boy Fuller 78 rpm. It was one of the songs I played for Bob Dylan, when we first met, up in Cambridge. It appeared, not long after (with some changes by Dave Van Ronk) on Dylan's first album with the title Baby Let Me Follow You Down. Later, the wonderfully cantankerous Rev Gary Davis let it be known that he wrote it and taught it to Fuller."

Recordings (as Baby Let Me Follow You Down)

This list is not intended to be comprehensive.

Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan, 1962
no info Jackie DeShannon, Jackie DeShannon, 1963
no info Jackie EP, Jackie DeShannon, 1963
no info Boz, Boz Scaggs, 1965
no info In The Wind, Jackie DeShannon, 1965
no info Single (Forget Me Girl / Baby Let Me Follow You Down), The Bees, 1966
Bob Dylan/Times They Are A-Changin', Bob Dylan, 196?
The Last Waltz, The Band / Various Artists, 1978
Biograph, Bob Dylan, 1985
no info Sings at the Speakeasy, R. Stevie Moore, 1986
Ratbite Fever, Over The Hill, 1990
no info Art of Bottleneck/Slide Guitar, Sam Mitchell, 1991
no info 1966-1967 Unreleased Masters Collection, Roky Erickson & the Thirteenth Floor Elevators, 1994
Beautiful Queen Albert & Beautiful Homer, Robyn Hitchcock, 1997
no info Hide Behind the Sun, Roky Erickson, 2000
Dylan For Dollars, Various Artists (El Roostars), 2000
Bob Dylan Live 1961-2000, Bob Dylan, 2001
Robyn Sings, Robyn Hitchcock, 2002
Bob Dylan / The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan, 2002
Dylan In My Soul, Dennis Heller, 2003
no info The Old Ace: Mississippi Blues & Religious Songs, Babe Stovall, 2004
no info Dylanesque, Bryan Ferry, 2007
no info Dylanesque Live: The London Sessions, Bryan Ferry, 2007
no info The Ragged Jubilee, The Ragged Jubilee, 2008
no info Radiolarians II, Medeski, Martin & Wood, 2009
no info Radiolarians: The Evolutionary Set, Medeski, Martin & Wood, 2009
The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964: Bootleg Series, Vol. 9, Bob Dylan, 2010
DylanGrass, The Grassmasters, 2010
Chimes Of Freedom: The Songs Of Bob Dylan, Various Artists (Marianne Faithfull), 2012

Recordings (as Baby Let Me Lay It On You)

This list is not intended to be comprehensive.

no info Just Dave Van Ronk, Dave Van Ronk, 1964
no info Fate Is Only Once, Harry Taussig, 1965
no info Champion Jack Dupree and His Blues Band, Champion Jack Dupree, 1967
no info I Done Got Over , Nappy Brown, 1983
no info Blues & Ragtime, Rev. Gary Davis, 1993
no info Baby Let Me Lay it On You, Eric Von Schmidt, 1995
no info Statesboro Blues, Dave Van Ronk, 1996
no info Polk City Ramble, Roy Book Binder, 1998
no info Railroad Bill, Etta Baker, 1999
no info From New Orleans to Chicago/Champion Jack Dupree and His Blues Band, Champion Jack Dupree, 2004
Songs from the Invisible Republic, Various Artists (Rev Gary Davis), 2008

Recordings (as Mama Let Me Lay It On You)

This list is not intended to be comprehensive.

no info Single (Mama Let Me Lay It On You / Smack That Thing), Walter Coleman, 1936
no info Single (Mama Let Me Lay It On You / Black And Tan), Blind Boy Fuller, 1937
no info Single (Mama Let Me Lay It On You. No. 2 / Funny Feeling Blues), Blind Boy Fuller, 1938
no info Cincinnati Blues (1928-1936), Various Artists (Walter Coleman), 1990
no info Mama Let Me Lay It on You 1926-1936, Various Artists (Walter Coleman), 1991
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1936-1937), Blind Boy Fuller, 1992
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 4 (1937-1938), Blind Boy Fuller, 1992
no info Bluesmen, Cephas & Wiggins, 1993
no info Texas Blues Guitar, Mance Lipscomb, 1994
no info Get Your Yas Yas Out: The Essential Recordings of, Blind Boy Fuller, 1996
no info Rare Country Blues, Vol. 3: 1928-1936, Various Artists (Walter Coleman), 2000
no info The Essential, Blind Boy Fuller, 2001
no info Cincinnati Blues, Various Artists (Walter Coleman), 2001
no info Remastered 1935-1938, Blind Boy Fuller, 2004
no info Make a Change Sometime, Nathan James & Ben Hernández, 2005
The Roots Of Bob Dylan, Various Artists (Blind Boy Fuller), 2009
Steady As She Goes, Hot Tuna, 2011
A Nod to Bob 2: An Artists Tribute to Bob Dylan on his 70th Birthday, Various Artists (Hot Tuna), 2011