Joseph Amos Milburn, Jr., one of thirteen children, was playing tunes on the piano by the age of five years. He enlisted in the United States Navy when he was fifteen and earned thirteen battle stars in the Philippines, before returning to Houston and organizing a sixteen-piece band playing in Houston clubs and was Managed by William & Geneva Church. Milburn participated with the Houston jazz and blues musicians. He was a polished pianist and performer and during 1946 attracted the attention of a woman who arranged a recording session with Aladdin Records in Los Angeles, California. Milburn's relationship with Aladdin lasted eight years during which he produced more than 75 sides. His cover version of "Down the Road a Piece" (1946) was a blues song with a Texas boogie beat that was similar in many respects to rock music. However, none became popular until 1949 when seven of his singles got the attention of the R&B audience. "Hold Me Baby" and "Chicken Shack Boogie" landed numbers eight and nine on Billboard's survey of 1949's R&B Bestsellers. He became one of the main performers associated with the Central Avenue music scene in Los Angeles. He was also a popular touring artist, and won awards from both Down Beat magazine (Best Blues and Jazz Star) and Billboard magazine (Top R&B Artist). Among his best-known songs was "One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer". During 1950 Milburn's "Bad, Bad, Whiskey" scored the top of the R&B record chart and began a series of drinking songs (none written by Milburn, but several composed by Rudy Toombs). However, there is not any evidence that Milburn had an alcohol problem.
Milburn continued his successful drinking songs through 1952 ("Thinking and Drinking", "Trouble in Mind") and was by now touring the country playing clubs. While touring the Midwest that summer, he announced that he would disband his combo team and continue as a solo act and that autumn he joined Charles Brown for a Southern concert tour. For the next few years each of his tours was composed of a series of one-nighters. After three years of solo performing he returned to Houston during 1956 to reform his band. During 1957 Milburn's releases with Aladdin Records did not sell well, and the record label, having its own problems, terminated. He tried to regain commercial success with a few more releases with Ace Records but his time had passed. Radio airplay was emphasizing on the teenage market.
Milburn contributed to the R&B Yuletide canon twice. The first was in 1949, with "Let's Make Christmas Merry, Baby", on Aladdin Records, and then again during 1960 with "Christmas (Comes but Once a Year)" for King Records. The song appeared as the b-side of Brown's holiday classic "Please Come Home for Christmas".
Milburn's final recording was for an album by Johnny Otis. This was during 1972 after he had been incapacitated by a stroke, so much so that Otis had to play the left-hand piano parts for his enfeebled old friend. His second stroke resulted in amputation of a leg because of circulatory problems. He died soon after at the age of 52 years from a third stroke.
The Texan boogie-woogie pianist and singer was an important performer of blues music during the years immediately after World War II. Milburn was one of the first performers to switch from sophisticated jazz arrangements to a louder "jump" blues. He began to emphasize rhythm and technical qualities of voice and instrumentation second. His energetic songs, about getting "high", were admired by fellow musicians, such as Little Willie Littlefield, Floyd Dixon and his prime disciple, Fats Domino.
He was a commercial success for eleven years and influenced many performers. Fats Domino credited Milburn consistently as an influence on his music.
One commentator noted, "Milburn excelled at good-natured, upbeat romps about booze and partying, imbued with a vibrant sense of humour and double entendre, as well as vivid, down-home imagery in his lyrics."
Atomic Baby
Amos Milburn Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I love my baby, she makes me oh so blue
She keeps me so worried, that I call her U 92
She's got a high potential and a low resistance point
She's got a high potential and a low resistance point
I have to be so careful, that gal might blow up the joint
She starts my motor and it runs all night
She's my atomic baby, yeah, she's my atomic baby
She's my atomic baby and I have to handle her with care
They can build them small, they can build them large
But they can't build a motor that will stand a charge
With my atomic baby, she's my atomic baby
She's my atomic baby and I have to handle her with care
Yeah, she's a little bitty mama who needs a whole lot of room
She's a little bitty mama that needs a whole lot of room
She can ignite your rockets and lead you onto the moon
The lyrics to Amos Milburn's song "Atomic Baby" are seemingly about the singer's lover who he describes as being like an atomic bomb. He loves his baby but she makes him feel "oh so blue" because she keeps him so worried that he calls her "U 92," a reference to the radioactivity of Uranium-92. He describes her as having "a high potential and a low resistance point," which suggests that she can be explosive and unstable, requiring him to be careful in handling her as she might "blow up the joint."
The second verse continues with the atomic imagery, claiming that his baby heats his room, lights his light, and starts his motor running all night long. He reiterates that she is his "atomic baby" and that he must handle her with care because there is no motor that can stand a charge like she can. The final verse describes her as a little bitty mama who needs plenty of room and can ignite his rockets and lead him to the moon. The lyrics are a humorous use of scientific terminology to describe a passionate and potentially dangerous relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
I love my baby, she makes me oh so blue
I am deeply in love with my significant other, but their actions cause me great emotional distress.
She keeps me so worried, that I call her U 92
My lover causes me so much anxiety that I have given her a nickname in reference to a radioactive isotope.
She's got a high potential and a low resistance point
My partner has the potential to cause great damage, but it takes very little to trigger it.
I have to be so careful, that gal might blow up the joint
I must exercise extreme caution in handling my significant other, as they are capable of creating a destructive explosion.
Yeah, she heats my room, she lights my light
My partner provides warmth and illumination in my life.
She starts my motor and it runs all night
My significant other arouses me both physically and emotionally, keeping me energized throughout the night.
She's my atomic baby, yeah, she's my atomic baby
My partner is my explosive, yet irresistible and vital love interest.
She's my atomic baby and I have to handle her with care
I must approach my partner with care, as they are capable of causing great harm if handled carelessly.
They can build them small, they can build them large
The size of a machine does not determine its power or safety.
But they can't build a motor that will stand a charge
Even the most well-built machine cannot withstand the power of my partner.
She's my atomic baby and I have to handle her with care
I must treat my lover with gentleness and caution, as they are a force to be reckoned with.
Yeah, she's a little bitty mama who needs a whole lot of room
My significant other is small in stature, but their energy demands and explosive power require significant space.
She can ignite your rockets and lead you onto the moon
My explosive lover has the power to propel and elevate, leading to great heights and adventures.
Writer(s): Amos Milburn Copyright: Emi Longitude Music
Contributed by Nathaniel A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@crocosnake2761
The dislikes are from those damb synths hiding in Diamond City
@zshadows
"She can ignite your rockets and lead you onto the moon"
A bit of perspective: this was recorded long before any of the moon landings or even human spaceflight.
@ColonyChap
zshadows It's a conspiracy!
@theshrekening2157
There were v2 rockets though
@PMMillard
it was a pipe dream since the first jet.
@Goldberg1337
His Atomic Baby took him to the Moon long before Armstrong and Aldrin ever set foot. ;)
@legomangamesnetwork1151
I’ve noticed the same thing with Rocket 69 by Todd Rhodes and his Toddlers with Connie Allen, the some was from 1951, but the lyric we’ll take off for star and the moon is not to far, is ironic because the number in the song’s title, 69, is also the year that man landed on the moon, although this may just be a coincidence, which is more likely due to the song’s sexual nature, but every time I hear I can’t stop thinking that.
@soursam1515
Re visting cold war music since the second one just started.
@ethanlynch908
Eyyyy, 2022/End of the World Imminent Squad!
@anothersettlementneedsyour9628
Almost every song here sounds great at 1:25 speed, except those songs that are great even without speeding up.