Milton was born James Milton Campbell, Jr., in the Mississippi Delta town of Inverness and raised in Greenville by a farmer and local blues musician.[2] By age twelve he had learned the guitar and was a street musician, chiefly influenced by T-Bone Walker and his blues and rock and roll contemporaries.[2] In 1952, while still a teenager playing in local bars, he caught the attention of Ike Turner, who was at that time a talent scout for Sam Phillips' Sun Records. He signed a contract with the label and recorded a number of singles. None of them broke through onto radio or sold well at record stores, however, and Milton left the Sun label by 1955.[2]
After trying several labels without notable success, including Trumpet Records,[3] Milton set up the St. Louis based Bobbin Records label, which ultimately scored a distribution deal with Leonard Chess' Chess Records.[2] As a record producer, Milton helped bring artists such as Albert King and Fontella Bass to fame, while experiencing his own success for the first time.[2] After a number of small format and regional hits, his 1962 single, "So Mean to Me," broke onto the Billboard R&B chart, eventually peaking at #14.
Following a short break to tour, managing other acts, and spending time recording new material, he returned to music in 1965 with a more polished sound, similar to that of B.B. King. After the ill-received "Blind Man" (R&B: #86), he released back-to-back hit singles. The first, "We're Gonna Make It," a blues-infused soul song, topped the R&B chart and broke through onto Top 40 radio, a format then dominated largely by white artists. He followed the song with #4 R&B hit "Who's Cheating Who?" All three songs were featured on his album, We're Gonna Make It, released that summer.
Throughout the late 1960s Milton released a number of moderately successful singles, but did not issue a further album until 1969, with Grits Ain't Groceries featuring his hit of the same name, as well as "Just a Little Bit" and "Baby, I Love You". With the death of Leonard Chess the same year, Milton's distributor, Checker Records fell into disarray, and Milton joined the Stax label two years later.[2] Adding complex orchestration to his works, Milton scored hits with "That's What Love Will Make You Do" and "What It Is" from his live album, What It Is: Live at Montreux. He appeared in the documentary film, Wattstax, which was released in 1973.[4] Stax, however, had been losing money since late in the previous decade and was forced into bankruptcy in 1975.[2]
After leaving Stax, Milton struggled to maintain a career, moving first to Evidence, then the MCA imprint Mobile Fidelity Records, before finding a home at the independent record label, Malaco Records, where he remained for much of the remainder of his career.[2] His last hit single, "Age Ain't Nothin' But a Number," was released in 1983 from the album of the same name.[2] In 1988, Little Milton was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and won a W.C. Handy Award.[2] His most final album, Think of Me, was released in May 2005 on the Telarc imprint, and included writing and guitar on three songs by Peter Shoulder of the UK-based blues-rock trio Winterville.
The name 'Little Milton' was reused for Gerald Bostock, the fictional boy poet central to Jethro Tull's 1972 record Thick as a Brick.
Milton died on August 4, 2005 from complications following a stroke.
Stand by Me
Little Milton Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only
light we'll see
No, I won't be afraid
No, I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand
So darling, darling
Stand by me
Oh, stand by me
Oh, stand
Stand by me,
Stand by me
If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
Or the mountains should crumble
to {in?} the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry
No, I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand
Stand by me
So darling, darling
Stand by me
Oh, stand by me
Oh, stand
Stand by me
Stand by me
Whenever you're in trouble
Won't you
Stand by me
Oh, stand by me
Oh, stand
Stand by me
Stand by me
In Little Milton's song Stand by Me, the singer is talking about the comfort that a loved one can provide in difficult times. The opening lines suggest that it is nighttime and there is no light, except the moon. The singer is not afraid, however, because as long as his/her loved one stands by him/her, he/she will be okay. The repetition of the phrase "stand by me" serves to emphasize the importance of having someone to rely on in times of need.
Later in the song, the singer takes the hypothetical scenario of the sky falling and mountains crumbling and suggests that he/she still wouldn't be scared as long as the loved one stands by him/her. The repeated phrase "stand by me" is again invoked, driving home the idea that having someone you can count on provides a sense of safety and security. The final lines of the song serve as an appeal to the loved one, asking them to always "stand by me" whenever the singer is in trouble.
Overall, the song is a testament to the power of companionship and the comfort that it can provide in difficult times. The repeated phrase "stand by me" effectively conveys the importance of having someone to rely on.
Line by Line Meaning
When the night has come
When darkness has descended
And the land is dark
And everything around is pitch-black
And the moon is the only
light we'll see
And the only source of light we have is the moon
No, I won't be afraid
I will not succumb to fear
No, I won't be afraid
I will not give in to fear
Just as long as you stand
Stand by me
As long as you stand by my side
So darling, darling
So my dear, beloved
Stand by me
Be my support
Oh, stand by me
Oh, stay close to me
Oh, stand
Stand by me,
Stand by me
Oh, be with me, support me, stand by me
If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
If the sky collapses in front of us
Or the mountains should crumble
to {in?} the sea
Or the tallest of mountains plunges into the ocean
I won't cry, I won't cry
I will not shed tears
No, I won't shed a tear
I will not let grief get the best of me
Just as long as you stand
Stand by me
As long you remain steadfast by my side
So darling, darling
So my dear, beloved
Stand by me
Be my support
Oh, stand by me
Oh, stay close to me
Oh, stand
Stand by me
Stand by me
Oh, be with me, support me, stand by me
Whenever you're in trouble
Won't you
If ever you find yourself in a bind
Stand by me
Be my support
Oh, stand by me
Oh, stay close to me
Oh, stand
Stand by me
Stand by me
Oh, be with me, support me, stand by me
Lyrics © DistroKid, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Ben King, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind