extensive subsequent covers, include:
"29 Ways" – Marc Cohn, Willie Dixon, The Blues Band
"300 Pounds Of Joy" – Howlin' Wolf, Tom Jones & Jools Holland
"After Five Long Years" – Willie Dixon
"As Long as I Have You" – Led Zeppelin
"Back Door Man"[9] – Howlin' Wolf, The Doors, Grateful Dead, Shadows of Knight, Bob Weir
"Big Boss Man" – Jimmy Reed, Elvis Presley, The Animals, The Grateful Dead
"Bring It on Home" – Sonny Boy Williamson II, Led Zeppelin, Van Morrison, Dread Zeppelin, Johnny Thunders
"Built for Comfort" – Howlin' Wolf, Canned Heat, UFO
"Crazy For My Baby" – Little Walter, Charlie Musselwhite, Willie Dixon
"Crazy Love" – Buddy Guy
"Crazy Mixed Up World" – Little Walter
"Close to You" – Muddy Waters, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Doors
"Dead Presidents" – Little Walter, The J. Geils Band
"Diddy Wah Diddy" – Bo Diddley, Captain Beefheart, The Blues Band
"Do Me Right" – Lowell Fulson
"Do the Do" – Howlin' Wolf
"Don't Go No Farther" – Muddy Waters
"Don't Tell Me Nothin´" – Willie Dixon – used in the movie The Color of Money
"Down in the Bottom" – Howlin' Wolf, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings
"Earthquake and Hurricane" – Willie Dixon
"Eternity" – Grateful Dead
"Everybody Needs Something" – Little Walter
"Everything But You" – Jimmy Witherspoon
"Everything's Got a Time" – Willie Dixon
"Evil" – Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Canned Heat, Captain Beefheart, Monster Magnet, Derek and the Dominos, Gary Moore, Cactus, The Faces, Steve Miller, Koko Taylor
"Flamin' Mamie" – Willie Dixon
"Help Me" – Sonny Boy Williamson II
"Gone Daddy Gone" - the Violent Femmes' Gordon Gano incorporated elements of "I Just Want To Make Love To You" into his track; the former was later covered by Gnarls Barkley
"Grave Digger Blues" – Willie Dixon
"Groanin' the Blues" – Willie Dixon, Eric Clapton
"Hidden Charms" – Howlin' Wolf, Link Wray
"Hoochie Coochie Man"[6] – Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Shadows of Knight, Eric Burdon, The Nashville Teens, Dion, The Allman Brothers Band, Alexis Korner, Steppenwolf, Chuck Berry, Motörhead, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Healey, Manfred Mann
"Howlin' For My Baby" – Howlin' Wolf, George Thorogood
"I Ain't Superstitious" – Howlin' Wolf, The Yardbirds, Grateful Dead, Megadeth, The Jeff Beck Group, Chris Spedding
"I Can't Quit You Baby" – Little Milton, Otis Rush, Willie Dixon, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Led Zeppelin, Gary Moore, Dread Zeppelin, Nine Below Zero
"I Can't Understand" – Los Lobos (co-written with Cesar Rojas)
"I Don't Make Sense (You Can't Make Peace)" – Willie Dixon
"If the Sea Was Whiskey" – Chris Thile
"I Got What It Takes" – Koko Taylor
"I Just Want To Make Love To You"[6] – Muddy Waters, The Animals, The Kinks, The Yardbirds, Shadows of Knight, Mungo Jerry, Grateful Dead, Foghat, The Rolling Stones, Etta James, Van Morrison, Paul Rodgers, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, April Wine, Robben Ford, Meat Puppets, Cold Blood
"I Love the Life I Live, I Live the Life I Love" – Muddy Waters, Willie Nelson
"I'm Ready"[6] – Muddy Waters, Humble Pie, Buddy Guy, Aerosmith, Long John Baldry, Eric Burdon, George Thorogood, Albert King
"Insane Asylum" – Koko Taylor, Kathy McDonald and Sly Stone, Diamanda Galás, Asylum Street Spankers, The Detroit Cobras, Oxbow feat. Marianne Faithful
"I Don't Play" – Robben Ford
"I Got My Brand on You" – Muddy Waters
"It Don't Make Sense (You Can't Make Peace)" – Styx
"I Want To Be Loved" – Muddy Waters, The Rolling Stones
"Let Me Love You Baby" – Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck, Muddy Waters, B. B. King
"Little Baby" – Howlin' Wolf, The Rolling Stones
"Little Red Rooster"[6] – Howlin' Wolf, Sam Cooke, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Grateful Dead, The Doors, Luther Allison, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Big Mama Thornton, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
"Love, Life & Money" – Johnny Winter
"Mellow Down Easy" – Little Walter & His Jukes, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The Black Crowes, Carey Bell, ZZ Top, Jimmy Reed, Holly Golightly
"Million Dollar Baby" – Dizzy Gillespie
"My Babe"[6] – Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers, Spencer Davis Group, John P. Hammond, Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Othar Turner & The Rising Star Fire and Drum Band
"My Baby's Sweeter" – Little Walter, Fleetwood Mac
"My Captain" – Muddy Waters
"My John the Conqueror Root" – Muddy Waters
"Nervous" – Willie Dixon
"Oh Baby" – Little Walter
"One More Chance With You" – Little Walter
"Pain In My Heart" – Willie Dixon, The Rolling Stones, Otis Redding, Grateful Dead
"Pie in the Sky" – Willie Dixon
"Pretty Thing" – Bo Diddley, Pretty Things, Canned Heat
"Seventh Son" – Willie Mabon, Mose Allison, Bill Haley, Johnny Rivers, Sting, Climax Blues Band, Long John Baldry
"Same Thing" – The Band
"Sin And City" – Buddy Guy
"Shake For Me" – Stevie Ray Vaughan
"Sit and Cry (The Blues)" – Buddy Guy (co-written with Buddy Guy)
"Spoonful"[6] – Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Shadows of Knight, Dion, Paul Butterfield, Cream, Canned Heat, Grateful Dead, Ten Years After, The Who, Etta James Salty Dog
"Study War No More" – Willie Dixon
"The Same Thing" – Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, George Thorogood, The Allman Brothers Band, Sue Foley, Marc Ford, Grateful Dead
"The Seventh Son" – Willie Dixon
"Study No More" – Willie Dixon
"Third Degree" – Eddie Boyd, Willie Dixon, Eric Clapton, Leslie West
"Tollin' Bells" – Lowell Fulson, Savoy Brown Blues Band, Robert Cray
"Too Late" – Little Milton, Little Walter
"Too Many Cooks" – Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Mick Jagger
"Violent Love" – Otis Rush, The Big Three, Oingo Boingo, Dr. Feelgood
"Walkin' The Blues" – Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, John Kay
"Wang Dang Doodle"[6] – Koko Taylor, Howlin' Wolf, Grateful Dead, Savoy Brown, Box Tops, PJ Harvey, Rufus Thomas, The Pointer Sisters, The Blues Band, Widespread Panic
"Weak Brain, Narrow Mind" – Willie Dixon, Widespread Panic
"When My Left Eye Jumps" – Buddy Guy
"When The Lights Go Out" – Jimmy Witherspoon, Kim Wilson
"Who" – Little Walter
"Wigglin' Worm" – Willie Dixon
"You Can't Judge A Book By Looking At Its Cover" – Bo Diddley, Shadows of Knight, Cactus, The Yardbirds, Beat Farmers, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Tim Hardin, The Merseybeats, Elliott Murphy, Long John Baldry, The Monkees, Eric Clapton, Roy Buchanan.
"You Don't Love Me" – Booker T. & the M.G.s, Al Kooper and Stephen Stills
"You Know My Love" – Otis Rush, Gary Moore
"You'll Be Mine" – Howlin' Wolf, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Dr. Feelgood
"You Need Love" – Muddy Waters, Mick Clark Band
"Whole Lotta Love" – Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" was appropriated, without credit, from Dixon's "You Need Love". Although the main guitar riff was composed by Jimmy Page himself, Robert Plant based the lyrics on Dixon's song. Dixon and his music publisher received credit and royalties, after a 1985 lawsuit was settled out of court.
"You Need Loving" recorded by The Small Faces in 1965, is another uncredited loose version of the song
"You Shook Me"[9] – Otis Rush, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Jeff Beck Group, Led Zeppelin, Dread Zeppelin
"Young Fashioned Ways" – Muddy Waters
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
You may also see Willie Dixon & The Allstars and Chicago Blues Allstars on Last.fm.
Tell That Woman
Willie Dixon Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I thought I'd bring me some money back.
Big boat up the river and she can't come down.
My woman on the levee wearing a frown.
Big boat up the river and she can't come down
Big boat up the river and she can't come down
Big boat up the river and she can't come down
Somebody tell that woman
Somebody tell that woman
Somebody tell that woman
There's a big boat up the river and she can't come down
Big boat up the river and she can't come down
Big boat up the river blowing loud and fast
If she don't get to deep water she'll never land
And my woman on the levee shaking her hand,
She thinks she's gonna quit me for another man
Big boat up the river and she can't come down
Big boat up the river and she can't come down
Big boat up the river and she can't come down
Big boat up the river and she can't come down
Somebody tell that woman
Somebody tell that woman
Somebody tell that woman
There's a big boat up the river and she can't come down
Big boat up the river and she can't come down
Big boat up the river blowing loud and fast
And my woman on the levee feeling mighty sad
She thinks I got the money that I once had had
But when I get her home it's gonna be too bad.
Big boat up the river and she can't come down
Big boat up the river and she can't come down
Big boat up the river and she can't come down
Big boat up the river and she can't come down
Somebody tell that woman
Somebody tell that woman
Somebody tell that woman
There's a big boat up the river and she can't come down
The song “Tell That Woman” was written by Willie Dixon and released in 1957. The song is a blues classic about a man who goes up to the levee to pack some sacks and make some money, but when he returns, he finds his woman on the levee wearing a frown because there's a big boat up the river and it can't come down. The situation is causing her to become sad because she thinks the boat will separate her from her man, and that he might leave her for another woman.
As the song progresses, the man realizes that his woman is unhappy because she thinks he has lost money and has gone bankrupt. The big boat up the river is the reason for her disappointment as it prevents his woman from being able to come down to meet him. However, the man is not bankrupt, and when he does get her home, she will regret her assumptions. The song is a beautiful representation of the classic blues genre, which is known for its lyrical depth and emotional impact.
In summary, the song tells the story of a man who goes up to the levee to pack some sacks, only to find his woman upset because a big boat is preventing her from coming down to meet him. Throughout the song, the man tries to reassure her that everything will be fine and that they will overcome their troubles together. The song is a classic example of the blues genre and represents the struggles and triumphs of African Americans in the mid-twentieth century.
Line by Line Meaning
I went up the levee to pack some sacks
I headed up to the levee to fill some sacks with goods.
And I thought I'd bring me some money back.
I planned to earn some cash from the labor I was doing.
Big boat up the river and she can't come down.
There's a large boat moving upstream and it can't come back down river.
My woman on the levee wearing a frown.
My lady is standing on the edge of the levee, not happy with the situation.
Big boat up the river blowing loud and fast.
The boat moving upstream is making loud and quick sounds.
If she don't get to deep water she'll never land.
The boat won't be able to stop and dock without finding deeper water.
And my woman on the levee shaking her hand,
My lady is waving her hand as I leave for work on the levee.
She thinks she's gonna quit me for another man.
She believes that she's going to leave me for someone else.
And my woman on the levee feeling mighty sad,
My lady is very upset and unhappy as she waits for me to come home.
She thinks I got the money that I once had had,
She believes that I still have the wealth I once had but no longer do.
But when I get her home it's gonna be too bad.
Once I return home to her, she'll regret ever thinking I didn't have money.
Somebody tell that woman
Inform that woman of the boat upstream.
There's a big boat up the river and she can't come down.
There's a significant vessel moving upstream that cannot return downstream.
Big boat up the river and she can't come down,
The boat is sizable and unable to come back down the river.
Big boat up the river and she can't come down,
There's a substantial boat upstream that can't return downstream.
Big boat up the river and she can't come down,
The river has a significant vessel moving upstream that cannot come back down.
Contributed by Mia A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
George A
What an amazing voice!
Meatsuit Sublimator
These dudes are like primordial Nirvana:
three guys who all sing a little and play instruments at the same time! Dixon and Cobain???
AILTON DE LIMA JÚNIOR
Conte àquela mulher,é minha vida baby!!! Tom.