I Just Want to Make Love to You

Muddy Waters recorded I Just Want to Make Love to You in Chicago in 1954 for Chess with Willie Dixon on bass, Little Walter on harmonica, Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Otis Spann on piano, and Fred Below on drums. Dixon wrote the song and shaped it around Waters vocal and the tight Chicago band sound. Released by Chess in 1954 under the title Just Make Love to Me, the single reached number 4 on the Billboard R&B chart. It became one of Waters major Willie Dixon songs and a strong example of the Chess blues sound at its commercial peak. I Just Want to Make Love to You became a blues standard through later recordings by artists including Etta James, the Rolling Stones, Foghat, and Van Morrison. The song remains one of the most widely recognized pieces in both Waters and Dixons catalogues.