Bob Dylan / 2:39
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica
Pete Drake: pedal steel guitar
Charlie McCoy: bass
Kenneth Buttrey: drums, tambourine
Recording Studio
Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville: November 29, 1967
Technical Team
Producer: Bob Johnston
Sound Engineer: Charlie Bragg
“I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” is the most accessible song on John Wesley Harding, even in Dylan’s entire repertoire. There are no hidden messages, no references to ancient texts—it’s just a love ballad. “Close your eyes, close the door / You don’t have to worry anymore” seems very trivial. However, there are a few words that have a deeper meaning: “Well, that mockingbird’s gonna sail away / We’re gonna forget it / That big, fat moon is gonna shine like a spoon.” These lines show the influence of Hank Williams, a pioneer of country music, who was also inspired by the mockingbird. Dylan said in the liner notes of Biograph, that he would like to claim to have been free of all tensions when writing this song, “but I’m probably wrong… sometimes you may be burning up inside, but still do something that seems so cool and calm and collected.” Finally, he tried to explain his original intent in writing the song, “Actually, it could have been written from a baby’s point of view, that’s occurred to me.”12
“I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” was recorded during the final session for John Wesley Harding on November 29, 1967. As for the two previous tracks, the number of takes required is unknown. The atmosphere in the studio was relaxed, and this favored the laid-back interpretation of this song in a very country style. “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” has two distinctions. First, although its three-verse structure is common to the other songs on the album, with the exception of “The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest,” Dylan adds a bridge. And, second, a tambourine is hit four times at 1:42 for the first time in a Dylan song. Kenneth Buttrey probably provided this part. Each musician executes his part without any problems, including Pete Drake, who played twice on the album.
Since the Isle of Wight Festival with the Band on August 31, 1969, Dylan has performed “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” onstage more than four hundred times. Kris Kristofferson performed this romantic ballad live at the concert celebrating thirty years of Dylan’s career at Madison Square Garden in New York City on October 16, 1992.