BABY, LET ME FOLLOW YOU DOWN

(trad./Gary Davis (?)/Fulton Allen(?)/arranged and adapted by Geno Foreman, Eric von Schmidt, Dave van Ronk and Bob Dylan)

Eric von Schmidt (Stephen Fenerjian)

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Recorded by Bob Dylan, Columbia Studios, New York, NY, Nov 20, 1961, released on "Bob Dylan," Mar 19, 1962;
Witmark Demos, prob. Jan 1964.

Performed on McKenzie Tape(s), New York, NY, Nov 1961;
Billy Faier Show, WBAI, New York, NY, Oct 1962;
during 1965 and 1966 tours with The Band (electric versions);
at Winterland, San Francisco, CA, Nov 25, 1975 (with The Band, released on "The Last Waltz," Apr 1978);
Cal Expo, Sacramento, CA, 9 Jun 1988;
Greek Theater, Berkely, CA, 3 Sep 1989
and Starlight Bowl, San Diego, CA, 6 Sep 1989.

LISTEN TO BOB DYLAN'S VERSION (EXCERPT) at

ERIC VON SCHMIDT:
Geno [Foreman] could fingerpick like a mother. We'd play all day. We knew different stuff and we'd show each other. He had learned "Baby, Let Me Lay It On You" off a Blind Boy Fuller '78 record and he taught me that....

Eric von Schmidt and Jim Rooney, Baby, Let Me Follow You Down, Garden City, 1979, p. 72.

• Some background on "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down"
  (1993 Eric von Schmidt SongTalk interview)

LYRICS AS RECORDED BY BOB DYLAN, Nov 20, 1961;
transcribed by Manfred Helfert.

SPOKEN: I first heard this from Ric von Schmidt.
He lives in Cambridge, Ric's a blues guitar player,
I met him one day on the green pastures of Harvard University.

Baby, let me follow you down, baby, let me follow you down,
Well, I'll do anything in this Godalmighty world
If you just let me follow you down.

Can I come home with you, baby, can I come home with you?
Yes, I'd do anything in this Godalmighty world
If you just let me come home with you.

Baby, let me follow you down, baby, let me follow you down,
Well, I'll do anything in this Godalmighty world
If you just let me follow you down,
yes, I'll do anything in this Godalmighty world
If you just let me follow you down.