I Wish You Would (Billy Boy Arnold song)
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| "I Wish You Would" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Billy Boy a.k.a. Billy Boy Arnold | ||||
| B-side | "I Was Fooled" | |||
| Released | June 1955[1] | |||
| Recorded | May 5, 1955[1] | |||
| Studio | Universal Recording, Chicago | |||
| Genre | Blues | |||
| Length | 2:55 | |||
| Label | Vee-Jay | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Billy Boy Arnold | |||
| Billy Boy Arnold singles chronology | ||||
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"I Wish You Would" is a song recorded by Chicago blues musician Billy Boy Arnold in 1955. It was developed while Arnold was performing with Bo Diddley and incorporates a Diddley-style rhythm. Called "a timeless Chicago blues classic",[2] "I Wish You Would" is Arnold's best-known song and has been recorded by several artists, including the Yardbirds, who recorded it for their debut single in 1964.
"I Wish You Would" was developed from "Diddy Diddy Dum Dum", a song Billy Boy Arnold wrote and sang with Bo Diddley. Leonard Chess, the owner/producer of Diddley's record label, Checker Records, planned to record the song as Diddley's second single. However, Arnold heard that Chess did not like him, so he took the song to Chess' rival, Vee-Jay Records.[3] Vee-Jay suggested that he change the lyrics, so Arnold came up with "I Wish You Would".
Early in the morning about the break of day
That's when my baby went away
Crying and pleading won't do you no good
Come back baby I wish you would
The song features a one-chord modal blues structure with a repeating guitar figure and Diddley-style rhythm.[4][5] Backing Arnold (vocal and harmonica) are Jody Williams (guitar), Milton Rector (bass), and Earl Phillips (drums). The single, credited to "Billy Boy", reportedly sold well,[5] but did not appear in the national record charts. Arnold revisited "I Wish You Would" several times during his career, producing new studio versions and live versions of the song for a variety of record labels.[6]
Arnold later commented that because of "I Wish You Would" he was unfairly labeled as a Bo Diddley stylist:
I was a straight blues guy ... Bo Diddley's stuff was rock'n'rollish, it wasn't straight blues, and when I did 'I Wish You Would,' and it had that similar type of beat, that just throws me in the same pot with Bo Diddley, 'cause everybody identified the song as a Bo Diddley type of song. But I had no intention of ever doing anything like Bo Diddley, 'cause that wasn't my style of music.[3]
