"I Can't Quit You Baby"
Song by Led Zeppelin from the album Led Zeppelin
Released	January 12, 1969 (1969-01-12)
Recorded	October 1968
Studio	Olympic Studios, London
Genre	Blues rock
Length	4:42
Label	Atlantic
Writer(s)	Willie Dixon
Producer(s)	Jimmy Page

"I Can't Quit You Baby" is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Chicago blues artist Otis Rush in 1956. It was Rush's first recording and became a record chart hit. The song, a slow twelve-bar blues, has been recorded by various artists, including Led Zeppelin, who included it on their debut album.

"I Can't Quit You Baby" was a vehicle for arranger/producer Dixon to launch Rush and Cobra Records, as it was the first single for both. In this regard, it was a success, reaching number six on Billboard's Rhythm & Blues Records chart in 1956. In his autobiography, Willie Dixon explained that "I Can't Quit You Baby" was written about a preoccupied relationship Rush was having at the time. Dixon used this statement to draw out an impassioned performance by Rush.

Well, I can't quit you baby
But I got to put you down a little while
Well, I can't quit you baby
But I got to put you down a little while
Well, you done made me mess up my happy home

The song was Rush's first recording and took place in Chicago around July 1956. Accompanying Rush on lead guitar and vocal are Big Walter Horton on harmonica, Red Holloway on tenor sax, Lafayette Leake on piano, Wayne Bennett on second guitar, Dixon on bass, and Al Duncan on drums.

Otis Rush revisited "I Can't Quit You Baby" several times over the years, most notably when he recorded the song for the 1966 blues compilation Chicago|The Blues|Today! Vol. 2 (Vanguard 79217). This version featured an altered arrangement with an unusual turnaround (tonic chord followed by a half-step above the tonic chord) and staccato guitar fills. Most cover versions are based on Rush's Vanguard rendition.

English rock band Led Zeppelin recorded "I Can't Quit You Baby" for their multi-platinum 1969 debut album Led Zeppelin. Their rendition generally follows Otis Rush's 1966 Vanguard version, but with different instrumentation and dynamics. It also incorporates a break during the guitar solo where Jimmy Page plays a four-bar unaccompanied set-up before relaunching into the solo. Although missing the turnaround coming out of the solo, "I Can't Quit You Baby" "ends up as one of the most successful pieces on the first album, with no flat spots and a perfectly symmetrical form, all within the classic blues tradition", according to biographer Keith Shadwick.

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