View source for You've Got to Love Her with a Feeling

{{Short description|Early blues standard written by Tampa Red}}
{{Infobox song
| name     = Love with a Feeling
| cover    = Love with a Feeling single cover.jpg
| alt      =
| type     = single
| artist   = [[Tampa Red]]
| B-side   = When I Had a Good Woman
| released = {{Start date|1938}}
| recorded = Chicago, June 16, 1938
| studio   =
| genre    = [[Blues]]
| length   = 2:55
| label    = [[Bluebird Records|Bluebird]]
| writer   = Hudson Whittaker {{a.k.a.}} Tampa Red
| producer = 
| misc     =
}}
"'''You've Got to Love Her with a Feeling'''", or "'''Love with a Feeling'''" as it was originally titled,  is a blues song first recorded by [[Tampa Red]] in 1938.  Numerous blues artists have interpreted and recorded the song, making it a [[blues standard]].<ref name="Herzhaft">
{{cite encyclopedia
| last = Herzhaft
| first = Gerard
| encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of the Blues
| section = Love Her with a Feeling
| year = 1992
| location = Fayetteville, Arkansas
| publisher = [[University of Arkansas Press]]
| isbn = 1-55728-252-8
| page = [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofbl00herzh/page/459 459]
| url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofbl00herzh/page/459
}}</ref>   When [[Freddie King]] adapted it in 1961, it became his first single to appear in the record charts.

==Original song==
Tampa Red recorded "Love with a Feeling" as a mid-tempo twelve-bar blues.  Accompanying Red, who sang and played slide guitar, were [[Black Bob (musician)|Black Bob Hudson]] on piano and an unknown bass player.<ref>
{{cite AV media notes
| title = It Hurts Me Too
| others = [[Tampa Red]]
| year = 1994
| last = Fancourt
| first = Les
| type = Album notes
| publisher = Indigo Recordings
| id = IGOCD 2004
| page = 3

}}</ref>  Although Tampa Red wrote several bawdy blues, "Love with a Feeling" is tame, with only one verse suggesting the more colorful versions to come:
{{poemquote|
Now the coppers brought her in, she didn't need no bail
She shook it for the judge, and he put the cops in jail
'Cause she shook it with a feeling, yes she shook it with a feeling
Yes she loves with a feeling, or she don't love at all}}

Not long after recording "Love with a Feeling", other blues artists began recording their versions of the song.  In May 1950, Tampa Red recorded an updated version titled "Love Her with a Feelin{{' "}}.<ref name="Herzhaft"/>  The song was performed as a Chicago-style blues with Tampa Red on electric slide guitar with blues pianist [[Little Johnny Jones (pianist)|Little Johnny Jones]] and a bassist and drummer.  He also recorded it as a solo piece with vocal and electric guitar in 1961 for his ''Don't Tampa with the Blues'' album.<ref>
{{cite web
| url = https://www.allmusic.com/album/dont-tampa-with-the-blues-mw0000267734
| last = Dahl
| first = Bill
| title = Tampa Red: ''Don't Tampa with the Blues'' – Review
| website = [[AllMusic]]
| access-date = May 6, 2019
}}</ref>

==Freddie King rendition==
In 1960, [[Freddie King]] adapted the song as "You've Got to Love Her with a Feeling".<ref name="Rhino">
{{cite AV media notes
| title = Hide Away: The Best of Freddy King
| others = [[Freddy King]]
| year = 1993
| type = Album notes
| publisher = [[Rhino Records]]
| id = R2 71510
| at = CD booklet
}}</ref> In his arrangement, he uses breaks where he sings the first four bars of each twelve-bar verse without the usual instrumental accompaniment. The recording took place in Cincinnati, Ohio, on August 26, 1960, with King on vocal and guitar, [[Sonny Thompson]] on piano, Bill Willis on bass, Phillip Paul on drums, [[Clifford Scott (musician)|Clifford Scott]] on tenor saxophone and Gene Redd on trumpet.<ref name="Rhino"/>

The song was released as the B-side of the "[[Have You Ever Loved a Woman]]" single on [[King Records (USA)|King Records]] subsidiary, [[Federal Records]].<ref name="Rhino"/>  Of the two songs, only "You've Got to Love Her with a Feeling" appeared in the record charts. In 1961, the single reached number 93 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]],<ref>
{{cite magazine
| url = https://www.billboard.com/music/freddy-king
| title = Freddy King: Chart History – Hot 100
| magazine = [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]
| access-date = May 6, 2019
}}</ref> but did not appear in the magazine's R&B chart.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Whitburn
| first = Joel
| author-link = Joel Whitburn
| title = Top R&B Singles 1942–1988
| year = 1988
| location = Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin
| publisher = [[Record Research]]
| isbn = 0-89820-068-7
| page = [https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whit/page/241 241]
| url = https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whit/page/241
}}</ref>  The song is also included on King's first album, ''[[Freddy King Sings]]'' (1961).<ref name="Bedard">
{{cite web
| url = https://www.allmusic.com/album/freddy-king-sings-mw0002689391
| title = ''Freddy King Sings'' – Review
| last = Bedard
| first = George
| website = [[AllMusic]]
| access-date = May 6, 2019
}}</ref>  On his single and albums, King is often listed as the songwriter, sometimes with Thompson as co-writer.<ref name="Rhino"/><ref name="Bedard"/>

==Junior Wells version==
Chicago blues singer and blues harp player [[Junior Wells]] played up the bawdy aspects of the song in several recordings, with blues historian Gerard Herzhaft only commenting "Junior Wells was particularly able to use the advice of Tampa Red."<ref name="Herzhaft"/> Wells recorded the song as "You've Gotta Love Her with a Feeling" for his [[Delmark Records]] album ''On Tap'' (1974).<ref>
{{Cite encyclopedia
| last = Dahl
| first = Bill
| year = 1996
| title = On Tap
| editor-last = Erlewine
| editor-first = Michael
| editor-link = Michael Erlewine
| editor-last2 = Bogdanov
| editor-first2 = Vladimir
| editor-link2 = Vladimir Bogdanov (editor)
| editor-last3 = Woodstra
| editor-first3 = Chris
| editor-last4 = Koda
| editor-first4 = Cub
| editor-link4 = Cub Koda
| encyclopedia = [[All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues|All Music Guide to the Blues]]
| location = San Francisco
| publisher = [[Miller Freeman, Inc.|Miller Freeman Books]]
| isbn = 0-87930-424-3
| page = 275
}}</ref><ref>
{{Cite AV media notes
| year = 1974
| title = On Tap
| type = Album notes
| others = [[Junior Wells]]
| location = Chicago
| publisher = [[Delmark Records]]
| id = DS-635
| at = Back cover
}}</ref> In November 1996, a live version was recorded at [[Buddy Guy's Legends]] club in Chicago.<ref name="Hadley"/> According to music journalist Frank-John Hadley, Wells "turned in an especially gripping vocal on 'Love Her with a Felling', employing his gnarled enunciations to add an almost unspeakable lustiness to lyrics concerning, well, you know what."<ref name="Hadley">
{{Cite AV media notes
| last = Hadley
| first = Frank-John
| year = 1997
| title = Live at Buddy Guy's Legends
| type = Album notes 
| others = [[Junior Wells]] 
| location = Cleveland, Ohio
| publisher = [[Telarc Records]] 
| id = CD-83412
| at = CD booklet
}}</ref> The recording is included on Wells' ''Live at Buddy Guy's Legends'', released in 1997 by [[Telarc Records]].<ref name="Hadley"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Freddie King}}

[[Category:1938 songs]]
[[Category:Tampa Red songs]]
[[Category:1960 singles]]
[[Category:Freddie King songs]]
[[Category:Blues songs]]
[[Category:Taj Mahal (musician) songs]]