Take Out Some Insurance


"Take Out Some Insurance" is a blues song released in 1959 by Jimmy Reed written by Charles Singleton and Waldenese Hall but originally credited to Jesse Stone. The copyright registration for the song lists its title as "Take Out Some Insurance on Me, Baby".. Tony Sheridan recorded it with different lyrics in 1961 with The Beatles as his backing band. Misidentified, it was released in Germany in 1964 as "If You Love Me, Baby " but subsequently as "Take Out Some Insurance on Me, Baby ", "Take Out Some Insurance on Me, Baby" or erroneously as "If You Love Me, Baby".

Original recording by Jimmy Reed

Riding a string of popular releases, Jimmy Reed recorded this song in early 1959 and it was released as a single in April with the title "Take Out Some Insurance". It was Billboard's R & B "Best Buy" for the week of May 11. According to this magazine, the song sold well in Louisiana but never made the national charts.

Tony Sheridan and the Beatles version

The song was covered by Tony Sheridan and The Beatles in Hamburg while they were playing at the Top Ten Club. On June 22, 1961, they recorded a version of the song. Bert Kaempfert produced the session for Polydor, of which a single with the songs "My Bonnie" and "The Saints" was issued in 1961. The other recordings were not immediately released. After the Beatles became popular, Polydor prepared three more singles of unreleased material, one of which contained their recording of this song. These songs were also compiled in the album The Beatles' First ! that same month. Due to the song's relative obscurity and the fact that the lyrics that Sheridan sang are almost entirely different from Reed's version, the song was mistitled at first as "If You Love Me, Baby". When the singles were sent to Atlantic Records in the United States for release in that country, apparently someone recognized the song. Corrected labels of the June album, The Beatles' First !, show the proper title; this album was released in England in 1967, in Canada in 1969 and in the US in 1970.
The American release of the single came slightly later due to Atlantic/Atco's decision to overdub drum and guitar. Due to one brief use of language that was inappropriate for radio in 1964, Atco also edited the song.

Release details

Singles

These four Polydor albums have the same tracklist.
1964 US album by Atco Records.
1984 CD reissue by Polydor.
American release: