RESCUE ME1
Written by: Raynard Miner, W. Carl Smith & Fontella Bass2
Produced by: Davis-Smith-Miner, under the supervision of Billy Davis. Arranged by: Phil Wright Performed by: Fontella Bass3
Lyrics transcribed by: bri4daz@mp3lyrics.org
First released:4
Single: 1965 [Length: 2:48]
Album: 1966 [Length: 2:52]

1In 1965, "Rescue Me" was released as a single by Fontella Bass and would prove the biggest hit of her career. It placed #4 on the Billboard "Hot 100," as well as hitting #11 on the U.K.'s singles chart. The hit version of the song is often mistakenly credited to Aretha Franklin. The confusion probably lies in the recording Franklin made of a the song (with a very similar arrangement to Bass's original) for an American Express commercial.

2Fontella Bass (born July 3, 1940) is an African-American soul singer, who is best known for the 1965 R&B hit "Rescue Me", which she also co-wrote. The song "Rescue Me"See note 11 shot up the charts in the fall and winter of 1965. After a month-long run at the top of the R&B charts, the song reached #4 at the pop charts and gave Chess its first million-selling single since Chuck Berry had one a decade earlier. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold record. In 1967, Bass became disillusioned with Chess Records and decided to leave the label after only two years. By her own account, she was cheated out of her royalties for "Rescue Me," which she had co-written with pianist Raynard Miner she said, "I had (a)...million seller for Chess... Things were riding high for them, but when it came time to collect my first royalty check [as a performer], I looked at it, saw how little it was, tore it up and threw it back across the desk." Also, her name did not appear on any of the labels as co-writer for "Rescue Me" and thus she didn't get royalties for that aspect of her work either.

3Covered by:

• Band of Oz.
• Pat Benetar.
• Blinky.
• Willie Bobo.
• Roy Buchanan.
• Cher.
• The Crystals.
• Oliver Darley.
• Disciple.
• The Ebony Sisters.
• The Eurobeats.
• Bryan Ferry.
• Aretha Franklin
• Thomas Gold.
• Mandisa Hundley.
• Chuck Jackson.
• Tom Jones.
• Pat Lewis.
• Melissa Manchester.
• Kelly Marie.
• Judy Mowatt.
• Mystique.
• One Night Band.
• Dottie Pearson.
• Ann Peebles.
• Linda Ronstadt.
• Diana Ross.
• The John Schroeder Orchestra.
• Sonia.
• The Doc Thomas Group.
• Dee Dee Warwick.
• Zebrahead
• And probably others.

{3RELEASED ON:^

Singles(s):

(1)Fontella Bass:

• A-side: "Rescue Me"
• B-side: "Soul of the Man"
• (a) Checker Music Corp., 7-Inch, Vinyl, 45rpm Single, #1120, US-1965.
• Note: The original pressing of Checker #1120 listed the B-side as "Soul of Man." Since then all the labels read "Soul of the Man."
• (b) Chess Records, 7-Inch, Vinyl, 45rpm Single, #CRS.8023, UK-1965.
• (c) Chess Records, 7-Inch, Vinyl, 45rpm Single, #6145-009, UK-1965.

• (2)Fontella Bass:
• A-side: "Rescue Me"
• B-side: "Recovery"
• Old Gold Records, 7-Inch, Vinyl, 45rpm Single, #OG 9844, UK-1989.

• (3)Fontella Bass:
• A-side: "Rescue Me" (3)Jan Bradley:
• B-side: "Mama Didn't Lie"
• (a) Eric Records, 7-Inch, Vinyl, 45rpm Single, #236, US-1995.

EP(s):

(EP1)Fontella Bass:

• A1. "Rescue Me"
• A2. "Soul of the Man"
• B1. "Recovery"
• B2. "I Can't Rest"
• (a) Chess Mini Masters, 4-Track, 7-Inch, Vinyl, 45rpm EP, #4002, UK-1965.

(EP2)Fontella Bass:

• A1. "Rescue Me"
• A2. "Soul of the Man"
• B1. "You'll Never Know"
• B2. "Free at Last"
• (a) Derby Records, 4-Track, 7-Inch, Vinyl, 45rpm EP, #5146, Italy-1965.

Albums(s):

(A)Fontella Bass: The 'New' Look

• (1) Checker Records, 12-Inch, 12-Track, Vinyl, 33rpm, Mono LP, #LP-2997, US-1966.
• (2) Checker Records, 12-Inch, 12-Track, Vinyl, 33rpm, Stereo LP, #LPS-2997, US-1966.
• (3) Chess Records, 12-Inch, 12-Track, Vinyl, 33rpm, Mono LP, #CRL-4517, UK-1966.

(B)Fontella Bass: The Very Best of Fontella Bass

* (1) Chess Records, 25-Track, 5-Inch CD, #983-521-2, UK-2006.4

^The album(s) and record(s) listed here may have different versions of the song than the one that was transcribed. Also, this list is not intended to be the complete discography on which this song appears.

{4}Transcribed from the track on this album.