Leon Redbone - Medley Of Songs

Most successful groups usually have one dominant member (maybe two) who provides the artistic vision the rest can respect and rally around. The Allman Brothers Band was largely Duane’s conception, and it was his unflagging energy and incredible guitar playing that drove them to mesmerizing heights as they blended rock, jazz, blues and country in new and exciting ways. Unfortunately, the guitarist was killed in a motorcycle accident in October of ’71 just as the band was achieving large-scale commercial recognition.

One way Out

With slide guitar genius Duane Allman at the helm, the Brothers started out strong and sure. They went from strength-to-strength in the late Sixties and early Seventies, becoming one of the world’s truly inspired improvising bands as evidenced by their landmark 1971 live recording at the Fillmore East of New York City. In the concert The Allman Brothers Band have been playing (a.o.) 'One Way Out'. A live recording was included on their 1972 album "Eat a Peach." This was indeed recorded at the Fillmore East, but unlike the March 1971 live material used on the rest of "Eat a Peach" and "At Fillmore East," 'One Way Out' was recorded at the venue's final show on June 27, 1971.

Allman Brothers Band - At Fillmore East (1971)

Still a mystery who wrote 'One Way Out'. As with many blues songs, the history of "One Way Out" falls into murk. On the Allman Brothers releases, 'One Way Out' is credited to Marshall Sehorn and Elmore James. Sehorn was a musician who became southern promotion man for the Fire and Fury labels. He put his name on Elmore's recording.

Allman Brothers Band - Eat a Peach (1972)

Common practice then…and theft. Sehorn would eventually receive songwriting credit (and the royalty payments) for over 350 songs recorded in the 1960s. He went on to form a company with Allen Toussaint, helping the the Neville Brothers obtain a recording contract and recording numerous New Orleans legendary musicians. As this story is aimed at blues listeners…he also claimed writing credits with Lighntin' Hopkins. Here is Sehorn, a fellow who LOOKS like an adulterer who might skulk out a second floor window, but not really a bluesman. He didn't write it.

Marshall Sehorn

It seems 'One Way Out' to have been originally recorded by Elmore James at Beltone Studios in New York City in late 1960 or early 1961. A radio repairman by trade, Elmore James was known to have rewired his amplifiers to get a distorted sound, years before distortion became a key element of rock and roll. It features a full band arrangement with a four-piece horn section providing some counterweight to his sliding guitar lines and half-screamed vocals. James appears not to have released it at that time.

Elmore James - One Way Out (1965)

Instead, Sonny Boy Williamson II reworked and recorded it for Chess Records in Chicago in September 1961, releasing it shortly thereafter. He would then return and re-record a different working of it in September 1964, again for Chess in Chicago, this time with Buddy Guy on guitar and Lafayette Leake on piano. The two efforts were substantially different, with one dominated by harmonica playing while the second version is faster and features a more prominent guitar riff as well as the having the band drop out when Sonny Boy sings “Might be your man . . I don’t know”. These elements will show up in the Allman Brothers version.

Sonny Boy Williamson II - One Way Out (1962)

Subsequently, the initial Elmore James version of "One Way Out" was posthumously released in 1965, using it as the B-side of his single "My Bleeding Heart" for Sphere Sound Records. But by now, the song was associated with Sonny Boy not him.

Sonny Boy Williamson II - One Way Out (1965)

In mid-1965, bluesman G.L. Crockett, from Carrollton, Mississippi, released yet another reworking of the song, now called "It's a Man Down There". It featured a slower tempo, a softer blues vocal line apparently styled after Jimmy Reed. "It's a Man Down There" became a big hit in R&B circles, reaching number 10 on the Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart, and qualified the otherwise obscure Crockett for one-hit wonder status. Songwriting credits on this reworking appear to have been given to Crockett and one Jack Daniels. The Crockett track was included on the Time-Life album "Living the Blues: 1965-69," part of the "Living the Blues" series. Indeed, so much was the vocal style like Reed, that Reed himself then recorded an answer song later that year, entitled "I'm the Man Down There", which became a small hit.

G.L. Crockett

Returning to the original title, in this punchy, dynamic performance, the Allmans demonstrated their abilities in the blues-rock roadhouse style. The live recording has all the elements that made them unique: the relentless beat of two drummers, the intertwining guitars of Dickey Betts and Duane Allman and Gregg Allman’s gruff vocals.

Jimmy Reed - I'm the Man Down There (1965)

Guitarist Dickey Betts starts with a variation of the Sonny Boy Williamson riff (second version). He is then joined by the rest of the band with Duane Allman’s slide guitar riff on top of Dickey’s part. It’s interesting to note while Dickey’s guitar riff changes with the tune’s chord progression, Duane’s part does not, providing shifting harmony to the main riff as the tune progresses. Also note the change in the rhythm section from the tight riff under the vocal verses to the more open ended feel during the guitar solos. After Betts’ guitar solo, Duane Allman and Betts trade guitar licks over just the drums before the full band re-enters going into Duane Allman’s slide solo.

The Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East, NYC 1971

The Allman Brothers Band were one of those groups whose music infiltrated the musical landscape. Unfortunately, the band got wrapped up in the deleterious side effects of rock and roll early on, and the damage started to show just as the band finally achieved success. In 1970, Twiggs Lydon, on the road with the band, stabbed and killed a promoter at a bar. Duane and three other band/crew members checked themselves into rehab in 1971. Duane died in a motorcycle crash in 1971, just weeks after the release of At Fillmore East. Bassist Berry Oakley died in 1972, also on a motorcycle, three blocks from Duane’s accident.

Allman Brothers Band - One Way Out (1972)

One Way Out, The Allman Brothers Band lyrics

Ain't but one way out baby, Lord I just can't go out the door.
Ain't but one way out baby, and Lord I just can't go out the door.
Cause there's a man down there, might be your man I don't know.

Lord you got me trapped woman, up on the second floor;
If I get by this time I won't be trapped no more.
So raise your window baby, and I can ease out soft and slow.
And lord, your neighbors, no they won't be
Talking that stuff that they don't know.

Lord, I'm foolish to be here in the first place,
I know some man gonna walk in and take my place.
Ain't no way in the world, I'm going out that front door
Cause there's a man down there, might be your man I don't know.
Cause there's a man down there, might be your man I don't know.
Cause there's a man down there,

Lord, it just might happen to be your man...
Lord, it just a might be your man,
Mmm-mm-mmm-mm...
Lord, it just a might be your man,
Oh baby, I just don't know...

Duane Allman

The Allman Brothers Band - One Way Out - At Fillmore East 1971

When Jessie Mae Robinson wrote "Cold, Cold Feeling" back somewhere in the 1940/50’s she probably would never have imagined that 66 odd years later, a version of Nicky Bramble, would emerge from such a surprising place. Sure, T Bone Walker’s cover in 1952 did it justice, bet hey you gotta call it how it is…. T-Bone Walker recorded it in Los Angeles, CA, December 1951; Originally released by Imperial in 1952 on the single 'T-Bone Walker: Cold Cold Feeling'; Also released by Imperial in 1959 on the album 'T-Bone Walker Sings the Blues'.

Cold Cold Feeling

Jessie Mae Robinson becoming perhaps the first African American female songwriter to break the colour barrier. Born Jessie Mae Booker (1 October 1919) in Call, Texas, just outside Beaumont, her family moved to Watts, neighborhood in southern Los Angeles, where she started writing songs in her teens (and met and married Leonard Robinson a few years later.) Drawn to show business Robinson she began pitching her songs to performers and music publishers.

Jessie Mae Robinson

Throughout her career, Robinson composed her songs while sitting at her kitchen table with paper and pen, humming the melodies to herself.

Nicky Bramble - Cold Cold Feeling

The first artist to record one of her compositions was Dinah Washington ("Mellow Man Blues", 1945). She then wrote "Cleanhead Blues" for Eddie Vinson (1946; authorship of the song is disputed and is sometimes credited to Vinson.) Among her top blues hits were "Roomin' House Boogie" (recorded by Amos Milburn, 1949), "Blue Light Boogie" (Louis Jordan, 1950) and Charles Brown's number one hit in 1951, "Black Night". Other notable compositions include "Sneakin' Around" (B.B. King, 1955) and "Let's Have a Party", first recorded by Elvis Presley in 1957 and later by Wanda Jackson, 1960.

T-Bone Walker - Cold Cold Feeling, single 1952

Robinson’s most successful song, "I Went To Your Wedding" (1952), launched her career in the pop market. The song was first recorded by Damita Jo, and then Patti Page made it a number 1 pop hit. The song's success allowed Robinson to become the first female African-American member of ASCAP. Other pop success came with Jo Stafford ("Keep It A Secret", 1952) and Frankie Laine ("I’m Just A Poor Bachelor", 1953). One of her last successes was "The Other Woman", a chart hit for Sarah Vaughan in 1958 and later recorded by Nina Simone and (on her 2014 album 'Ultraviolence') Lana Del Rey.

Albert Collins plays Cold Cold Feeling

Jessie Mae Robinson wrote "Cold, Cold Feeling" in 1950. Besides T-Bone Walker, the song recorded among others: Otis Spann (1968), Dave Alexander (1972), Albert Collins (1978), Jimmy Witherspoon (1980), Melvin Taylor (1982), Phil Guy (1983), Valerie Wellington (1983), Jimmy Johnson (1983), Walter Trout (1989), Zuzu Bollin (1989), U. P. Wilson (1992), Aron Burton (1996), Michael Coleman (2000), Oscar Benton (2003), Lurrie Bell (2005), and Nicky Bramble (2016).

T-Bone Walker - Cold Cold Feeling

Jessie Mae changed the musical landscape with her songs and she'd achieved extraordinary success as a composer with a significant number of songs on the Billboard hit parade of the 50s. By the early 1960s her hits had dried up, but she still received a modest income from royalties. Robinson attempted to start small record labels in the 1960s, but with notable lack of success. She died suddenly in October 1966 after a short illness, aged 47.

Jessie Mae Robinson

Cold Cold Feeling, lyrics

I've got a cold, cold feelin; It's just like ice around my heart.
I've got a cold, cold feelin; It's just like ice around my heart.
I know I'm gonna' quit somebody, every time that, feelin'starts.

You treat my like a prisoner, because my hands are tied.
Everything you do to me, is stackin' up inside.
It's a cold, cold feelin' Yea, You're just like ice around my heart.
I know I'm gonna' quit somebody, every time that, feelin'starts.

There's a change in me baby, once I was blind but now I can see.
There's a change in me baby, once I was blind but now I can see.
I'm gonna' put everybody down baby,
That ever made a fool outta me.

Jimmy Johnson plays Cold Cold Feeling

Albert Collins & Gary Moore - Cold Cold Feeling

In 2011, Toronto-based pop star Drake named the album ‘Take Care’ but only a few people have caught the original reference. Produced by British indie darling Jamie xx, "Take Care" is a sultry “club number that features Rihanna sweetly murmuring a verse that begins with a memorable couplet: I know you've been hurt by someone else / I can tell by the way you carry yourself." Echoing her words is the ghost of Gil Scott-Heron, whose brooding piano-based version of a song called "I'll Take Care of You" was one of several Jamie xx reworked for the remix album ‘We're New Here,’ released shortly before Scott-Heron died this past May. The energetic but oddly somber beat mixes with those melancholy vocal hooks and Drake's own emotional vocalizing to effectively deliver the song's message of belief in damaged yet redeemable love.

I'll Take Care of You

"I'll Take Care of You" is a song written by Brook Benton, a gifted vocalist and songwriter. Beginning in 1959, and over the next 10 plus years, Benton had 49 charted singles on Billboard Magazine’s Hot 100 chart…which was established on August 4, 1958 to track and rank singles from all genres of pop music (including rock and roll). In the U.S., 24 of Benton’s single records entered the Top 40.

Drake feat. Rihanna - 'Take Care'

Brook Benton was born Benjamin Franklin Peay on September 19, 1931, in Camden, South Carolina. He became a gospel singer at a young age and was a member of the Camden Jubilee Singers. Benton moved to New York City at age 17 in 1948 to try his luck as a songwriter. When he first arrived in New York he sang with such gospel groups as Bill Langford's Spiritual Singers, The Langfordaires, The Golden Gate Quartet, and The Jerusalem Stars. He eventually went back to South Carolina, drove a truck for a while and joined the R&B singing group The Sandmen prior to returning to New York again in search of a big break. This time Benton found a successful career co-producing albums and writing songs for such artists as Nat 'King' Cole, Clyde McPhatter (he penned the hit song "A Lover's Question" for McPhatter), and Roy Hamilton.

Brook Benton, 1959

Benton enjoyed his first minor hit with "A Million Miles from Nowhere." He then switched to Mercury Records and achieved his greatest commercial success recording a steady string of hit songs with that label. In 1959 Brook scored two major breakthrough successes: "It's Just A Matter of Time" peaked at #3 on the Billboard charts and "Endlessly" went all the way to #12 on the charts. Benton sustained this winning streak with such equally excellent tunes as "Thank You Pretty Baby," "So Many Ways," "Hotel Happiness," "The Boll Weevil Song," and "Kiddio." Brook cracked the Top 10 one last time in 1970 with a beautifully moving rendition of Tony Joe White's lovely ballad "Rainy Night in Georgia."

Brook Benton, 1970

Benton seems to have never recorded "I'll Take Care of You", however. Instead, blues lion Bobby "Blue" Bland claimed it as his own, cutting it for Duke Records in 1959. The original record is a slow 6/8 ballad with soothing Blue Bland vocals gliding over the top. Bland's version is a lesson in getting to tshe depths of a seemingly simple song – melodramatic but classy, it perfectly balances nurture and seduction with just a dash of sexy menace. Like many of Bland's recordings from this era, it's the epitome of sophisticated blues. It reached number 89 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1960.

Bobby 'Blue Bland - 'I'll Take Care of You', 1959

"I'll Take Care of You" subsequently became a blues classic. With its dramatic pacing and a melody singers could climb like a golden staircase, the song offers the chance to show off, but it also has an inherent gravitas; it's a Big Number, but grittier, more down home. It's a mountain of a song, and artists try to climb it in order prove their mettle.

Bobby 'Blue Bland

The song has been covered many times since by artists such as Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Roy Hamilton, Etta James, Mick Hucknall, Irma Thomas, O. V. Wright, Mark Lanegan, Gil Scott-Heron, Beth Hart and Rebecca Ferguson.

Irma Thomas sings 'I'll Take Care of You'

I'll take care of you by Brook Benton

I know you've been hurt by someone else
I can tell by the way you carry yourself
But if you let me, here's what I'll do
I'll take care of you

I've loved and I've lost the same as you
So you see I know just what you've been through
And if you let me, here's what I'll do
I'll take care of you

You won't ever have to worry
You won't ever have to cry
For I'll be there beside you
To dry your weeping eyes

So darling tell me that you'll be true
There's no doubt in my mind, no, what I want to do
And just as sure as one and one is two
I know I'll take care of you

I'll take care of you
I'll take care of you
I'll take care of you

Sonny Boy Williamson was, in many ways, the ultimate blues legend. By the time of his death in 1965, he had been around long enough to have played with Robert Johnson at the start of his career and Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Robbie Robertson at the end of it. In between, he drank a lot of whiskey, hoboed around the country, had a successful radio show for 15 years, toured Europe to great acclaim and simply wrote, played and sang some of the greatest blues ever etched into black phonograph records. His delivery was sly, evil and world-weary, while his harp-playing was full of short, rhythmic bursts one minute and powerful, impassioned blowing the next. His songs were chock-full of mordant wit, with largely autobiographical lyrics that hold up to the scrutiny of the printed page. Though he took his namesake from another well-known harmonica player, no one really sounded like him.

Trust My Baby by Sonny Boy Williamson II

'The Real Folk Blues' is a series of blues albums released between 1965 and 1967 by Chess Records, later reissued MCA Records. Each album in the series highlighted the music of one major Chess artist. The series, overseen by Marshall Chess, was a reaction to the increasing audience for the blues following the British Invasion. Companion discs, titled More Real Folk Blues, were released for many of the artists.

Sonny Boy Williamson II, 1963

Sonny Boy Williamson's “The Real Folk Blues” was not really folk, and not really regular album. Rather, it was somewhat arbitrarily chosen compilations, titled to appeal to the crowd that had gotten turned onto the blues during the 1960s folk revival. In Williamson's case, all tracks were done between 1960 and 1964. At any rate, this does have several of his best and most familiar songs: "One Way Out," "Bye Bye Bird," "Help Me," "Nine Below Zero," "Down Child" and “Trust My Baby”. “Trust My Baby” was first released by Checker Records in 1960 - with "Too Close Together" on B-side.

Sonny Boy Williamson - “The Real Folk Blues”

This album is classic, with incredible songs and playing. He played acoustically without a bullet mic and amplifier. Throughout his playing, notice little quick groups of two holes played at once, called double stops. Rick Estrin calls these the glue that holds the carpet together. Notice repetitive tongue slaps. His preferred harmonica keys were F, C, B flat and D, but he also played in E, G and A. He generally played in second position, with the occasional exception e.g., on "Trust My Baby" be played in first position on a G harp.

Sonny Boy Williamson - Trust My Baby, 1960

Sonny Boy was, legitimately, “The King of the Delta Blues Harmonica” whose career spanned most of the Golden Era of delta blues began as a preacher “Reverend Blue” at age six and by the 1930s he was playing with blues legend Robert Johnson and his stepson Robert Lockwood Jr., with whom he was playing amplified blues as early as 1938 (six years before Muddy Waters owned an electric guitar) to recording with Eric Clapton and the Yardbirds, Eric Burdon and the Animals and Jimmy Page in 1963-65.

Sonny Boy Williamson & Robert Lockwood Jr.

Marc Ryan wrote: "The tone of Sonny's harmonica was unusually full, the result of a combination of virtuosic breath control and an especially large resonating chamber created by cupping his hands around his ... harp ... Sonny thus brought unique timbres to his blues, which were ... laden with a joyful sensuality."

Sonny Boy Williamson & The Yardbirds, 1963

Sonny Boy's harp style included: "intricately woven phrasing, bold sonic textures, trills and vibrato ... He was also an effective showman -- he could, for instance, put the entire harp in his mouth and still draw notes. More important, his playing made the harp the centre attraction, no matter how many other great blues musicians shared the stage with him.”

Sonny Boy Williamson - Copenhagen 1964

Sonny Boy Williamson - Trust My Baby, lyrics

I have a right to trust my baby
She always looks out for me
I have a right to trust my baby
She always looks out for me
But that sweet woman, oooh, is so good to me

Every time my baby talk
Chills run, run all over the place
Every time my baby talk
Chills run, run all over the place
But that sweet woman, oooh, is so good to me

When I woke up this morning
Tears was in my eyes
When I woke up this morning
Tears was in my eyes
But that sweet woman, oooh, is so, so good to me
Saint Jane, Saint Jane

Do it again Saint Jane, wait for me boy

I have a right to trust my baby
She always looks out for me
I have a right to trust my baby
She always looks out for me
But that sweet woman, oooh, is so good to me

King Biscuit Time, 1941

It has been more than half a century since Elmore James bent over to pull up his socks before going out to play in an Chicago nightclub . . . and went face down on to the floor with his third and final heart attack. Although he was not widely known, the world lost a good one who left an immense legacy. Elmore James is a giant of the blues. His work as a songwriter, singer and guitarist put him near the top of the short list of greats. The songs he wrote and revived - “Dust My Broom”, “Cry For Me Baby” and “Rollin’ and Tumblin’” - are revered as blues standards. He recorded “The Sky Is Crying” in 1959, and it would go on to become another classic of the blues.

The Sky Is Crying

"The Sky Is Crying" is a slow-tempo twelve-bar blues notated in 12/8 time in the key of C. An impromptu song inspired by a Chicago downpour during the recording session, it features James' slide guitar work and vocals. James' unique slide guitar sound on the recording has generated some debate. Accompanying James is his longtime backing band, the Broomdusters: J. T. Brown on saxophone, Johnny Jones on piano, Odie Payne on drums, and Homesick James on bass.

Elmore James & The Broomdusters

In 1959, enterpreneur from N.Y., BobbyRobinson was searching up talent in Chicago for his record company when he saw a cardboard sign on a club announcing "Elmore James Here Tonight". Robinson went in to ask if this were the Elmore James and even asked James to play "Dust My Broom" to prove his identity. The song was a good luck charm again for James, because Robinson wanted to record him.

Bobby Robinson

The following day, James and his band met to rehearse in a band member's apartment. Robinson remembered that the landlady was cooking in the back while outside the rain was pouring down in buckets. Robinson was there when James spontaneously wrote "The Sky Is Crying". Robinson was so impressed that he called around for a studio and the song was recorded that very night.

Elmore James

James, who started his recording career as an electric musician fronting a full band, opted for a loud, full sound seemingly before his peers. Though B. B. King integrated horns into his band, King was influenced by the uptown swing, even jazz, of musicians like Louis Jordan. For King, a full band lent polish to his sound, smoothing out the rough edges and filling out the gaps between just guitar and bassist and drummer.

Sky is crying, single 1959

With James, it's hard not to believe sometimes that he wanted to front a band simply because a band with horns and piano could -- in his case, would -- be louder than a band without. As with the amps he customized so that he could wring more distortion and feedback from them (decades ahead of Spinal Tap), James's band actually intensified the rough edges of its leader's own cacophonous slide and sandpaper-on-gravel voice. Before Willie Dixon's poppy neoprimitivism shaped the Chess sound and while B. B. King used a band to echo jump and swing and jazz, James made the virtually unprecedented move of expanding to increase the hard force of his music.

Elmore James

Though Elmore James is considered the “King of the Slide Guitar”, his influence reached to non-slide players as well. What’s interesting about “The Sky Is Crying” is that it became a signature tune for two other notable non-slide guitarists, Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Stevie Ray Vaughan plays The Sky Is Crying

Stevie Ray Vaughan almost single-handedly brought blues to the mainstream in the 1980’s and 90’s with over a dozen Billboard singles and four Grammy awards. He was an astute student of the blues and built his vocal and guitar sounds around many of the Texas players he grew up with, like W.C. Clark and Larry Davis. An undeniable influence was Albert King—especially his crisp staccato and elegant phrasing. Stevie Ray recorded “The Sky Is Crying” in 1985, but it wasn’t released until 1991, a year after he died. Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert King did a wonderful recording session together in 1983, which was also filmed and they was blazing through “The Sky Is Crying”.

Elmore James’s blues standards helped bridge blues and rock 'n' roll. No less a personage than Little Richard, the self-proclaimed inventor of rock 'n' roll, admitted that, when he was starting out, there were only two musicians he knew of doing real rock: himself and Elmore James. Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones recounted how, when he first heard Elmore James, "it was like the earth shuddered and stopped on its axis". No wonder, then, that Stones bassist Bill Wyman has said that James was likely the single most important reason for the formation of the Rolling Stones. And no less than Rod Stewart has said that Elmore James was a major influence on his singing style.

Johnny Winter plays The Sky Is Crying

“The Sky Is Crying”, listed as "Elmo James and His Broomdusters", reached number 15 on Billboard magazine's Hot R&B Sides chart in 1960, making it James' last chart showing before his death in 1963. In 1991, the song was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in the "Classics of Blues Recordings" category.

Elmore James

Elmore James - The Sky Is Crying, lyrics

The sky is crying, look at the tears roll down the street
The sky is crying, look at the tears roll down the street
I'm waiting in tears looking for my baby, and I wonder where can she be?

I saw my baby one morning, and she was walking on down the street
I saw my baby one morning, yes she was walking on down the street
Made me feel so good until my poor heart would skip a beat

I got a bad feeling, my baby, my baby don't love me no more
I got a bad feeling, my baby don't love me no more
Now the sky's been crying, the tears rolling down my door

Sky Is Crying

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Albert King - The Sky is Crying

Johnny Moore's Three Blazers was a popular African-American vocal group in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1946, they had their greatest success with "Driftin' Blues", sung by Brown. The group followed up the success of "Driftin' Blues" with several other big R&B hits, including "Sunny Road" (1946), "New Orleans Blues" (1947), and "Merry Christmas Baby" (1947). In 1949, Johnny Moore with his brother, Oscar Moore, on guitars, Billy Valentine on piano and vocal, and Johnny Miller on bass recorded "How Blue Can You Get" in the West Coast blues-style. It was included on the jazz and blues compilation album ‘Singin' the Blues’ (1960). In 1951, Louis Jordan recorded the song using a big band arrangement.

How Blue Can You Get?

"How Blue Can You Get" is a slow twelve-bar blues composed by Leonard Feather. Words are credited to Jane Feather, his wife.

Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, 1949

Leonard Geoffrey Feather (1914, London, Eng.— 1994, Encino, Calif., U.S.), British-born American jazz journalist, producer, and songwriter whose standard reference work, ‘The Encyclopedia of Jazz,‘ and energetic advocacy placed him among the most influential of jazz critics. Described by jazz great Louis Armstrong as "one cat that really knows what's going on," and by Leonard Bernstein as an author who "opens one's eyes to a perspective view of jazz that is astonishingly new and rich," Feather's creative background brought musical authenticity and a well-informed viewpoint to his criticism, which appeared regularly in the Los Angeles Times.

Jane, Leonard & Lorraine Feather

He was also, however, an artist who had a significant impact on jazz. He described himself as a modestly talented clarinetist and pianist, but he was a skilled and busy songwriter and composer. As a producer and musical entrepreneur, Feather was instrumental in the hiring of Benny Carter for the BBC Dance Orchestra in the early 1930s. In the next decade, he produced and composed for sessions by Armstrong, Carter, Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie, and he wrote arrangements for Count Basie.

Leonard Feather

Feather also produced the debut recordings of Sarah Vaughan, George Shearing and Dinah Washington. His "Evil Gal Blues," "Salty Papa Blues" and "Blowtop Blues" launched Washington's career. In the mid-1940s, he was responsible for establishment of the annual Esquire jazz polls, and in 1945, he produced the first record album chronicling the work of female jazz musicians.

Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five

With the publication of "Inside Be-Bop" (1949), and the release of the initial "Encyclopedia of Jazz" (1955), Feather became established as an important jazz journalist, commentator and critic. Subsequent writings included further editions of the "Encyclopedia" (with Ira Gitler), "From Satchmo to Miles," "The Passion for Jazz" and "The Jazz Years: Earwitness to an Era."

Leonard Feather - Encyclopedia of Jazz Vol.1, 1955

"How Blue Can You Get", his biggest hit was very popular song for B.B. King. Feather described the song as having "the type of intimate instrumental setting heard in so many best blues vocal performances of the 1940s". B.B. King first recorded the song as "Downhearted", which was included on his 1963 ‘Blues in My Heart’ album. The song is performed at "a steady, stately pace, its groove punctuated by B.B.'s stinging runs and wailing, sustained notes", according to King biographer David McGee. King later re-recorded the song as "How Blue Can You Get" and ABC-Paramount Records released it as a single in 1964.

B.B.King - InMy Heart, album with "Downhearted"

"How Blue Can You Get" reached number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart in 1964 (Billboard's R&B chart was suspended at the time). The song became a fixture in King's live shows "with enough good punchlines for B.B. to keep it in his act for decades". A live version of the song first appeared on the ‘Live at the Regal’ album recorded in Chicago in 1964. Since then, live versions of the song have been included on several live B.B. King albums.

B.B.King - How Blue Can You Get, ABC-Paramount single

The song has been recorded by many, many several blues and other artists, including Duke Ellington, Albert Collins, James Cotton, Howard Tate, Magic Slim, Fleetwood Mac, Jeff Healey, Cyndi Lauper and Greg & Duane Allman. King also performed the song in both the Blues Brothers 2000 movie as well as on the movie soundtrack, along with a medley of other artists credited as "The Louisiana Gator Boys", a rival blues supergroup fronted by King's character, Malvern Gasperone.

The Louisiana Gator Boys

How Blue Can You Get, lyrics

Ive been down hearted baby
Ever since the day we met
I said ive been down hearted baby
Ever since the day we met
Our love is nothing but the blues
Baby, how blue can you get?

Youre evil when im with you, baby
And youre jealous when were apart
I said youre evil when im with you, baby
And youre jealous when were apart
How blue can you get baby
The answer is right here in my heart

I gave you a brand new ford
But you said: i want a cadillac
I bought you a ten dollar dinner
And you said: thanks for the snack
I let you live in my pent house
You said it just a shack
I gave seven children
And now you wanna give them back
I said ive been down hearted baby
Ever since the day we met
Our love is nothing but the blues
Baby, how blue can you get?

Jeff Healey play How Blue Can You Get?

B.B. King - How Blue Can You Get (Live at Farm Aid 1985)

Hoodoo, known as “Ggbo” in West Africa, is African-American folk magic. It consists mainly of African folkloric practices and beliefs with a significant blend of American Indian botanical knowledge and European folklore. It is in no way linked to any particular form of theology, and it can be adapted into numerous forms of outward religious worship. Although it is not a religion, there are elements of African and European religions at the core of hoodoo beliefs. Teachings and rituals are passed down from one practitioner to another—there are no designated priests or priestesses and there are no divisions between initiates and laity. Rituals vary depending on the individual performing them; there is no strict approach that one must adhere to. Today, hoodoo is mainly practiced in the Southern United States, and most people who practice hoodoo are Protestant Christians.

Hoodoo Man Blues

“Hoodoo Hoodoo” is a blues written by John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson I. First recording by Sonny Boy Williamson - August 6, 1946, first release - March 1947.

Hoodoo Bible Magic

John Lee Curtis "Sonny Boy" Williamson (March 30, 1914 – June 1, 1948) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. Williamson was born in Madison County, Tennessee, near Jackson. While in his teens he joined Yank Rachell and Sleepy John Estes, playing with them in Tennessee and Arkansas. In 1934 he settled in Chicago and began playing with Robert Nighthawk, Big Joe Williams, Tampa Red and Big Bill Broonzy.

John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson

A chiefly self-taught virtuoso, he began recording for Bluebird Records in 1937, singing and playing harmonica. His first great song was "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl," an instant classic that was later covered numerous times, by bands such as the Yardbirds and the Grateful Dead. Other hits from that year include "Sugar Mama Blues" and "Blue Bird Blues," both of which are also regarded as early classics.

John Lee Williamson & Big Bill Broonzy

With his unrivaled harmonica playing and vocal skills that were unique and instantly recognizable (due to a speech impediment), Williamson began to churn out records that would redefine the blues sound, cutting more than 120 over the next 10 years. Beyond being popular, Williams' songs featured a harmonica sound that would become undeniably influential. Songs such as "Decoration Blues" and "Whiskey Headed Woman Blues" were followed by "T.B. Blues," "Tell Me Baby" and "Jivin' the Blues," "Stop Breaking Down", and "Hoodoo Hoodoo" (also known as "Hoodoo Man Blues"), all of which went a long way to solidify his reputation and made him the most influential harmonica player of his generation.

Hoodoo Blues Harmonica

In 1947, Williamson's song "Shake the Boogie" was a nationwide hit, and he was at the height of his fame. Unfortunately for Williamson and the blues world, he would not live much longer. In June 1948, Williamson was returning from a performance on Chicago's South Side when he was robbed, beaten and stabbed with an ice pick. He died on the sidewalk, only 34 years old. Easily the most important harmonica player of the pre war era, John Lee Williamson single-handedly made the harmonica a worthy lead instrument for blues bands and opened the door for many players such as Little Walter, Billy Boy Arnold and Junior Wells.

John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson

Bob Koester, a Record Producer and founder and Chicago label Delmark record, had heard Don Kent, of Yazoo Records, and others whisper about a kid who played the harp. They said he’d been playing since the age of seven. They said he learned it from Sonny Boy Williamson II. They said he was good, so good, in fact, that he replaced Little Walter to blow for Muddy at 18.

Bob Koester

It was 1965 and Junior Wells was no longer the precocious teenager who had gotten the likes of Muddy Waters, Elmore James and Otis Spann to back him up on his 1953 and 1954 hit singles. Now 30, he was a fixture of that generation of electric Chicago bluesmen. And he was about to make an album that has long been a staple of any modern blues collection.

Junior Wells

Albums were not yet a big part of the blues scene. Most were greatest hits compilations, often of older artists being “rediscovered.” Blues was a music of 78s and 45s sold in barbershops and corner stores. But blues was also getting a wider audience in 1965, and albums in general were becoming a bigger deal to listeners of all popular music genres. And so it was that Bob Koester got Junior Wells into Sound Studios with his Chicago Blues Band of Buddy Guy (guitar), Jack Myers (bass) and Billy Warren (drums) to record “Hoodoo Man Blues.”

Junior Wells - Hooddoo Man Blues, 1965

Wells’ raw, earthy voice, punctuated by harmonica, is spellbinding. Smoother than Howlin’ Wolf, as sexy as Muddy in his prime, he struts, coos, laughs, threatens and generally commands your absolute attention. The title track and “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl” come from the original Sonny Boy Williamson’s songbook, but Wells puts his own stamp on the material with his tough vocals and polished harmonica work. “Schoolgirl” is especially interesting as the song breaks down near the conclusion, just before Guy ties up the proceedings with a strong ending riff. The title track comes after, leading off side A with another fanfare, a classic blues turn around in which the band bangs out together, compounding the swinging 4/4 blues rhythm to create a rambling, tumbling feeling that propels the listener into the center of the groove, where it is instantly apparently that Buddy Guy’s guitar sounds remarkably different.

Hoodoo Practice

When Guy’s amplifier crapped out, he was wired into a Leslie organ amp, and you can hear the terrific results of this on the title track, “Hoodoo Man Blues,” where the resulting thick sonics add a jazzy feel to the stomping affair. When Wells lowers the heat, you hear not only a singer with a special ability to add emotional dimension to his lyrics with his savvy phrasing and vocal marginalia (spoken asides), but clearly a singer whose impact on one Mick Jagger was profound—on “Early In the Morning” and “Hoodoo Man Blues” the mix of rushed phrases and deep, drawled passages is practically a blueprint for the style Jagger perfected as the ‘60s rolled on and which fully flowered for him on Exile On Main Street. In fact, you could pretty much cite any of Wells’s vocals on Hoody Man Blues as the prototypes for the mature Jagger style.

Buddy Guy & Junior Wells

For decades, this set (album) has been considered one of the top 10 post-war blues albums. In daring to allow Wells and his mates to be the first Chicago blues band to record an album designed to be an entity unto itself, with no tracks being culled for single release, Koester was rewarded by “Hoodoo Man Blues” earning unanimously rave reviews and becoming Delmark’s all-time best selling album, as it remains today. To wit: “Hoodoo Man Blues” is not only Junior Wells’ initial LP appearance, it is damn near the first LP by a Chicago blues band.

Rory Galagher - Hoodoo Man

Hoodoo Hoodoo by John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson

Lord, I wonder what's the matter this time,
            it seems like everything has changed
It seems like this woman that I've been lovin'
            have found some other man
I hold up my hand,
            I'm just trying to get my baby to understand
See, my baby don't love me no more,
            all because somebody hoodoo'd the hoodoo man

One night I'm goin' down into Louisiana
            and buy me another mojo hand
All because I got to break up my baby
            from lovin this other man
I hold up my hand,
            I'm just trying to make my baby to understand
Aw, my baby don't love me no more,
            she says somebody hoodoo'd the hoodoo man

I use to have a way with women,
            make plenty of money, and everything
But my woman don't love me no more,
            she says somebody hoodoo'd the hoodoo man
Now I just hold up my hand,
            I'm just trying to get my baby to understand
Aw, my baby don't love me no more,
            she says somebody hoodoo'd the hoodoo man

Well now, goodbye, baby,
            someday I will see you soon
I got something to tell you, baby,
            somebody else can have your room
And I just hold up my hand,
            I'm just trying to get my baby to understand
Well, my baby don't love me no more,
            she says somebody hoodoo'd the hoodoo man

Hoodoo Woman

Lightnin' Slim & Lazy Lester – Hodoo Man Blues

By 1970s, Albert King was releasing one album a year. His albums were steady sellers, consistently entering the US Billboard 200 and the US R&B Charts. Although Albert was most popular with blues fans, he’d also built up a following amongst rock fans. However, not many people had Albert King pegged as a soul singer, that is not until the release of his 1972 album ‘I’ll Play the Blues For You.’ This might not have happened if fate hadn’t intervene. Albert was in Stax’s Memphis studios, searching for a song to record for his forthcoming album. Someone, Albert can’t remember who, suggested a Jerry Beach penned track, “I’ll Play the Blues For You.” This was added to the other six tracks that Albert recorded for his ‘I’ll Play the Blues For You,’ his fifth studio album for Stax.

I’ll Play The Blues For You

Accompanying Albert King on ‘I’ll Play the Blues For You,’ were two different rhythm sections, The Bar-Kays and The Movement. Adding their inimitable sound were The Memphis Horns, who later, would play on so many Hi Records’ albums.

Albert King

Jerry Marlon Beach was born in Oklahoma City on December 11, 1941, where his father was stationed with the U.S. Army. He was descended from pioneering families in Shelby County, Texas. Jerry graduated from Bossier High School in 1960, and he was already sitting in with local bands playing guitar and singing. By the mid-60s, he and Danny Harrelson were headlining local clubs as "Danny & Jerry". He was a fixture and favorite on the regional music scene for 56 years in several bands. He dedicated every Monday night for 30 years to hosting a Blues Jam every week. He also taught guitar lessons for many years.

Jerry Beach

In 1972, the late Albert King recorded Jerry's "I'll Play the Blues For You", which became a #1 R&B hit and has been covered by many artists. Jerry was nominated for a Grammy for the song. [First recording by Geater Davis (1969)].

I’ll Play the Blues For You, disc, 1972

When ‘I’ll Play the Blues For You’ was released in the autumn of 1972, it proved to be the most commercially successful album of Albert King’s career so far. Not only did it reach number 140 in the US Billboard 200, but reached number eleven in the US R&B Charts.

I’ll Play the Blues For You, album, 1972

That lengthy title song is virtually King’s manifesto. With its spoken-word rap section and a creamy vocal, it’s just one of many highlights here. King had sung standards earlier in his career, and his voice wasn’t always that of a blues shouter, but a richly textured instrument. Naturally, King’s famous electric blues guitar – the guitar which has influenced legends like Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton – is out front all over this record, as it should be. The songwriting (from a variety of contributors) is taut, though, and King’s solos never feel self-indulgent.

Albert King

“I’ll Play The Blues For You” is a great song that is a little more sophisticated than a lot of blues songs you’ll find. It doesn’t use a strict 12-bar format. In fact, the B section/turnaround/bridge is fairly unique. It’s a 6-5-4-5 sequence. But it’s a great line for soloing over.

Joe Bonamassa plays ‘I’ll Play the Blues For You’

“I’ll Play the Blues for You,” produced and arranged for King by Allen Jones and Henry Bush, was a landmark. It provided King with a new signature song via the title track, as well as showcasing all sides of his musical prowess.

Gary Moore plays ‘I’ll Play the Blues For You’

King influenced guitarists such Eric Clapton, Jerry Garcia and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Among a long list of accomplishments, King recorded a tribute album to Elvis Presley and even played with the great Steve Cropper as well as the Hi Records gang through the years. King died in 1992 of a massive heart attack.

Albert King

I’ll Play The Blues For You lyrics

If you're down and out and you feel real hurt
Come on over to the place where I live
And all your loneliness I'll try to soothe
I'll play the blues for you

Don't be afraid come on in
You might run across some of your old friends

All your loneliness I gotta soothe
I'll play the blues for you

I got no big name and I ain't no big star
I play the blues for you on my guitar
All your loneliness I'll try to soothe
I 'll play the blues for you

I’ll Play The Blues For You painted by David Gerald