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Volume 13 of Ed Parker’s Yer Blues playlist is here, with songs 299 to 323. This is the first of the biweekly Blues Roots. I always save the best for last. What I’m getting at is don’t miss the last Ray Charles song, and don’t miss Easy Baby—but I also mix a little best in here and there. You’ll have an extra week to check everything out, next OBR will appear on Thursday, June 22, 2017.
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The playlist starts at number 299 with the 1951 version of “Eyesight to the Blind” by Sonny Boy Williamson II (Alec “Rice” Miller). Please check the link in the song title for the interesting history of this song.
Here’s the Larks’ 1951 version, followed by some related songs by the man himself.
Sonny Boy Williamson, “Born Blind” (1957)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plTNxmfJ_QQSonny Boy Williamson, “Unseeing Eye” (1959)
Sonny Boy Williamson, “Unseen Eye”
Sonny Boy Williamson, “Don’t Lose Your Eye”
Number 300 is a live concert version by the Who (from July 7, 1970). As we all know, they rewrote the tune for their rock opera Tommy, which was made into a movie. Somehow I’ve missed seeing it.
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St. Louis Jimmy Oden’s version, the 1941 original, is number 311 on the playlist, followed by Howlin’ Wolf’s and Huey Lewis and the News’ versions (numbers 312 and 313). Howlin’ Wolf does all the vocals on this extended live version (but the spoken bits on his studio version “Going Down Slow” were Willie Dixon’s voice, “Women? Great googly-moogly!”). I was surprised to see that Huey Lewis and the News did this (on their 1994 album Four Chords and Several Years Ago).
This is what was on the flip in 1941, “Monkey Face Blues.”
St. Louis Jimmy’s 1947 remake.
Ray Charles, “Going Down Slow” 1968, Paris (don’t miss the Ray Charles section all the way at the bottom, including “The Sun Died” from this same Paris concert—especially don’t miss his “Stormy Monday”).
The Electric Flag did it (Michael Bloomfield on guitar, 1968).
Muddy Waters did it (some time before 1973).
B.B. King and Bobby Blue Bland did it.
Muddy Waters did it again, with Johnny Winter, at Chicagofest in 1981 (I was here, but I don’t remember all that much. I thought I remembered a daytime concert. Can my memory really be doing this? It was even fuzzy the day after.)
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Speaking of St. Louis, the following songs are by Walter Davis (often with Henry Townsend on guitar).
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Couldn’t find another song that Ed Parker had on his list, Philadelphia Jerry Ricks’ cover of Mississippi John Hurt’s “Louis Collins” (number 314), so I substituted a cover by a couple of guys often known as Grateful Dawg, Jerry Garcia and David “Dawg” Grisman (number 315). Instead of that, here are a couple other songs by him.
Philadelphia Jerry Ricks, “Sittin’ On Top of the World” (also added it to that May 25 Blues Roots playlist).
Philadelphia Jerry Ricks, “Boogie in the Rough”
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Blind Alfred Reed ’s “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?” (number 316 on the playlist), recorded on December 4, 1929, was considered one of the first protest songs. It inspired many, many covers (listed at the link in title), including the three heard in the playlist (numbers 317 through 319). Here’s one of the most recent, UB40’s from 2013.
And one of the oldest covers, the New Lost City Ramblers, from 1959.
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Sister Rosetta Tharpe makes a return to Ed Parker’s Yer Blues playlist with “Strange Things Are Happening Every Day” (number 320); her “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” (number 225) was the first cover of Blind Willie Johnson’s song. I couldn’t find Michelle Shocked’s cover, so I’m substituting Johnny Cash’s from his A Believer Sings the Truth.
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Lenny Welch’s 1963 cover of Buddy and Ella Johnson’s “Since I Fell for You” from 1945 closes out volume 13 (numbers 322 and 323). Here’s Nina Simone’s version, my favorite.
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songs numbered 299 through 323
“EYESIGHT TO THE BLIND” SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON
“EYESIGHT TO THE BLIND” THE WHO“THE SOUL OF A MAN” BLIND WILLIE JOHNSON
“SOUL OF A MAN” BRUCE COCKBURN“BLACK BETTY” JAMES “IRON HEAD” BAKER
“BLACK BETTY” LEAD BELLY
“BLACK BETTY” RAM JAM“CATFISH BLUES” ROBERT PETWAY
“ROLLING STONE” MUDDY WATERS
“CATFISH BLUES” JIMI HENDRIX“I’M SO GLAD” SKIP JAMES
“I’M SO GLAD” CREAM“GOING DOWN SLOW” ST. LOUIS JIMMY
“GOING DOWN SLOW” HOWLIN’ WOLF
“GOING DOWN SLOW” HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS“LOUIS COLLINS” MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT
“LOUIS COLLINS” JERRY GARCIA AND DAVID GRISMAN“HOW CAN A POOR MAN STAND SUCH TIMES AND LIVE?” BLIND ALFRED REED
“HOW CAN A POOR MAN STAND SUCH TIMES AND LIVE?” ALEXIS KORNER
“HOW CAN A POOR MAN STAND SUCH TIMES AND LIVE?” RY COODER
“HOW CAN A POOR MAN STAND SUCH TIMES AND LIVE?” BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN“STRANGE THINGS HAPPENING EVERY DAY” SISTER ROSETTA THARPE
“STRANGE THINGS HAPPEN EVERY DAY” JOHNNY CASH“SINCE I FELL FOR YOU” BUDDY & ELLA JOHNSON
“SINCE I FELL FOR YOU” LENNY WELCH::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::C:A:T:F:I:S:H:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The song goes by many names, “Catfish Blues,” “Rollin’ Stone,” “Still a Fool,” “Two Trains Running” are the main ones. The known as “the original” was Robert Petway’s (number 306) but we know he didn’t just create it out of thin air (or thin water); check out the Jim Jackson 4-part “Kansas City Blues” (directly below) for the first known use of the “I wished I was a catfish swimming down in the sea / I’d have some good woman fishing after me” line (about 1:10 into part 3). I was always less than enthusiastic about the wish to be a catfish, and never wanted to be one even if all the pretty women in the world were fishing after me. But if it was good enough for Muddy Waters and Jimi Hendrix and hundreds of others, what have I been missing?
There’s way more going on with this song than I can possibly mention. This song has inspired so many other songs, plays, movies, band names, magazine names, who knows what all it may be responsible for? I’m a little overwhelmed and a little confused—it’s a good thing I had two weeks to put this in order. There’s lots of food for discussion in all the versions.
I added as many of the different titles that draw on the rhythm, melody/riffs and lyrics to this playlist (there are probably at least as many that I felt I had to leave off the list because I wasn’t able to listen to them to find out if they were any good—I included at least a few that I don’t like much at all, heavy rock versions by ZZ Top and Geezer Butler to name two). I really would have liked to spent more time commenting on the versions on the list.
The order is more intuitive than anything, slightly hierarchical, without possibly presuming to assign value, a mix of blues and rock versions and a couple that are ambiguous. Jimi Hendrix is last but definitely not least.
The following songs are the roots of the song and other essential versions, 87 other songs are on the playlist above.
Jim Jackson, “Kansas City Blues Part 1” (recorded October 10, 1927)
Jim Jackson, “Kansas City Blues Part 2” (recorded October 10, 1927)
Jim Jackson, “Kansas City Blues Part 3” (recorded October 1928). The related lyrics about a catfish are about 1:20 into this part.
Jim Jackson, “Kansas City Blues Part 4” (recorded October 1928)
Robert Petway, “Catfish Blues” (1941)
Muddy Waters, “Still a Fool,” Muddy Waters (voice, guitar), Little Walter Jacobs (guitar), Leonard Chess (bass drum), (July 11, 1951). Little Walter’s guitar skills should be noted. He spent a lot of time following guitarists around, listening and duplicating what he heard. If he weren’t such a bad harmonicist, he would have been remembered as a guitarist.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MavZyLr3a6QMuddy Waters, “Rolling Stone,” live recording, Manchester, England, 1958
Muddy Waters, “Rolling Stone,” live at Newport, 1960
Muddy Waters, “Catfish,” live recording, Olympia Theatre, Paris, 1964
James “Son” Thomas, “Catfish,” with explicit lyrics.
James “Son” Thomas, “Two Trains”
In addition to being a musician, James “Son” Thomas was an artist, a sculptor. You can see some of his work at the link in his name.
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This isn’t Elmore James. It is the flip side of his first release on Trumpet, “Dust My Broom.” This is also the seventh song on the playlist, but there the artist is correctly named; he’s Bobo Thomas, performing with Sonny Boy Williamson II. Lillian McMurry , the owner of the Trumpet record label, got only one recording from Elmore James, his first (this is the one it’s sometimes said that was recorded surreptitiously, but that story is mostly disproven). She released both “Dust My Broom” and “Catfish” as being by Elmo James.
This is Elmore James’ “Dust My Broom,” recorded August 5, 1951, at Ivan Scott’s Radio Service Studio, Jackson, Mississippi, the front side of Bobo Thomas’ “Catfish.” It’s hard to imagine that a lot of people thought they were recorded by the same person. Elmore James, (vocals, guitar), Sonny Boy Williamson (harp), Leonard Ware (bass) and Frock O’Dell (drums).
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I thought I remembered Albert Collins doing a version, but this is the closest one I could find, “Cookin’ Catfish” (1968).
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“Drown In My Own Tears” 1960. Henry Glover song.
“In the Evening (When the Sun Goes Down)” 1963. Leroy Carr song.
“The Sun Died” 1968, Paris. This was made famous by Gene Ammons, not sure who wrote it—may well be him.
“Stormy Monday” This just blows me away! Listen all the way to the end, he is innovative as well as expressive. I think the guitarist is Tony Matthews, based on comments and who it might have been, with Ernie Vantrease (piano) and John Bryant (drums).
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Easy Baby (Alex Randall or Alex Randle), born August 3, 1934, Memphis, Tennessee, died September 25, 2009. He sang, played harmonica, bass and drums.
Sweet Home Chicago Blues, Easy Baby (vocals, harmonica), Eddie Taylor (guitar), Mac Thompson (bass guitar), Kansas City Red (drums), 1978. This is definitely one of my favorite records, although I don’t own it. I’ve never seen a copy for under $75 (although Discogs says one once sold for $67.50)—it’s really in need of a deluxe reissue package.
Don D.
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Thanks Roberto!
Muddy Waters was cool no matter what, but how about Walter Davis and Henry Townsend “Tears Come Falling Down” and “Oh Me Oh My”? And Ray Charles’ “Stormy Monday” and Easy Baby and His House Rockers’ Sweet Home Chicago Blues? Don’t miss those, either. That Easy Baby album has been growing on me to the point it might be my all-time favorite record. I’ve featured it here before but without as much fanfare. It’s hard to find for under $75, which I won’t spend for a record. I’d say impossible, but Discogs lists $67.50 as the lowest price one ever sold for on their site. They currently have 2, the cheap one is listed for $138.12 (must be estimate of a different currency). There aren’t any on Amazon or eBay. Eddie Taylor is so good on it, as are the bassist and drummer.
Here’s his 2002 follow-up (it doesn’t thrill like the 1977 masterpiece, but it’s still something to hear).
There WAS a problem with the “Catfish Blues” playlist (it’s fixed now), in that the very first video couldn’t be viewed from this Active Melody page, you had to go to YouTube—if and when you did, you were disconnected from the playlist. So I replaced it with another of the very same song, even using the same artwork. That was unexpected, but it’s something else I’ll check for. I was having trouble getting the playlist to show up as a “thumbnail,” that should have been a clue that something else was wrong.
Don D.
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A “Catfish” by another name. Willie Nix’s “Just Can’t Stay” with Snooky Pryor (harp), Eddie Taylor (guitar), Sunnyland Slim (piano), and, although Willie Nix was a drummer, he sings on here and Alfred Wallace plays drums. Recorded in Chicago, 1953.
This was from Willie Nix’s last recording session, even though he lived until July 8, 1991.
Don D.
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Here’s a voice and guitar version of “Catfish” by Muddy Waters, with lyrics in the original poster’s comments and an interesting (and mostly tedious) discussion of Muddy Waters’ influence in the listeners’ comments.
I don’t know for certain when this was recorded, but by deduction (trusting that the one above labeled 1958 in England is correct), using Blues & Rhythm‘s complete Muddy Waters discography, I think it’s probably from the American Folk Blues Festival in Bremen, Germany, on Sunday, October 13, 1963.
The next Blues Roots will be arriving sometime later today. The featured song is “Shake Your Money Maker” and the “problem” is that the hundreds (thousands?) of just so-so covers have kept me from easily finding and sorting out the best ones. But it’s going to happen. I have the playlist, just rereorganazizing it and removing songs as I go.
Don D.
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