Due to the continued popularity of the original article Thirteen Great Blues Cover Songs, I have decided to offer up thirteen more blues covers for your aural edification. This time around, in addition to comparing originals to some excellent covers, I've also dug deep into a few of the standards to show the pervasiveness of performers covering a blues tune and then other artists covering the covers.
As I stated in the earlier article, "one should be also aware of the cannibalistic nature of the blues idiom throughout its history, and the inveterate 'borrowing' of material from one blues artist to another dating back to the early 20th century." This was not just some phenomenon picked up by young, white English and American rockers in the 1960s, who idolized and imitated the great bluesmen of earlier generations, but an ongoing practice for over a century, and even farther back to the metamorphosis of early "Negro" spirituals and work songs into what we now commonly refer to as "the blues".
But the love of the blues, as is obvious by now, transcends racial lines unlike almost any other musical genre, and it is an ingrained American institution, no matter who's playing it. Hey, you either feel it or you don't. In the immortal words of Albert Collins: "Nobody leaves this place without singin' the blues!"
HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN
This song is so old, not even musicologists can exactly recall its origins. But rather than dwell on the obscurities of its birth (or carbon dating, for that matter), I'll just offer up various versions that I find the most interesting: the first is done in a Capella by Georgia Turner (recorded by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress in 1937), the second is a country version by Woody Guthrie, and the third is a Delta blues version by Leadbelly. I've also included two stellar versions by the renowned Nina Simone because they are so starkly different. Finally, the most famous version by The Animals, and then the psychedelic heavy-metal precursor by Frijid Pink (my all-time favorite rendition).
Georgia Turner, 1937 version
Woody Guthrie, circa 1941 version
Leadbelly, 1944 version
Nina Simone fast version
Nina Simone slow version
The Animals version
Frijid Pink version
SMOKESTACK LIGHTNIN'
The Yardbirds make a noble effort in their version of the song, but Howlin' Wolf's original, powerful rendition simply blows it out of the water. One of the great blues performances of all time.
Howlin' Wolf version
The Yardbirds version
NOBODY'S FAULT BUT MINE
Here, we have the exceptionally strong original by Blind Willie Jefferson, and the equally great cover by Zeppelin. Next to "When the Levee Breaks" and "Gallows Pole", "Nobody's Fault But Mine" is perhaps the best blues cover Page and Plant ever performed.
Blind Willie Jefferson version
Led Zeppelin version
KILLING FLOOR
First was Howlin' Wolf's great version of this song, then the apocalyptic explosion of Hendrix bursting onto the stage at Monterrey, then Led Zeppelin "borrowing" the lyrics with a completely different treatment of the song (they had to settle out of court and granted Howlin' Wolf co-songwriting credit under his real name, Chester Burnett).
Howlin' Wolf version
Jimi Hendrix version
Led Zeppelin's "The Lemon Song"
DUST MY BROOM
Peter Green and Fleetwood Mac offer a faithful cover of Elmore James' original. I like them both. Great slide by Jeremy Spencer on the Fleetwood Mac version.
Elmore James version
Fleetwood Mac version
SPOONFUL
You've got to love Howlin' Wolf's voice, all choked with rage and about as evil as the devil hisself. The Cream version is powered by the soaring vocals of Jack Bruce, and borders on the marches of psychedelia.
Howlin' Wolf version
Cream version
EVERYDAY I HAVE THE BLUES
Most folks would consider this a B.B. King standard, but in fact it was originally written and recorded by that under appreciated progenitor of many blues tunes, Memphis Slim (aka Peter Chatman). Elmore James also did a great version before B.B. made it his own.
Memphis Slim version
Elmore James version
B.B. King version
GALLOWS POLE
This folk tune is even older in origin than "House of the Rising Sun", and a variation of the theme appears in Child Ballads (Number 95). The Leadbelly version is entitled "The Gallis Pole" ("Gallis" being an obvious misspelling of "gallows" due to Leadbelly misinterpreting the word the first time he heard the song). Leadbelly's unbelievable twelve-string acoustic picking sets the stage for the slowed-down, but far more famous, version "Gallows Pole" by Zeppelin. Both renditions are great in my book.
Leadbelly version
Led Zeppelin version
BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN
The Albert King original of "Born Under a Bad Sign" is one of those signature tunes that can be covered but forever remains an integral part of the artist who first recorded it. Cream does a nicely ominous version, but I like the booming Koko Taylor backed by the blistering guitar of Buddy Guy better.
Albert King version
Cream version
Buddy Guy/Koko Taylor version
HOOCHIE COOCHIE MAN
Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Elmore James are my favorites. Now that we have that out of the way, I really enjoy the different treatment The Allman Brothers applied to Muddy's marvelous original. But Muddy will always be the Hoochie Coochie Man. Sorry, Duane and Gregg.
Muddy Waters version
Allman Brothers version
CRAWLIN' KING SNAKE
It would be very difficult to be more ominous and evil than John Lee Hooker, but Jim Morrison outdoes him in the downright dirty version played by The Doors.
John Lee Hooker version
The Doors version
BABY, PLEASE DON'T GO
Although this tune was first recorded by Big Joe Williams in 1935, it is interrelated to a series of older works songs. The first three performances (from Williams, Big Bill Broonzy and Lightnin' Hopkins) reflect the Delta acoustic blues style, while Muddy Waters offered an amplified version with blues harp as the prominent lead instrument. Van Morrison and Them took Waters' version one step further into the rock realm, and then Ted Nugent and The Amboy Dukes psychedelicized it.
Big Joe Williams version
Big Bill Broonzy version
Lightnin' Hopkins version
Muddy Waters version
Them version
Amboy Dukes version
ANOTHER MAN DONE GONE
"Another Man Done Gone" is virtually the same song as "Baby Please Don't Go", but it is more representative of the original work song model. Here, Vera Hall, a great folksinger first recorded in the 1930s by John Lomax (Alan Lomax's father) for the Library of Congress, and later Johnny Cash (with June Carter), both sing a Capella versions of the song, while John Mayall accompanies his vocal with a blues harp.
Vera Hall version
Johnny Cash version
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers version
AND THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE WORST BLUES COVER OF ALL TIME:
BLACK BETTY
Yes, this was Ram Jam's one big hit, but to my ears the lyrics borrowed from Leadbelly seem completely wrong coming from this derivative Southern-style band from the 1970s. Talk about singing out of context and sounding more than a bit racist.
Leadbelly version
Ram Jam version
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