Worried Life Blues
| Worried Life Blues | |
|---|---|
| Big Maceo Merriweather | |
| publication | 1941 |
| Genre (s) | Blues , Chicago blues |
| Author (s) | Traditional |
| Award (s) |
Blues Hall of Fame 1983, Grammy Hall of Fame Award 2006 |
The Worried Life Blues is a very common gecoverter and published by various blues musicians Blues . The first publication by Big Maceo Merriweather in 1941 made the original blues traditional and also Merriweather popular. The piece became one of the first blues hits. Other versions followed, for example by Muddy Waters (1955), Chuck Berry (1960), Eric Clapton (1980, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1999 and 2000), BB King (1970 and 2000) and Bob Dylan (2006) . Other artists after Merriweather had chart successes with the Worried Life Blues .
The Worried Life Blues tells of the suffering from a past love, the continuing thoughts and the longing for the past, and that this suffering will one day be over ("But someday, baby, I ain't gonna worry my life anymore") . Some of the releases titled the piece Someday Baby or Trouble No More .
The Someday Baby Blues by Sleepy John Estes
The Worried Life Blues by Merriweather goes back to the Someday Baby Blues by Sleepy John Estes , which he had recorded in 1935 on Decca Records . Estes played the piece with vocals and guitar as traditional country blues ; accordingly the text was structured differently than in the later version of Merryweather.
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Someday Baby Blues (Sleepy John Estes, 1935):
- I don't care how long you go, I don't care how long you stay
- But that good kind treatment, bring you back home someday
- Someday baby, you ain't gonna worry my mind anymore
First published by Merriweather
Merriweather reworked the former traditional into a typical Chicago blues and also changed the text. The characteristic final line was retained.
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Worried Life Blues (Big Maceo Merriweather, 1941):
- Oh lordy lord, oh lordy lord
- It hurts me so bad, for us to part
- But someday baby, I ain't gonna worry my life anymore
Big Maceo Merriweather had come to Chicago in 1941 and signed his first recording deal with Bluebird Records . On June 24, 1941 he recorded the Worried Life Blues as the first single . Merriweather played the piece at a medium tempo and with an 8-bar blues scheme and took over vocals and piano. He was accompanied by his friends Tampa Red (guitar) and Ransom Knowling (bass). The piece was a hit - a chart placement was not noted at the time.
Other versions followed immediately, for example by Bill Gaither (1941), Sonny Boy Williams (1942), and Honeyboy Edwards (1942). Merriweather himself recorded a second version in 1945, which contained additional text, again accompanied by Tampa Red. Under the title Things Have Changed , this version reached number 4 on the Billboard R&B charts, which have now been established .
Versions of other artists
The Worried Life Blues was played in innumerable versions. The following list shows a selection of versions that reached a chart position or were published on an album.
- 1949 - Charles Brown (on Aladdin Records ; # 1 on the Billboard R&B chart for 15 weeks ; under the title Trouble Blues )
- 1955 - Muddy Waters (on Chess Records ; # 7 on the US R&B charts; under the title Trouble No More )
- 1958 - Ray Charles (as Someday Baby on The Genius Sings the Blues )
- 1960 - Chuck Berry on Rockin 'at the Hops
- 1965 - The Animals on Animal Tracks and The Animals On Tour
- 1966 - Blues Magoos on Psychedelic Lollipop
- 1969 - Junior Parker (on Minit Records ; # 34 on the US R&B charts)
- 1970 - BB King (No. 48 on the US R&B charts; also a version entitled Ain't Gonna Worry My Life Anymore on Indianola Mississippi Seeds in the same year
- 1971 - Mississippi Fred McDowell (as Someday Baby on Live in New York , and as Fred's Worried Life Blues on Fred McDowell: Mississippi Delta Blues )
- 1979 - Keith Richards and The New Barbarians on Buried Alive: Live in Maryland
- 1980 - Eric Clapton on Just One Night
- 1987 - Eric Clapton on The Cream of Eric Clapton
- 1991 - Eric Clapton on 24 Nights
- 1992 - Eric Clapton on Unplugged
- 1993 - Robben Ford on Mystic Mile
- 1996 - Eric Clapton on Crossroads 2: Live in the Seventies
- 1999 - Eric Clapton on blues
- 2000 - Eric Clapton and BB King on Riding with the King
- 2006 - Bob Dylan (as Someday Baby on Modern Times )
- 2007 - Clutch (as Electric Worry on From Beale Street to Oblivion )
- 2007 - Procol Harum on One Eye to the Future - Live in Italy 2007
- 2009 - North Mississippi Allstars on Do It Like We Used to Do Live 96-08
- 2010 - Night Horse on The Dark Won't Hide You
Awards
The Worried Life Blues was one of the first titles to be inducted into the newly created Blues Hall of Fame in 1983 (category: Classics of Blues Recordings) - together with Sweet Home Chicago and Dust My Broom . In 2006 the blues received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award.
Web links
- Worried Life Blues acoustic guitar and vocals
- Lyrics
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Keith Shadwick: The Encyclopedia of Jazz and Blues ; Oceana, 2001, p. 237, ISBN 978-0-681-08644-9
- ↑ Joes Whitburn: Top R&B Singles 1942 - 1988 , Record Research, 1988, p. 42, ISBN 0-89820-068-7
- ↑ Fred McDowell Illustrated Discography . Archived from the original on February 22, 2008. Retrieved March 30, 2008.
- ^ Electric Worry Lyrics . Retrieved May 29, 2011.)
- ^ Blues Foundation : Blues Hall of Fame 1983, accessed July 11, 2011
- ^ Grammy Recording Academy : Grammy hall of Fame Awards 2006, accessed July 19, 2011
Remarks
- ↑ The Billboard R&B charts started in October 1942
- ↑ this version of the Worried Life Blues corresponded to the "Someday Baby" recorded by King in 1960
- ↑ Clutch referred to Fed McDowell's version and added their own ideas. - see. Road Burn: Clutch Studio Report . Archived from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved March 30, 2008.