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| Look at that snazzy man. He's diabolically snazzy! Maybe it's the hat... |
What an awesome song! And definitely cover-worthy. Johnson himself is quite the legend-- an incredible blues musician and guitarist, he died by being poisoned (supposedly) in 1937 (the same year he recorded this song) at the age of 27. Eric Clapton called him "the most important blues singer that ever lived," which is quite a statement. Legends about him making a deal with the Devil in return for musical ability abound, and the man has some crazy stories. This song, though, is pretty straight-forwardly amazing. It's a pretty funny song to me-- basically a guy complaining about all the other people in his life who are "breaking down" on him. Bluesy yet also a pretty upbeat song.
There are a lot of covers of this song, unsurprisingly, but here are my faves:
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| Only TRUE rock stars can get away with the no shirt + vest combo. |
Whoa! Nice one! This cover is from "Exile on Main Street" (1972) which is one of my top ten albums of all time, which is saying a lot. The whole album is GENIUS. This song in particular is great-- they made it much more raw with that piano riffing and the harmonica and wailing gee-tar. They took this song and OWNED it.
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| Fringed shirts are also largely owned by rock stars. |
This song is from their self-titled album released in 1999 (wow, that was a long time ago). They took that whole "raw" sound to a WHOLE 'nother level here. Jack White's distinctive whine + those bashing drums = Robert Johnson rockin' out in his grave.
I have a hard time deciding which version of this song I like the best. It basically depends on my mood. Check 'em out. What's your opinion?
If you liked this song/these songs, you might also like:
The Black Keys
Muddy Waters
Leadbelly
Led Zeppelin
The Raconteurs
Over and out,
Anna
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