Back on the trail!

Walter Vinson/Vincson/Jacobs’ melody to “Sitting On Top Of The World”/”Things ‘Bout Coming My Way,” soon became a popular one to borrow. I know of four now-legendary Bluesmen from the 1930’s  who each put it to very good use.

The First.

William Lee Conley “Big Bill” Broonzy (1898-1958)…

…recorded a song he called “Worrying You Off My Mind” for the American Record Corporation on March 29, 1932.

Big Bill wrote six verses to the familiar melody (set in the Key of Eb, but with his guitar tuned down a half step and Bill using Key of E chord fingerings) and each verse ending with the lines: “So when I’m gone / I’ll take it easy / ‘Cause I’m just worryin’ you off of my mind.”

Big Bill Broonzy was an outstanding vocalist and even-better guitar player. This performance features brilliant guitar solos in the intro and in-between the fourth and fifth verses.

Enjoy!

Mississippi-born, professionally based in Chicago, Big Bill Broonzy made his debut recording in 1927 and did his last recordings in 1957. As a songwriter, he copyrighted more than 300 songs over the course of his career. He is rightfully revered as one of the key figures in the development of Blues music in the 20th Century.

The Second.

Arthur “Blind Blake” Phelps (Blake?) [1896(93?)-1934]…

…recorded a song he called “Depression’s Gone From Me Blues” for Paramount Records sometime in June of 1932.

Blind Blake also penned six verses of lyrics to go with our featured melody (set here in the Key of E, with the guitar tuned to standard pitch), with the last line of each verse being (mostly): “Now she’s gone / I ain’t worryin’ / For depression’s done gone from me.”

Blind Blake was a phenomenal fingerstyle guitarist and on this recording his playing shines brightly throughout, but especially in the intro and on the three solos (!) scattered among the verses.

Here he is!

Arthur Phelps (Blake?) was born in Jacksonville, Florida and spent parts of his professional life in Chicago, Illinois. He recorded 80 sides between 1926 – 1932 for Paramount Records, located in Grafton, Wisconsin. Those recordings have earned him the distinction of being known as “Ragtime Guitar’s Foremost Fingerpicker” and “The Master of the Ragtime Guitar.”

The Third.

Admirl Amos “Bumble Bee Slim” Easton (1905-1968)…

…and His Three Sharks recorded a song they called “Someday Things Will Be Breaking My Way” among the eight sides they cut for Vocalion Records on March 22, 1934.

Bumble Bee Slim’s song is in the Key of G and has six verses, each ending with the lines: “But that’s alright / I’m still singing’ / Someday things will be breakin’ my way.”

Instrumentally, this recording features Bumble Bee Slim on vocals and (maybe) guitar, along with unknown musicians playing piano and mandolin.

Check it out!

Amos Easton was born in Georgia, moving to Indianapolis, Indiana at the age of 23. There he met and was influenced by Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell. (Remember them? See: Part 1.) He relocated to Chicago in 1931 and made his first recordings for the Paramount label. Over the next six years he recorded for numerous record labels, amassing a catalogue of over 150 recordings. He also occasionally  served as accompanist to Big Bill Broonzy and Tampa Red. Bumble Bee Slim’s last album was released in 1962.

The Fourth.

Robert Johnson (1911-1938)…

…recorded a song he called “Come On In My Kitchen” in his first recording session. The session was for Vocalion Records and took place at The Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, Texas, on November 23, 1936.

Johnson’s song is in the Key of Bb (played using a bottleneck slide with his guitar in Open Ab tuning and capoed at the second fret) and has five verses. Each verse ends with the lines: “You better come on / in my kitchen / for it’s goin’ to be rainin’ outdoors.”

This is a classic.

Robert Johnson’s legacy as the King of the Delta Blues Singers and one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century is based entirely on the collection of 29 songs that he recorded – using just his guitar and his voice – over the course of the three recording sessions in San Antonio in November, 1936 and two that were held in Dallas, Texas in June, 1937.

So there you have it: four songs built on the melody of “Sitting On Top Of The World,” “Things ‘Bout Coming My Way” and harkening back to “You Got To Reap What You Sow.”

Just to let you know, this kind of “borrowing” among songwriters was quite common back in the 1930’s.

As Ted Gioia wrote in his exceptional 2008 book, Delta Blues, about the singer/guitarist Booker T. Washington “Bukka” White [1900 (09?) – 1977]: “White had recorded ‘Shake ‘Em on Down’ (in 1937), a big seller that had been quickly imitated by a host of other Blues players. A few months later Big Bill Broonzy had an even bigger hit covering the song, and before you knew it, half the Blues artists in Chicago had a knock-off version…. ‘Ride ’em on Down’ or ‘Break ‘Em on Down’ or ‘Truck ‘Em on Down.'”

Now, that would be quite the trail to travel on down!

Coming up in Part 5: My favorite covers.