Blue and Lonesome (song)

Last updated
"Blue and Lonesome"
Song by Memphis Slim
LanguageEnglish
Released1949
Genre Rhythm and blues
Songwriter(s) Little Walter

"Blue and Lonesome" is a 1949 song recorded by Memphis Slim. It was his second major R&B chart hit after "Messin' Around". [1]

In 2016 the Rolling Stones released an album of cover songs titled Blue & Lonesome , on which a cover of the original Memphis Slim song appears. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shocking Blue</span> Dutch rock band

Shocking Blue was a Dutch rock band formed in 1967 in The Hague. It was part of the music movement in the Netherlands that was generally known by the name Nederbeat. The band had a number of hits throughout the counterculture movement during the 1960s and early 1970s, including "Send Me a Postcard" and "Venus", which became their biggest hit and reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and many other countries during 1969 and 1970. The band sold 13.5 million records by 1973 but disbanded in 1974. Together with Golden Earring they are considered the most successful Nederbeat-band, if the criterion is scoring hits abroad and especially in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memphis Slim</span> American blues pianist, singer, and composer

John Len Chatman, known professionally as Memphis Slim, was an American blues pianist, singer, and composer. He led a series of bands that, reflecting the popular appeal of jump blues, included saxophones, bass, drums, and piano. A song he first cut in 1947, "Every Day I Have the Blues", has become a blues standard, recorded by many other artists. He made over 500 recordings.

"Folsom Prison Blues" is a song by American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash. Written in 1953, it was first recorded in 1955 for his debut studio album Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar! (1957), appearing as the album's eleventh track. Borrowing liberally from Gordon Jenkins' 1953 song, "Crescent City Blues", the song combines elements from two popular folk styles, the train song and the prison song, both of which Cash continued to use for the rest of his career. It was one of Cash's signature songs. Additionally, this recording was included on the compilation album All Aboard the Blue Train (1962). In June 2014, Rolling Stone ranked it No. 51 on its list of the 100 greatest country songs of all time.

<i>Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon</i> 1971 studio album by James Taylor

Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter James Taylor, released in April 1971 by Warner Bros. Records. The album was recorded between early January and late February of the same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junior Wells</span> American Chicago blues musician

Junior Wells was an American singer, harmonica player, and recording artist. He is best known for his signature song "Messin' with the Kid" and his 1965 album Hoodoo Man Blues, described by the critic Bill Dahl as "one of the truly classic blues albums of the 1960s". Wells himself categorized his music as rhythm and blues.

<i>Moody Blue</i> 1977 studio album by Elvis Presley

Moody Blue is the twenty-fourth and final studio album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released on July 19, 1977 by RCA Records, four weeks before his death. The album was a mixture of live and studio work, and included the four tracks from Presley's final studio recording sessions in October 1976 and two tracks left over from the previous Graceland session in February 1976. "Moody Blue" was a previously published hit song recorded at the earlier Graceland session and held over for this album. Also recorded at the February session was "She Thinks I Still Care". "Way Down" became a hit after Presley's death less than one month after this album's release. The album was certified Gold and Platinum on September 12, 1977, and 2× Platinum on March 27, 1992, by the RIAA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slim Whitman</span> American singer-songwriter and instrumentalist

Ottis Dewey Whitman Jr., known as Slim Whitman, was an American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist known for his yodeling abilities and his use of falsetto. He claimed he had sold in excess of 120 million records, although the recorded sales figures give 70 million, during a career that spanned over seven decades, and consisted of a prolific output of over 100 albums and around 500 recorded songs, that not only consisted of country music, but also of contemporary gospel, Broadway show tunes, love songs and standards. In the 1950s, Whitman toured with Elvis Presley as the opening act.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Burlison</span> American rockabilly guitarist

Paul Burlison was an American pioneer rockabilly guitarist and a founding member of The Rock and Roll Trio. Burlison was born in Brownsville, Tennessee, where he was exposed to music at an early age. After a stint in the United States Military, Burlison teamed up with Johnny and Dorsey Burnette to form The Rock and Roll Trio. The band released several singles, but failed to attain chart success. Paul is sometimes credited with being the first guitarist to intentionally record with a distorted electric guitar on the 1956 recordings, "Lonesome Train on a Lonesome Track" and "Honey Hush." The Trio disbanded in the fall of 1957 and Burlison moved back to Tennessee to start a family. There he started his own electrical subcontracting business which he ran faithfully for twenty years, taking a break when the Trio reunited in the early 1980s. He released his only solo album in 1997, which received positive reviews. Burlison remained active in the music scene until his death in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Are You Lonesome Tonight?</span> Song written and composed by Lou Handman and Roy Turk; first recorded by Charles Hart

"Are You Lonesome Tonight?" is a song written by Roy Turk and Lou Handman in 1926. It was recorded several times in 1927—first by Charles Hart, with successful versions by Vaughn De Leath, Henry Burr, and the duet of Jerry Macy and John Ryan. In 1950 the Blue Barron Orchestra version reached the top twenty on the Billboard's Pop Singles chart.

Leon Roger Payne, "the Blind Balladeer", was an American country music singer and songwriter.

"Stop Messin' Round" is a song first recorded by English blues rock group Fleetwood Mac in 1968. It was written by the group's principal guitarist and singer Peter Green, with an additional credit for manager C.G. Adams. The song is an upbeat 12-bar blues shuffle and is representative of the group's early repertoire of conventional electric blues. The lyrics deal with the common blues theme of the unfaithful lover and share elements with earlier songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Every Day I Have the Blues</span> Blues standard

"Every Day I Have the Blues" is a blues song that has been performed in a variety of styles. An early version of the song is attributed to Pinetop Sparks and his brother Milton. It was first performed in the taverns of St. Louis by the Sparks brothers and was recorded July 28, 1935 by Pinetop with Henry Townsend on guitar. The song is a twelve-bar blues that features Pinetop's piano and falsetto vocal. The opening verse includes the line "Every day, every day I have the blues".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Freddie King</span> American Delta blues guitarist

Little Freddie King is an American Delta blues guitarist. His style is based on that of Freddie King, but his approach to country blues is original.

"Just Call Me Lonesome" is a song written by Rex Griffin and first recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1955, when it reached number two on the U.S. country singles chart. "Just Call Me Lonesome" subsequently appeared on albums by numerous recording artists:

Mess Around or Messing Around or variants may refer to:

"Messin' Around" is a 1948 song by Memphis Slim and His House Rockers, released as Miracle Records 125. It was Slim's first and only R&B chart No.1, spending two weeks at the top of the chart from September 4, 1948.

"The Come Back" is a 1953 song by Memphis Slim. It was one of his signature R&B chart hits.

<i>Blue & Lonesome</i> (Rolling Stones album) 2016 studio album by the Rolling Stones

Blue & Lonesome is the 23rd British and 25th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones released on 2 December 2016. It is the band's first album to feature only cover songs, and their first studio release since 2005's A Bigger Bang, with its eleven-year gap being the longest between two albums from the band. Despite the short running of approximately 43 minutes, the album was released as a double LP. "Just Your Fool", a Buddy Johnson cover was released as the first single from the album on 6 October. The name of the album is from a song which Little Walter wrote, "Blue and Lonesome".

"Sail Along, Silv'ry Moon" is a song written by Harry Tobias and Percy Wenrich in 1937 and performed by Bing Crosby. It reached #4 on the U.S. pop chart in 1937. Outside of the US, the song peaked at #1 in Canada, Germany and Norway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charley Crockett</span> American musician

Charley Crockett is an American blues, country, and Americana singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He has released ten albums since 2015, with Lil G.L.'s Blue Bonanza peaking at number 11 on the US Billboard Blues Albums chart. In 2020, Crockett released a mixtape containing low-fidelity recordings titled Field Recordings, Vol. 1 and the studio album Welcome to Hard Times. In 2021, Crockett released two albums, 10 for Slim: Charley Crockett Sings James Hand and Music City USA. His tenth studio album, Lil G.L. Presents: Jukebox Charley, was released April 22, 2022. Crockett released his second album of 2022, The Man From Waco, on September 9.

References

  1. Nick Talevski The Encyclopedia of Rock Obituaries 1999 0711975485 p.283 "With his booming voice and his refined style of blues piano, the 6 foot 6 inch Memphis Slim enjoyed hits with 'Messin' Around' (1948), 'Blue And Lonesome' (1949), 'Angel Child' (1949), and 'The Come Back' (1953)."
  2. Havers, Richard (2017-01-27). "How Little Walter's Blue and Lonesome Inspired An Album". uDiscover Music. Archived from the original on 4 November 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-02.