"Crawling King Snake" | |
---|---|
Single by Big Joe Williams | |
B-side | "Meet Me Around the Corner" |
Released | 1941 |
Recorded | Chicago, March 27, 1941 |
Genre | Blues |
Length | 2:51 |
Label | Bluebird |
Songwriter(s) | Unknown |
"Crawling King Snake" (alternatively "Crawlin' King Snake" or "Crawling/Crawlin' Kingsnake") is a blues song that has been recorded by numerous blues and other artists. It is believed to have originated as a Delta blues in the 1920s [1] and be related to earlier songs, such as "Black Snake Blues" by Victoria Spivey [2] and "Black Snake Moan" by Blind Lemon Jefferson. [3]
As "Crawling King Snake", it was first recorded by Big Joe Williams on March 27, 1941. The song is a country-style blues, with Williams on vocal and nine-string guitar and William Mitchell providing imitation bass [4] accompaniment. On June 3, 1941, Delta bluesman Tony Hollins recorded "a markedly different version", [5] [6] which served as the basis for many subsequent versions.
John Lee Hooker began performing "Crawling King Snake" early in his career and included it in his sets after arriving in Detroit, Michigan in the early 1940s. [7] In an interview, Hooker explained that he adapted Tony Hollins' song: "I got that 'Crawling King Snake' from him [Hollins]". [8] Hooker first recorded the song in Detroit on February 18, 1949 for producer Bernard Besman. [9] When it was released by Los Angeles-based Modern Records, "Crawling King Snake" became one of Hooker's most successful singles, reaching number six on the Billboard R&B chart in 1949. [10] Hooker recorded several subsequent versions of the song, including one with Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards for Hooker's 1991 album Mr. Lucky .
"Crawling King Snake" has been recorded by numerous musicians [1] and the song "became a concert staple for dozens of blues-rock bands". [11] In 1971, the Doors recorded a rock adaptation of "Crawling King Snake". [12] Band drummer John Densmore recalled that the group often listened to the song during their early years; vocalist Jim Morrison suggested they record it, which the Doors eventually did for their sixth album, L.A. Woman . [13] For the recording, additional instrumentation was provided by Jerry Scheff on bass and Marc Benno on rhythm guitar. [14]
In April 2021, a version by the Black Keys was released as a single ahead of the release of their tenth studio album Delta Kream . [15] The group's singer and guitarist Dan Auerbach came upon it by way of a recording by Junior Kimbrough. He explained:
This is basically folk music on a certain level, and a lot of this music is like hand-me-downs from generation to generation ... I’m singing lyrics that are like third-generation wrong lyrics. I’m singing a certain version that Junior recorded where maybe he messed up a line, but that’s the only one I know. So we were really just kind of flying by the seat of our pants. [15]
Lemon Henry "Blind Lemon" Jefferson was an American blues and gospel singer-songwriter and musician. He was one of the most popular and successful blues singers of the 1920s and has been called the "Father of the Texas Blues".
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues that he developed in Detroit. Hooker often incorporated other elements, including talking blues and early North Mississippi hill country blues. He developed his own driving-rhythm boogie style, distinct from the 1930s–1940s piano-derived boogie-woogie. Hooker was ranked 35 in Rolling Stone's 2015 list of 100 greatest guitarists, and has been cited as one of the greatest male blues vocalists of all time.
L.A. Woman is the sixth studio album by the American rock band the Doors, released on April 19, 1971, by Elektra Records. It is the last to feature lead singer Jim Morrison during his lifetime, due to his death exactly two months and two weeks following the album's release, though he would posthumously appear on the 1978 album An American Prayer. Even more so than its predecessors, the album is heavily influenced by blues. It was recorded without producer Paul A. Rothchild after he quit the band over the perceived lack of quality in their studio performances. Subsequently, the band co-produced the album with longtime sound engineer Bruce Botnick.
Joseph Lee Williams was an American Delta blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter, notable for the distinctive sound of his nine-string guitar. Performing over five decades, he recorded the songs "Baby, Please Don't Go", "Crawlin' King Snake", and "Peach Orchard Mama", among many others, for various record labels. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame on October 4, 1992.
Blues rock is a fusion genre and form of rock music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock. From its beginnings in the early to mid-1960s, blues rock has gone through several stylistic shifts and along the way it inspired and influenced hard rock, Southern rock, and early heavy metal.
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Original Folk Blues is a compilation album by American bluesman John Lee Hooker, released in 1967. It mostly features songs that Hooker recorded for Bernard Besman in Detroit, Michigan, between 1948 and 1954 they were originally issued by Modern Records.
"Roadhouse Blues" is a song by the American rock band the Doors from their 1970 album Morrison Hotel. It was released as the B-side of "You Make Me Real", which peaked at No. 50 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and No. 41 in Canada. "Roadhouse Blues" charted in its own right on the Cash Box Top 100, peaking at No. 76. The song became a concert staple for the group and it has been covered by numerous artists.
"Big Boss Man" is a blues song first recorded by Jimmy Reed in 1960. It became one of his most popular songs, although the songwriting is credited to Luther Dixon and Al Smith. Chicago-based Vee-Jay Records released it as a single, which became one of Reed's last appearances on the record charts. The song has been recorded by artists in diverse styles, including Elvis Presley, B.B. King, and Hope Sandoval, who also had chart successes with the song.
The Doors: Vinyl Box Set is the seventh box set for American rock band the Doors. It is a seven-record set of the original six studio albums, remastered in stereo from the original analogue tapes and pressed on 180-gram HQ vinyl, and a mono version of the debut album. Artwork, packaging, and inner sleeves are replicas of the original LPs issued between 1967 and 1971. The albums were remastered from 192k/24 bit digital copies and pressed at Record Technology (RTI). An insert booklet includes notes from Jac Holzman, founder of Elektra Records and Bruce Botnick the Doors' longtime sound engineer/co-producer on all the original studio albums.
Mr. Lucky is a 1991 album by American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist John Lee Hooker. Produced by Ry Cooder, Roy Rogers and Carlos Santana under the executive production of Mike Kappus, the album featured musicians including Keith Richards, Blues Hall of Fame inductee Johnny Winter; and three inductees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Van Morrison, Booker T. Jones and Johnnie Johnson. And also Chester D. Thompson, who once played with Santana, on keyboards, has collaborated on writing a song on the album. Released on Virgin Records, including on its imprint label Classic Records, Mr. Lucky peaked at #101 on the "Billboard 200". Chester D. Thompson should not be mistaken with Chester Cortez Thompson, a drummer who also played with Santana, Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, Weather Report, Genesis and Phil Collins.
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