"Gin House Blues" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Amen Corner | ||||
B-side | "I Know" | |||
Released | July 1967 | |||
Recorded | 1967 | |||
Genre | Blues, blues-rock | |||
Length | 3:12 | |||
Label | Deram Records – DM 136 | |||
Songwriter(s) | credited to Fletcher Henderson and Henry Troy (A-side) Andy Fairweather-Low (B-side) | |||
Producer(s) | Noel Walker | |||
Amen Corner singles chronology | ||||
|
"Gin House Blues" is the title of two different blues songs, which have become confused over the years. Both songs were first recorded by Bessie Smith.
The song originally titled "Gin House Blues" was written in 1925 by Fletcher Henderson with lyrics by Henry Troy, [1] and recorded by Bessie Smith with Henderson on 18 March 1926. [2] It has the opening lines "I've got a sad sad story today / I'm goin' to the gin house when the whistle blows..."
However, the song now most usually called "Gin House" or "Gin House Blues" – with the opening lines "Stay away from me 'cause I'm in my sin / If this place gets raided, it's just me and my gin..." – is an entirely different song. It was originally entitled "Me and My Gin", and was recorded by Bessie Smith on 25 August 1928 and released on Columbia 14384-D. [3] It was written by "Harry Burke", [3] [4] which may be a pseudonym of the pianist and songwriter James C. Johnson. [5] It is this song which has been recorded by many musicians over the years under the title "Gin House Blues" (see listing below), with authorship usually credited to Henderson and Troy, apparently in error.
Bessie Smith was an African-American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the "Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, she is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and was a major influence on fellow blues singers, as well as jazz vocalists.
Gertrude "Ma" Rainey was an American blues singer and influential early-blues recording artist. Dubbed the "Mother of the Blues", she bridged earlier vaudeville and the authentic expression of southern blues, influencing a generation of blues singers. Rainey was known for her powerful vocal abilities, energetic disposition, majestic phrasing, and a "moaning" style of singing. Her qualities are present and most evident in her early recordings "Bo-Weevil Blues" and "Moonshine Blues".
James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. He was one of the most prolific black musical arrangers and, along with Duke Ellington, is considered one of the most influential arrangers and bandleaders in jazz history. Henderson's influence was vast. He helped bridge the gap between the Dixieland and the swing eras. He was often known as "Smack" Henderson.
Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton, was an American singer and songwriter of the blues and R&B.
Clara Smith was an American classic female blues singer, billed as the "Queen of the Moaners", although she had a lighter and sweeter voice than many of her contemporaries. Clara Smith was not related to the singers Bessie Smith and Mamie Smith.
Trixie Smith, was an American blues singer and film actress. She made four dozen recordings and appeared in five films.
Amen Corner were a Welsh rock group formed in Cardiff, Wales. They are best known for their hits "Bend Me, Shape Me" (1967), "High in the Sky" (1968) and the chart-topper "(If Paradise Is) Half as Nice" (1969).
Andrew Fairweather Low is a Welsh guitarist and singer. He was a founding member and lead singer of 1960s pop band Amen Corner, and in recent years has toured extensively with Roger Waters, Eric Clapton and Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings.
"Ain't Nobody's Business" is a 1920s blues song that became one of the first blues standards. It was published in 1922 by Porter Grainger and Everett Robbins. The song features a lyrical theme of freedom of choice and a vaudeville jazz–style musical arrangement. It was first recorded, as "'Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness if I Do", in 1922 by Anna Meyers, backed by the Original Memphis Five.
Rosa Henderson was an American jazz and classic female blues singer and vaudeville entertainer of the Harlem Renaissance era.
Jay Cee Johnson, usually known as J. C. Johnson and in some sources, mistakenly, as James C. Johnson, was an American pianist and songwriter, best known for his collaborations with Fats Waller and Bessie Smith.
Porter Grainger was an American pianist, songwriter, playwright, and music publisher.
Coot Grant was an American classic female blues, country blues, and vaudeville singer and songwriter. On her own and with her husband and musical partner, Wesley "Kid" Wilson, she was popular with African American audiences from the 1910s to the early 1930s.
Wesley Shellie Wilson, often credited as Kid Wilson, was an American blues and jazz singer and songwriter. His stagecraft and performances with his wife and musical partner, Coot Grant, were popular with African American audiences in the 1910s, 1920s and early 1930s.
Dinah Sings Bessie Smith is the ninth studio album by blues, R&B and jazz singer Dinah Washington released on the Emarcy label, and reissued by Verve Records in 1999 as The Bessie Smith Songbook. The album arrangements are headed by Robare Edmondson and Ernie Wilkins, and the songs are associated with American blues singer Bessie Smith. AllMusic details the album in its review as saying: "It was only natural that the "Queen of the Blues" should record songs associated with the "Empress of the Blues." The performances by the septet/octet do not sound like the 1920s and the purposely ricky-tick drumming is insulting, but Dinah Washington sounds quite at home on this music".
Newport '58 is a first live album by vocalist Dinah Washington. It was recorded on July 6, 1958 at the Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, Rhode Island, and arranged by Melba Liston.
The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz is a six-LP box set released in 1973 by the Smithsonian Institution. Compiled by jazz critic, scholar, and historian Martin Williams, the album included tracks from over a dozen record labels spanning several decades and genres of American jazz, from ragtime and big band to post-bop and free jazz.
Robert Williams Ricketts was an American musician, composer, lyricist, bandleader, song arranger and music publisher. Bob Ricketts was associated with fellow musician and songwriter Porter Grainger and together they produced a number of musical works.
Edmonia Henderson was an American classic female blues singer. She was active as a recording artist in the mid-1920s, recording at least 14 songs between 1924 and 1926. She later became an evangelist.