"Ramblin' on My Mind" | |
---|---|
Single by Robert Johnson | |
Released | May 1937 |
Recorded | November 23, 1936 |
Studio | Gunter Hotel, San Antonio, Texas |
Genre | Blues |
Length | 2:51 |
Label | Vocalion, ARC |
Songwriter(s) | Robert Johnson |
Producer(s) | Don Law |
"Ramblin' on My Mind" is a blues song recorded on November 23, 1936, by Delta blues musician Robert Johnson. He recorded two takes of the song, which were used for different pressings of the 78 rpm records issued by both the Vocalion and ARC record companies. [1]
The song used the melody made popular by Walter Davis in his hit record "M & O Blues".[ citation needed ] Johnson composed two songs to this melody, "Ramblin' on My Mind" and "When You Got a Good Friend", with different musical approaches and different guitar tunings. For "Ramblin' on My Mind" he used an open tuning that allowed him to combine a boogie shuffle on the bass strings with bottleneck triplets on the treble strings. [2] These slide triplets were the model for Elmore James's guitar accompaniment to "Dust My Broom". [3]
Members of the family of Ike Zimmerman, who taught Johnson improve his guitar technique, have claimed that "Ramblin' on My Mind", was in fact written by him. They argue they had heard the song from Ike before he met Johnson. [4]
The song was recorded by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton for Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (1966). It was Clapton's first solo vocal recording and in his autobiography he explained:
John [Mayall] insisted that I do vocals. This was much against my better judgment, since most of the guys I longed to emulate were older and had deep voices, and I felt extremely uncomfortable singing in my high-pitched whine. [5]
Clapton later recorded versions that appear on Just One Night (1980), Crossroads 2: Live in the Seventies (1996), Sessions for Robert J (2004), and Live from Madison Square Garden (2009).
Robert Leroy Johnson was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generations of musicians. Although his recording career spanned only seven months, he is recognized as a master of the blues, particularly the Delta blues style, and as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as perhaps "the first ever rock star".
Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that reflect characteristics of the human singing voice. It typically involves playing the guitar in the traditional position with the use of a slide fitted on one of the guitarist's fingers. The slide may be a metal or glass tube, such as the neck of a bottle, giving rise to the term bottleneck guitar to describe this type of playing. The strings are typically plucked while the slide is moved over the strings to change the pitch. The guitar may be placed on the player's lap and played with a hand-held bar.
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers are an English blues rock band led by multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter John Mayall. The band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues musicians. Many of the best known bands to come out of Britain in the 1960s and 1970s had members that came through the Bluesbreakers at one time, forming the foundation of British blues music that is still played heavily on classic rock radio. Among those with a tenure in the Bluesbreakers are Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce, Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, and John McVie, Mick Taylor, Aynsley Dunbar, Jon Hiseman, Dick Heckstall-Smith and Tony Reeves, and numerous others.
John Mayall is an English blues and rock musician, songwriter and producer. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of the most famous blues and blues rock musicians.
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.
"Kind Hearted Woman Blues" is a blues song recorded on November 23, 1936, in San Antonio, Texas, by the American Delta bluesman Robert Johnson. The song was originally released on 78 rpm format as Vocalion 03416 and ARC 7-03-56. Johnson performed the song in the key of A, and recorded two takes, the first of which contains his only recorded guitar solo. Both takes were used for different pressings of both the Vocalion issue and the ARC issue. The first take (SA-2580-1) can be found on many compilation albums, including the first one, King of the Delta Blues Singers (1961). Take 2 (SA-2580-2) can be heard on the later compilation Robert Johnson, The Complete Recordings (1990).
Blues Breakers, colloquially known as The Beano Album, is the debut studio album by the English blues rock band John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, originally credited to John Mayall with Eric Clapton. Produced by Mike Vernon and released in 1966 by Decca Records (UK) and London Records (US), it pioneered a guitar-dominated blues-rock sound.
"Cross Road Blues" is a song written by the American blues artist Robert Johnson. He performed it solo with his vocal and acoustic slide guitar in the Delta blues style. The song has become part of the Robert Johnson mythology as referring to the place where he sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for musical genius. This is based largely on folklore of the American South that identifies a crossroads as the site where Faustian bargains can be made, as the lyrics do not contain any references to Satan.
E. C. Was Here is a 1975 album by Eric Clapton. It was recorded live in 1974 and 1975 at the Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York, Long Beach Arena, the Hammersmith Odeon, and the Providence Civic Center by Record Plant Remote during Clapton's first tour since Derek and the Dominos in 1970.
"Dust My Broom" is a blues song originally recorded as "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom" by American blues artist Robert Johnson in 1936. It is a solo performance in the Delta blues-style with Johnson's vocal accompanied by his acoustic guitar. As with many of his songs, it is based on earlier blues songs, the earliest of which has been identified as "I Believe I'll Make a Change", recorded by the Sparks brothers as "Pinetop and Lindberg" in 1932. Johnson's guitar work features an early use of a boogie rhythm pattern, which is seen as a major innovation, as well as a repeating triplets figure.
"Have You Ever Loved a Woman" is a blues song written by Billy Myles and first recorded by American blues artist Freddie King in 1960. The song is performed as a slow 12-bar blues with King's vocal and guitar accompanied by a small combo of pianist Sonny Thompson, bassist Bill Willis, and drummer Phillip Paul.
"Hellhound on My Trail" is a blues song recorded by Mississippi Delta bluesman Robert Johnson in June 1937 and released as a 78 rpm single on Vocalion Records that September. It was inspired by earlier blues songs and blues historian Ted Gioia describes it as one of Johnson's "best known and most admired performances—many would say it is his greatest".
"Walkin' Blues" or "Walking Blues" is a blues standard written and recorded by American Delta blues musician Son House in 1930. Although unissued at the time, it was part of House's repertoire and other musicians, including Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters, adapted the song and recorded their own versions.
"It's Nobody's Fault but Mine" or "Nobody's Fault but Mine" is a song first recorded by gospel blues artist Blind Willie Johnson in 1927. It is a solo performance with Johnson singing and playing slide guitar. The song has been interpreted and recorded by numerous musicians in a variety of styles, including Led Zeppelin on their 1976 album Presence.
Steppin' Out is a compilation album of songs featuring Eric Clapton, released in 1981. It was compiled by Decca Records Music Executive Tony Watts with liner notes by Cliff Gater and Fred Dellar. The LP contains eight of the 12 tracks that appeared originally on John Mayall's Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton in 1966, plus a Mayall/Clapton single, "Lonely Years," two tracks from the 1966 recording session for From New Orleans to Chicago by Champion Jack Dupree on which Clapton played guitar, and "Pretty Girls Everywhere", which is from a May 1964 Otis Spann session, also featuring Clapton.
King of the Delta Blues Singers, Vol. II is a compilation album by American blues musician Robert Johnson, released in 1970 by Columbia Records. In 2003, the album was ranked number 424 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Looking Back is the seventh album released by John Mayall in August 1969 by Decca Records. The album features songs by both John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and John Mayall solo work. The album reached No. 79 on the Billboard 200. Confusingly, there are two different albums with the title "Looking Back": a Decca UK release as a single album and a Decca Germany release as a double album. Later issues on CD would use the Deram label.
Stages is a compilation album by Eric Clapton, which was released in May 1993. It contains a collection of tracks from various stages of Clapton's long career up to that point in time.
"When You Got a Good Friend" is a blues song recorded on November 23, 1936, in San Antonio, Texas, by Robert Johnson. The song was unissued until 1961, when it was included on the LP King of the Delta Blues Singers.
Boyd Gilmore was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist and songwriter. Among the songs he wrote were "All in My Dreams", "Believe I'll Settle Down", "I Love My Little Woman" and "If That's Your Girl". Gilmore also recorded a version of fellow Delta bluesman Robert Johnson's track, "Ramblin' on My Mind".