''Down and Out Blues'' is the first

LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

by American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

musician Sonny Boy Williamson. The album was released in 1959 by

Checker Records Checker Records is an inactive record label that was started in 1952 as a subsidiary of Chess Records in Chicago, Illinois. The label was founded by the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil, who ran the label until they sold it to General Recorded ...

(see

1959 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1959. Specific locations * 1959 in British music * 1959 in Norwegian music Specific genres * 1959 in country music *1959 in jazz Events *January 5 – The first sessions fo ...

). The album was a

compilation Compilation may refer to: *In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler **Compilation error **Compilation unit *Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products *Compilation thesis M ...

of Williamson's first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

s for Checker, from " Don't Start Me to Talkin'" b/w "All My Love in Vain" through "Dissatisfied" b/w "Cross My Heart". The album features many famous blues musicians backing Williamson, including

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...

Otis Spann Otis Spann (March 21, 1924 or 1930April 24, 1970) was an American blues musician, whom many consider to be the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist. Early life Sources differ over Spann's early years. Some state that he was born in Jackson, Miss ...

, and

Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...

Recording

The first session that Williamson recorded for Checker was on August 12, 1955 where he recorded "Don't Start Me to Talkin'" and "All My Love in Vain", which were released as a single a month later in September. On January 7, 1956 he recorded "Let Me Explain". The single "Keep It to Yourself" b/w "The Key (To Your Door)" was recorded on August 7, 1956. "Fattening Frogs for Snakes" b/w "I Don't Know" was recorded on February 6, 1957 and was released either in late May or early June. "99" was recorded on September 1, 1957 and was released as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of "Born Blind" in late January or early February 1958. The single "Cross My Heart" b/w "Dissatisfied" was recorded at the same session. "Wake Up Baby" b/w "Your Funeral and My Trial" was the last song on ''Down and Out Blues'' to be recorded on March 27, 1958.

Artwork and packaging

The

album cover An album cover (also referred to as album art) is the front packaging art of a commercially released studio album or other audio recordings. The term can refer to either the printed paperboard covers typically used to package sets of and 78-r ...

features a

photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now create ...

of a homeless person by

Don Bronstein Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON * Don (river), a river in European Russia * Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name * Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a ...

, and the liner notes were written by

Studs Terkel Louis "Studs" Terkel (May 16, 1912 – October 31, 2008) was an American writer, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for '' The Good War'' and is best remembered for his oral his ...

, who had written ''Giants of Jazz''.

Accolades

''Down and Out Blues'' was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2007. In 1988, the album won a W.C. Handy Award for ''Vintage/Reissue Album (US)''.

Track listing

All songs written by Sonny Boy Williamson. ;Side one #" Don't Start Me to Talkin'" – 2:30 #"I Don't Know" – 2:20 #"All My Love in Vain" – 2:45 #"The Key (To Your Door)" – 3:10 #"Keep It to Yourself" – 2:45 #"Dissatisfied" – 2:40 ;Side two #"Fattening Frogs for Snakes" – 2:16 #"Wake Up Baby" – 2:21 #"Your Funeral and My Trial" – 2:26 #"99" – 2:35 #"Cross My Heart" – 3:18 #"Let Me Explain" – 2:50

Personnel

''Per liner notes'' * Sonny Boy Williamson –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

on "Don't Start Me to Talkin'" and "All My Love in Vain" * Jimmy Rogers – guitar on "Don't Start Me to Talkin'" and "All My Love in Vain" *

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

* Fred Below –

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s *

Robert Lockwood, Jr. Robert Lockwood Jr. (March 27, 1915 – November 21, 2006) was an American Delta blues guitarist, who recorded for Chess Records and other Chicago labels in the 1950s and 1960s. He was the only guitarist to have learned to play directly ...

– guitar * Luther Tucker – guitar * Lafayette Leake – piano on "Wake Up Baby" and "Your Funeral and My Trial" *Eugene Pierson – guitar on "Wake Up Baby" and "Your Funeral and My Trial"

Charts

''Down and Out Blues'' peaked at #20 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

Release history

References

External links

''Down and Out Blues'' at Yahoo! Music
* {{Sonny Boy Williamson II Sonny Boy Williamson II albums Checker Records compilation albums 1959 compilation albums Albums produced by Leonard Chess Albums produced by Phil Chess Albums produced by Willie Dixon