"Tishomingo Blues" is a song by

Spencer Williams Spencer Williams (October 14, 1889 – July 14, 1965) was an American jazz and popular music composer, pianist, and singer. He is best known for his hit songs " Basin Street Blues", "I Ain't Got Nobody", "Royal Garden Blues", "I've Found a New B ...

. The tune was first published in 1917. The title refers to

Tishomingo, Mississippi Tishomingo is a town in Tishomingo County, Mississippi, United States. The population of the city of Tishomingo was 339 at the 2010 census. History Tishomingo is named for ''Tishomingo'', who signed the ''Treaty of Pontotoc'' in 1832. He s ...

. The song was first recorded in 1918 by Eddie Nelson on Emerson Records #913. It became a

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive lis ...

, and continues to be performed and recorded into the 21st century. The song has been adapted with different lyrics, written by

Garrison Keillor Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (; born August 7, 1942) is an American author, singer, humorist, voice actor, and radio personality. He created the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) show ''A Prairie Home Companion'' (called ''Garrison Keillor's Radio ...

, as the theme song of ''

A Prairie Home Companion ''A Prairie Home Companion'' is a weekly radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor that aired live from 1974 to 2016. In 2016, musician Chris Thile took over as host, and the successor show was eventually renamed ''Live from He ...

''.
Justin, Neal. Daher, Natalie. "Chris Thile addresses scandal around his 'Prairie Home' predecessor Garrison Keillor". Associated Press News online. December 2, 2017

Lyrics

First verse Chorus Second verse Repeat Chorus

Recordings

* Nelson_Eddy, Eddie Nelson, Emerson Records #913, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVg13XeTPH8, 1918 *

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

and his Cotton Club Orchestra, 1928 *

Bunk Johnson Willie Gary "Bunk" Johnson (December 27, 1879 – July 7, 1949) was an American prominent jazz trumpeter in New Orleans. Johnson gave the year of his birth as 1879, although there is speculation that he may have been younger by as much as a dec ...

and his New Orleans Band, 1945 * Big Chief Jazzband, recorded in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, Norway on May 10, 1953 and released on the

78 rpm record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...

A.L. 3307 * Sweet Emma Barret and her New Orleans Boys, 1961, with Percy Humphrey (trumpet); Willie Humphrey, clarinet; Jim Robinson, trombone; Emma Barrett, piano; Emanual Sayles, guitar; McNeal Breaux, bass; Josiah Frazier, drums

References

{{Authority control 1917 songs Songs written by Spencer Williams Songs about Mississippi