"Mean Old World" is a

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 ...

song recorded by American blues electric guitar musician

T-Bone Walker Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker (May 28, 1910 – March 16, 1975) was an American blues musician, composer, songwriter and bandleader, who was a pioneer and innovator of the jump blues, West Coast blues, and electric blues sounds. In 2018 ''Roll ...

in 1942. It has been described (along with the single's B-side) as "the first important blues recordings on the electric guitar". Over the years it has been interpreted and recorded by numerous blues,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

artists.

Original song

T-Bone Walker began performing "Mean Old World" when he was with

Les Hite Les Hite (February 13, 1903 – February 6, 1962) was an American jazz bandleader. Life and career Born in DuQuoin, Illinois, United States, Hite attended the University of Illinois and played saxophone with family members in a band in the 1920s. ...

and His Orchestra from 1939 to 1940. After leaving Hite's band, Walker continued to develop and refine his style on the Los Angeles club circuit. On July 20, 1942, he recorded "Mean Old World" for

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. The song was performed in the

West Coast blues West Coast blues is a type of blues music influenced by jazz and jump blues, with strong piano-dominated sounds and jazzy guitar solos, which originated from Texas blues players who relocated to California in the 1940s. West Coast blues also ...

style, with a small combo of pianist

Freddie Slack Frederick Charles Slack (August 7, 1910 – August 10, 1965) was an American swing and boogie-woogie pianist and bandleader. Life and career Slack was born in Westby, Wisconsin, United States. He learned to play drums as a boy. Later he took up ...

, bassist Jud DeNaut, and drummer Dave Coleman accompanying Walker on vocal and guitar. "Mean Old World" "showcased T-Bones's new, and already developed, style, in which he answered his smoky, soulful vocal phrases with deft, stinging, jazz-inflected lead lines on his electric guitar". Capitol released the song in November 1945, with "I Got a Break, Baby", as the third disc in a five 10-inch record collection "The History of Jazz, Volume 3: Then Came Swing" (Capitol Criterion CE 18). Capitol later issued it as a single in 1947 (Capitol 15003). Because of a recording ban, T-Bone Walker did not record again until October 10, 1944, for the Rhumboogie label in Chicago. He recorded a variation on "Mean Old World", initially designated "T-Bone Blues No. 2". When Rhumboogie released it in 1946, it was retitled "Mean Old World Blues". It did not feature Walker's guitar as prominently (the backing group, Marl Young's Orchestra, had a five-piece horn section) and some new lyrics were substituted. Walker commented "those sides were not so hot, not as good as the ones in L.A. later. They were big band numbers, more like what I recorded with Hite". However, the opening verses remained the same: This anticipated future versions, in which new lyrics would be added to the familiar opening lines. On December 14, 1956, Walker recorded another version for

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

that was released on the acclaimed 1959 album ''T-Bone Blues''. He is backed by a small combo with

Lloyd Glenn Lloyd Colquitt Glenn (November 21, 1909 – May 23, 1985) was an American R&B pianist, bandleader and arranger, who was a pioneer of the "West Coast" blues style. Career Born in San Antonio, Texas, from the late 1920s, Glenn played with vari ...

on piano, Billy Hadnot on bass, and Oscar Bradley on drums.

Little Walter version

In October 1952,

Little Walter Marion Walter Jacobs (May 1, 1930 – February 15, 1968), known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning him ...

recorded his version of "Mean Old World" for

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 ...

, a subsidiary of

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...

. It was recast as a Chicago blues, with Walter's amplified harmonica prominently featured and several new lyrics substituted. The song was a hit, reaching number six on the

Billboard R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

, where it remained for six weeks in 1953. Backing Little Walter are the Aces, with guitarists Louis and Dave Myers and drummer

Fred Below Frederick Below, Jr. (September 6, 1926 – August 13, 1988) was an American blues drummer, best known for his work with Little Walter and Chess Records in the 1950s. According to Tony Russell, Below was a creator of much of the rhythmic stru ...

. T-Bone Walker's Capitol version was released before ''Billboard'' magazine or a similar service began tracking such releases, so it is difficult to gauge which version was more popular. Little Walter received the sole credit for his recording.

References

{{authority control 1942 songs Blues songs 1953 singles Little Walter songs