Blues with a Feeling
| "Blues with a Feeling" | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Single by Rabon Tarrant with Jack McVea and His Door Openers | |
| A-side | "Slowly Goin' Crazy Blues" |
| Released | After May 10, 1947 |
| Format | 10-inch 78 rpm record |
| Recorded | Los Angeles, 1947 |
| Genre | Jump blues |
| Length | 3:00 |
| Label | Black & White (no. 119) |
| Writer(s) | Rabon Tarrant |
"Blues with a Feeling" is a blues song written and first recorded by Rabon Tarrant with Jack McVea and His All Stars in 1947, as the B-side of "Slowly Goin' Crazy Blues". Although the original release was commercially unsuccessful, the song later became an important hit for Little Walter, with whom it is usually identified.
Walter transformed the tune from Tarrant's jump blues-oriented style to a Chicago blues harmonica classic. It became an important piece for blues harp players and a variety of musicians have recorded their own renditions.
Rabon Tarrant, a drummer with saxophone player Jack McVea's band, wrote "Blues with a Feeling" and also provided the vocals. The song was performed as a mid-tempo twelve-bar jump blues that features sax and trumpet soloing over a strong backbeat. The opening verses reflect on lost love:
Blues with a feeling, that's what I have today
Blues with a feeling, that's what I have today
Gonna find my baby, yes if it takes all night and day
In its "Advance Record Releases" column, Billboard describes the single on Black & White Records as "slowly goin'". The notice appears on May 10, 1947, about one month after McVea's number two hit "Open the Door Richard" exited the chart. However, "Blues with a Feeling" did not reach the chart.
Little Walter follows much of McVea's verses and arrangement, however, he updates the song in his own style. It is performed as a slow blues with Walter playing a distinctive harp intro and accompaniment to his vocals. When Little Walter recorded "Blues with a Feeling" in Chicago on July 23, 1953, he was backed by one of the classic Chicago blues bands. Sometimes known as the Aces, Dave Myers and Louis Myers (or possibly Jimmy Rogers) provide guitars, with Willie Dixon on upright bass, and Fred Below on drums. Walter biographer Tony Glover notes the "nice interplay between the guitar and the harp ... with Below providing momentum with his shuffling brush work, and an effective stop-time vocal verse from Walter near the end".
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