Forty-Four (song)
| "44 Blues" | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Single by Roosevelt Sykes | |
| B-side | "Boot That Thing" |
| Released | 1929 |
| Format | 10-inch 78 rpm record |
| Recorded | June 14, 1929 |
| Genre | Blues |
| Length | 3:05 |
| Label | OKeh (no. 8702) |
| "Forty Four" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Howlin' Wolf | |
| B-side | "I'll Be Around" |
| Released | 1954 |
| Format | 7-inch 45 rpm & 10-inch 78 rpm records |
| Recorded | Chicago, October 1954 |
| Genre | Blues |
| Length | 2:48 |
| Label | Chess (no. 1584) |
| Producer(s) | Leonard Chess, Phil Chess, Willie Dixon |
"Forty-Four" or "44 Blues" is a blues standard whose origins have been traced back to early 1920s Louisiana. However, it was Roosevelt Sykes, who provided the lyrics and first recorded it in 1929, that helped popularize the song. "Forty-Four," through numerous adaptations and recordings, remains in the blues lexicon eighty years later.
"The Forty-Fours," as its earlier form was sometimes referred to, was a piano-driven "barrelhouse honky-tonk blues" that was performed as an instrumental.Little Brother Montgomery, who is usually credited with the development of the song, taught it to another blues pianist along the way by the name of Lee Green; Green, in turn, taught it to Roosevelt Sykes. As Sykes explained: "He [Lee Green] was the first guy I ever heard play the "44" Blues. Several people had been playing it through the country of course — Little Brother Montgomery and several others, but nobody had ever recorded it and there was no words to it, no words or lyrics at all. So Lee Green, he took a lot of time out to teach me how to play it." By the time he recorded it in 1929, Roosevelt Sykes supplied the lyrics and called the song "44 Blues":
Well I walked all night long, with my .44 in my hand (2×)
Now I was looking for my woman, found her with another man
Well I wore my .44 so long, Lord it made my shoulder sore (2×)
After I do what I want to, ain't gonna wear my .44 no more
Now I heard my baby say, she heard that 44 whistle blow (2×)
Lord it sounds like, ain't gonna blow that whistle no more
Now I got a little cabin, and it's number 44 (2×)
Lord I wake up every morning, the wolf be scratching on my door
It was not until after Sykes recorded "44 Blues" that Green and Montgomery recorded their versions of "The Forty-Fours." While instrumentally both were similar to Sykes' version, the subject matter and lyrics were different. Lee Green recorded his version, titled "Number 44 Blues," two months after Sykes (August 16, 1929, Vocalion 1401). About one year later, Little Brother Montgomery recorded his version titled "Vicksburg Blues" (September 1930, Paramount 13006-A). Of the three, Roosevelt Sykes' version was the most popular and "was to be far more influential than Green's version." "[Sykes' lyrics] played on the differing interpretations of the phrase 'forty-fours' — the train number 44, the .44 caliber revolver and the 'little cabin' on which was the number 44, presumably a prison cell." "Undoubtedly, these overlays of meaning generally appealed to other singers, accounting for the frequent use of Sykes' lyrics."
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Wikipedia