How Long, How Long Blues
| "How Long, How Long Blues" | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Single by Leroy Carr | |
| B-side | "My Own Lonesome Blues" |
| Released | 1928 |
| Format | 10-inch 78 rpm record |
| Recorded | Indianapolis, Indiana, June 19, 1928 |
| Genre | Blues |
| Length | 3:03 |
| Label | Vocalion |
| Writer(s) | Leroy Carr |
"How Long, How Long Blues" (also known as "How Long Blues" or "How Long How Long") is a blues song recorded by the American blues duo Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell in 1928. The song became "an instant best-seller" and one of the first blues standards, inspiring many blues songs of the era. It has been recorded by many artists, not only in blues but also country and western, pop, and jazz.
"How Long, How Long Blues" is based on "How Long Daddy", recorded in 1925 by Ida Cox with Papa Charlie Jackson. Leroy Carr (vocal and piano) and Scrapper Blackwell (guitar) recorded the song in Indianapolis, Indiana, on June 19, 1928, for Vocalion Records, shortly after they began performing together. It is a moderately slow-tempo blues with an eight-bar structure, notated in 4
4 or common time in the key of C. Carr is credited with the lyrics and music for the song, which uses a departed train as a metaphor for a lover who has left:
Heard the whistle blowin', couldn't see no train
Way down in my heart, I had an achin' pain
How long, how long, baby how long
Carr's and Blackwell's songs reflected a more urban and sophisticated blues, in contrast to the music of rural bluesmen of the time. Carr's blues were "expressive and evocative", although his vocals have also been described as emotionally detached, high-pitched and smooth, with clear diction. Blackwell's single-string jazz guitar lines provided the role of a responsorial voice as well as rhythmic chording.
"How Long, How Long Blues" was Carr and Scrapwell's biggest hit. They subsequently recorded six more versions of the song (two of them, unissued at the time), as "How Long, How Long Blues, Part 2", "Part 3", "How Long Has That Evening Train Been Gone", "New How Long, How Long Blues", etc. There are considerable variations in the lyrics, many of which have since fallen out of use in modern performances. Most versions begin with the lyric "How long, how long, has that evening train been gone?"
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