How Long Blues - Ray Charles, Eric Clapton cover- jazz/blues piano/vocal
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“How Long Blues,” also known as “How Long, How Long Blues,” was first recorded by Leroy Carr with Scrapper Blackwell in 1928. It was claimed to have sold over one million copies, and became an early blues standard. Leroy Carr was the pianist and vocalist on the recording, and was accompanied by Blackwell on guitar. The song is notable for its “urban blues sophistication” as compared to the more common country blues of the era. Carr's vocal delivery and Blackwell's single note guitar soloing influenced a new generation of blues and jazz to follow.
The song is based on the 1925 Ida Cox song “How Long Daddy,” and in the blues tradition, Carr adapted the song to make it his own. The song was recorded in Indianapolis for Vocalion Records. It was Carr's and Blackwell's biggest hit, and they subsequently followed it up with “How Long Part 2”, “How Long Blues Part 3,” “New How Long Blues,” etc. to cash in on their hit.
The song was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1988 as “Classic Blues Recording,” and into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2012 for “Songs of Significant Historical Value.”
Muddy Waters claimed in an interview that “How Long Blues” was the first song he learned to play, by playing the record repeatedly.
Notable covers: Pigmeat Markham in 1945 for Blue Note Records; Lonnie Donegan (British “skiffle” star) 1956; Big Joe Turner on The Boss of the Blues, also in '56 (my favorite version); Hot Tuna in 1970; and Eric Clapton in 1994 on his album From the Cradle.
The song has also been recorded by BB King, Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker, Big Bill Broonzy, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Jimmy Yancey, Skip James, Pinetop Perkins, Sunnyland Slim, Duke Robillard, Jimmy Rushing, The Grateful Dead, Leadbelly, Count Basie Orchestra, and Butch Thompson (I'm sure there's dozens more...)
Lyrics (There's many more verses that I didn't sing here)
How long babe how long
Has that evenin' train been gone?
How long, how, how long, baby how long?
I can hear the whistle blow'n but I cannot see no train
And it's deep down in my heart baby, there's lies an achin' pain
For how long, how, how long, baby how long?
And if I could holler, like I was a mountain jack
I'd go up on the mountain and I'd call my baby back
But for how long, how, how long, baby how long?
How long babe how long
Has that evenin' train been gone?
How long, how, how long, baby how long?