Re: recognize this blues song?
frankie: "I don't think you need to be so skeptical... covers of "The Girl I Love" often appear under the title "Brownsville Blues" or "Goin' To Brownsville" - based on the town mention in the opening verse. If the singer replaces Brownsville with another town, well.... there ya go...
Actually - the recording you linked to above isn't really the one most people think of.... try this one with Yank Rachell on mandolin:"
Thanks, Frankie. Great to hear Yank again! I think you're right; that's the same melody. I'm aware that many liberties are taken with the blues. Many of those folks were cheated out of their royalties anyway (even if they knew what royalties were), and didn't mind a fellow musician claiming their song, which may have been only partly theirs anyway. For instance, there are a number of "sweet homes" besides Chicago, starting with Kokomo.
Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
"I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.
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