78 RPM - Robert Johnson - I Believe I'll Dust My Broom / Dead Shrimp Blues - Vocalion - USA

78 RPM Record

Artist:	Robert Johnson
Label:	Vocalion
Country:	USA
Catalogue:	03475
Date:	10 Mar 1937
Format:	10"
Collection:	I Own It I Want It
Community:	1 Owns, 4 Want
Price Guide:	$6933
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PRICE GUIDE

$6933

Track	Artist	Title	Composer	Rating
A	Robert Johnson	I Believe I'll Dust My Broom	Robt. Johnson	Rate
B	Robert Johnson	Dead Shrimp Blues	Robt. Johnson	Rate

Notes

Vocal Blues with Guitar Accompaniment.
Recorded on November 23 & 27, 1936, San Antonio, Texas.
Also issued on Perfect 7-04-81 (800 copies) and Romeo 7-04-81 (100 copies) in April 1937, on Conqueror 8871 im May 1937.

Images

Comments and Reviews


BigBadBluesMan 18th Feb 2015



BigBadBluesMan 18th Feb 2015



fixbutte 29th Aug 2014		“Dust My Broom”: The Story Of A Song This is an excellent webpage with much more information about the song than I had found so far, and it has some videos too.



fixbutte 28th Aug 2014		In 1949, two years before Elmore James, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup had recorded his own version of “Dust My Broom” (RCA Victor 22-0074, April 1950), with altered lyrics and credited to himself. Elmore James, in contrast, followed Robert Johnson's lyrics for the first four verses but took his last verse from Crudup's version (“I believe, I believe my time ain't long / I gotta leave my baby and break up my happy home”). Whereas neither Crudup’s record nor another cover by Robert Lockwood Jr. (Mercury 8260, Dec 1951) appeared on the charts, Elmore James’ version became a national R&B hit, peaking at #9 in April 1952.



fixbutte 27th Aug 2014		Pittsburgh, Nov 2012 Rare Robert Johnson record turns up at Jerry's Records November 16, 2012 10:00 AM By Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette You never know what you'll find in a stack of old records, which is part of what has driven Jerry Weber for four decades. Last week, the owner of the world-famous Jerry's Records in Squirrel Hill gave a man he didn't know $50 for several boxes of old albums found while cleaning out an attic. They sat in a hallway at Jerry's for a couple days before anyone looked at them. Among a collection of mostly junky, water-damaged, stuck-together discs, he found what he calls "the holy grail of 78s." It's a 78 rpm copy of "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom" (on Vocalion), the second song ever recorded by late Mississippi blues legend Robert Johnson, in 1936. "I saw one 30 years ago that was broke," says Mr. Weber, "and I saw one that a friend of mine found and let me hold before he sold it. It's the most expensive record I've ever found, and it's in real nice shape." He grades it VG, as in very good, as opposed to mint condition, and says the book value is between $6,000 and $12,000. According to John Tefteller, an Oregon-based collector who specializes in rare blues and jazz records, "There are probably about 15 to 30 copies of that record in that condition floating around the country in various collections." He adds, "There's not a huge market for something like that. Yes, it's rare, but you could count on your hands and toes the number of people who would buy it for a few thousand dollars." ...



fixbutte 22nd Aug 2014		So what does "Dust My Broom" actually mean? Ten months before Kokomo Arnold first used the phrase in his "Sagefield Woman Blues", a blues singer named Carl Rafferty (nothing else known about him), accompanied by Roosevelt Sykes (aka Napoleon Fletcher) at the piano, recorded his "Mr. Carl's Blues" in December 1933 (Bluebird B-5429), in which he sings, "I do believe, I do believe I'll dust my broom / And after I dust my broom, anyone may have my room ...". So originally it may have had something to do with the cleaning of a rented room before moving out.



fixbutte 21st Aug 2014		"I Believe I'll Dust My Broom" was the second song that Robert Johnson recorded on his first recording session, and it has become one of his most popular. Though the melody and the lyrics go back to similar earlier songs (among them two by Kokomo Arnold, "Sagefield Woman Blues" and "Sissy Man Blues", and "I Believe I'll Make a Change" by Leroy Carr), the recording is remarkable for Johnson's innovative guitar play. As one of the first guitarists Johnson adapted the boogie woogie style from the piano, playing fingerpicking melodic lines with fast high-note triplets against a driving bass boogie figure. Lyrically it was another song about leaving an unfaithful woman and going on the road (dusting the broom). No big seller at the time, it was one of only three songs of Johnson that became standards before, in 1961, the King of the Delta Blues Singers album came out, from which it was inexplicably excluded. Already in 1951, however, Elmore James had recorded his definitive rendition of "Dust My Broom", following Johnson's melody, key and tempo, but transforming Johnson's blues shuffle into one of the most famous blues riffs of all time. The flipside, "Dead Shrimp Blues", with the familiar guitar arrangement of "Kind Hearted Woman", is a strangely titled song with abstruse lyrics, and a curious choice for the third single. Like "Terraplane Blues" it uses several metaphors for a two-timing woman, but this time things look rather bleak for the singer, "I got dead shrimp here, someone is fishin' in my pond ... / the hole where I used to fish baby, you've got me posted out".



molemilton 31st May 2014		Further image of A-side added.



thebluesneverdie 27th May 2014		All the alternate takes of Robert Johnson have been issued on an album. Most are virtually identical, with the odd lick here & there that's different.



fixbutte 27th May 2014		From http://www.robertjohnsonfilm.com/robertjohnsonfilm.com/RECORDING_SESSIONS.html The only known recordings of Robert Johnson were cut in Dallas and San Antonio, Texas. The American Record Corporation probably paid Robert Johnson $10 -$15 each for the 29 songs and alternates, so he probably made about $300 off these sessions with no royalties. The reason for recording alternate takes, which were note-for-note similar to the first take, was the common practice of making a safety recording in case something happened to the master. It started when wax masters were used, because when they were shipped north for manufacture, one master would oftentimes melt on the way. The San Antonio Sessions MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1936 songs recorded: KIND HEARTED WOMAN BLUES (I BELIEVE I'LL) DUST MY BROOM SWEET HOME CHICAGO RAMBLIN’ ON MY MIND WHEN YOU GOT A GOOD FRIEND COME ON IN MY KITCHEN TERRAPLANE BLUES PHONOGRAPH BLUES THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1936 song recorded: 32-20 BLUES FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1936 songs recorded: THEY'RE RED HOT DEAD SHRIMP BLUES CROSS ROAD BLUES WALKIN’ BLUES LAST FAIR DEAL GONE DOWN PREACHIN’ BLUES (Up Jumped The Devil) IF I HAD POSSESSION OVER JUDGMENT DAY The Dallas Sessions SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 1937 songs recorded: STONES IN MY PASSWAY I'M A STEADY ROLLIN' MAN FROM FOUR UNTIL LATE SUNDAY, JUNE 20, 1937 songs recorded: HELL HOUND ON MY TRAIL LITTLE QUEEN OF SPADES MALTED MILK DRUNKEN HEARTED MAN ME & THE DEVIL BLUES STOP BREAKIN' DOWN BLUES TRAVELING RIVERSIDE BLUES HONEYMOON BLUES LOVE IN VAIN BLUES MILKCOW'S CALF BLUES



fixbutte 27th May 2014		See here for composer credits, dime store issues (on Perfect and Romeo, in April 1937) and original release date (on Vocalion): Perfect 7-04-81, Romeo 7-04-81 DEAD SHRIMP BLUES (Robt. Johnson) I BELIEVE I’LL DUST MY BROOM (Robt. Johnson) ROBERT JOHNSON Vocal Blues with Guitar Accompaniment 800 copies were pressed of Perfect 7-04-81 and 100 copies were pressed of Romeo 7-04-81. “Transf from Vocalion 03475.“ The release date is given as March 10th 1937.

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Linked Releases

USA - Conqueror - 1937