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78 RPM



78 RPM Record

Artist:Robert Johnson
Label:  Vocalion
Country:USA
Catalogue:03445
Date:10 Feb 1937
Format:10"
Collection:  I Own It     I Want It 
Community: 1 Owns, 3 Want
Price Guide:$8620
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PRICE GUIDE
$8620


TrackArtistTitleComposerRating
ARobert Johnson32-20 BluesRobert JohnsonRate
BRobert JohnsonLast Fair Deal Gone DownRobert JohnsonRate


Notes

Vocal Blues with Guitar Accompaniment.
Recorded on November 26 & 27, 1936, San Antonio, Texas.
Also issued on Perfect 7-04-60 (900 copies) and Oriole 7-04-60 (60 copies) in April 1937.

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Comments and Reviews
 
BigBadBluesMan
18th Feb 2015
 
 
 
BigBadBluesMan
18th Feb 2015
 
 
 
fixbutte
25th Aug 2014
 "32-20 Blues" is not only based on Skip James' "22-20 Blues", it's a straight cover, only that Johnson adapted the original piano blues to his guitar and enlarged the caliber in the title. Actually there is no common handgun or pistol as a 22-20, and Skip James initially also refers to a .32 pistol in his song (and later he sings about a .44 caliber, like Roosevelt Sykes on his exemplary "44 Blues"):

If I send for my baby and she don't come
If I send for my baby and she don't come
All the doctors in Wisconsin, they won't help her none

And if she gets unruly and gets so she don't wanna do
My baby gets unruly and she don't wanna do
I'll take my .32-20, I'll cut her half in two

You're talkin' about your .44-40, buddy, it'll do very well
Talkin' about your .44-40, it'll do very well
But my .22-20, Lord, it's a burnin' hell

I had a .38 Special, buddy, it's most too light
Aw, that .38 Special, buddy, it's most too light
But my .22-20 make the camps alright

Aw, if she gets unruly, thinks she don't wanna do
She gets unruly and she don't wanna do
I take my .22-20, I cut her half in two

I, I, I and I can't take my rest
I, I, I, I, I can't take my rest
And my .42 layin' up and down my breast


Robert Johnson altered the lyrics only slightly (he amusingly shifted the location of the doctors from Wisconsin, where James had made his recording, to Hot Springs, a health resort), and at the end he refers to the old "In The Pines" (or "Black Gal") song ("where did you stay last night"):

If I send for my baby
and she don't come
If I send for my baby
man, and she don't come
All the doctors in Hot Springs
sure can't help her none

And if she gets unruly
thinks she don't wan do
If she gets unruly
thinks she don't wan do
Take my 32-20 now and
cut her half in two

She got a 38 special but I believe its much too light
She got a 38 special but I believe its much too light
I got a 32-20, got to make the camps alright

If I send for my baby
and she don't come
If I send for my baby
man, and she don't come
All the doctors in Hot Springs
sure can't help her none

I'm gonna shoot my pistol, gonna shoot my Gatlin gun
I'm gonna shoot my pistol, gotta shoot my Gatlin gun
You made me love you
now your man has come

Ah-oh
baby where you stay last night
Ah-ah
baby where you stayed last night
You got your hair all tangled
and you ain't talkin right
Got a 38 special boys, it do very well

Apart from the unalteredly violent lyrics, Robert Johnson's recording is a thrilling rendition, versatilely sung to a steady rhythm beaten on the bass strings of the guitar.
 
 
fixbutte
31st Jul 2014
 A-side label edited, "unknown" B-side and its label image added, release date completed and notes added. This was the second single of Robert Johnson. Both sides were highlighted in Samuel B. Charters 1959 book The Country Blues and consequently included in Columbia's 1961 compilation LP King of the Delta Blues Singers. "32-20 Blues" is obviously based on Skip James' "22-20 Blues". "Last Fair Deal Gone Down", showing the wide range of Johnson's repertory, is influenced by hillbilly music, namely "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down", previously performed by Charlie Poole and Fiddlin' John Carson.

 

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