78 RPM - Robert Johnson - Stop Breakin' Down Blues / Honeymoon Blues - Vocalion - USA

78 RPM Record

Artist:	Robert Johnson
Label:	Vocalion
Country:	USA
Catalogue:	04002
Date:	20 Mar 1938
Format:	10"
Collection:	I Own It I Want It
Community:	1 Owns, 2 Want
Price Guide:	$8577
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PRICE GUIDE

$8577

Track	Artist	Title	Composer	Rating
A	Robert Johnson	Stop Breakin' Down Blues	Robert Johnson	Rate
B	Robert Johnson	Honeymoon Blues	Robert Johnson	Rate

Notes

Blues Singing with Guitar Accompaniment.
Recorded on June 20, 1937 in Dallas, Texas.

Images

Number: 446477

THUMBNAIL
Uploaded By: Oteb13
Edited By: fixbutte
Description: Vocalion 78 RPM A Side : Stop Breakin' Down Blues

Number: 447085

Uploaded By: fixbutte
Description: B Side Label (from John Tefteller's Museum 78's)

Comments and Reviews


BigBadBluesMan 20th Feb 2015



BigBadBluesMan 20th Feb 2015



fixbutte 8th Aug 2014		I should not forget to mention that the Rolling Stones made a revamped version of "Stop Breaking Down" for the Exile On Main Street album that had lyrics nearly identical to Robert Johnson's: Johnson: Everytime I'm walkin' down the streets Some pretty mama start breakin' down with me Stop breakin' down, yes stop breakin' down The stuff I got'll bust your brains out, baby Ooh, it'll make you lose your mind. ... Stones: Every time I'm walking all down the street Some pretty mama start breaking down on me. Stop breaking down, baby, please, stop breaking down. Stuff is gonna bust you brains out, baby, Gonna make you lose your mind. ... Still it was not credited to Robert Johnson but "Trad. arr. Jagger / Richard / Wyman / Taylor / Watts". So - along with "Love in Vain" - it became the subject of a lawsuit for the song copyright and, in 2000, the court held that the songs were not in the public domain and that legal title belonged to the Estate of Robert Johnson and its successors, see Wikipedia and the court ruling (also referring to the original Vocalion release date of March 20, 1938).



fixbutte 8th Aug 2014		A-side label edited, "unknown" B-side added and its label image uploaded, release date and notes added. This was Robert Johnson's tenth original Vocalion single, but something had changed. Whereas in 1937 nearly every month a new Johnson record was released, this one came out only about four months after its predecessor, and no budget dime store copies were produced. Apparently the Dallas session had not been fruitful businesswise (or the wrong songs were selected, "Traveling Riverside Blues" for instance would never appear on a 78 rpm). "Stop Breakin' Down Blues", however, an uptempo guitar boogie with a memorable chorus, could have been a hit, though the singer, like on "32-20 Blues", threatens again with shooting his no-good woman: "The stuff I got'll bust your brains out, baby / Ooh, it'll make you lose your mind". Actually it was one of only three songs of Johnson that were not forgotten among the black bluesmen in the late 1950s, as John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williams (Sonny Boy Williams I) recorded a reworked - less violent - version in 1945 that sold quite well. (The other Johnson songs that had survived through cover versions were "Sweet Home Chicago" and "Dust My Broom".) "Honeymoon Blues" is nothing particular from the musical side as it repeats the arrangement of "Kind Hearted Woman" and "Me And The Devil" (recorded before but not released yet), but it is remarkable because it has romantic, optimistic lyrics without any dark shadow: "Betty Mae, Betty Mae, you shall be my wife someday ... / Betty Mae, you is my heartstring, you is my destiny ... / Some day i will return, with the marriage license in my hand" - which makes a striking contrast to the other side of the record.