78 RPM - Robert Johnson - Me And The Devil Blues / Little Queen of Spades - Vocalion - USA

78 RPM Record

Artist:	Robert Johnson
Label:	Vocalion
Country:	USA
Catalogue:	04108
Date:	May 1938
Format:	10"
Collection:	I Own It I Want It
Community:	3 Own, 3 Want
Price Guide:	$7836
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PRICE GUIDE

$7836

Track	Artist	Title	Composer	Rating
A	Robert Johnson	Me And The Devil Blues	Johnson	6.0 Rate
B	Robert Johnson	Little Queen of Spades	Johnson	Rate

Notes

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

Images

Number: 446476

THUMBNAIL
Uploaded By: Oteb13
Edited By: fixbutte
Description: Vocalion 78 RPM A Side : Me And The Devil Blues

Number: 447091

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

Comments and Reviews


BigBadBluesMan 30th Jul 2021



BigBadBluesMan 20th Feb 2015



fixbutte 11th Aug 2014		A similarly unworried dealing with the devil you'll find on The Band's "The Weight", which was obviously influenced by Robert Johnson's song: ... I picked up my bag, I went lookin' for a place to hide; When I saw Carmen and the Devil walkin' side by side. I said, "Hey, Carmen, come on, let's go downtown." She said, "I gotta go, but m'friend can stick around." ...



fixbutte 11th Aug 2014		A-side label edited, "unknown" B-side added and its label image uploaded, release date and notes added. "Me And The Devil Blues" is the only song in which Robert Johnson actually sings about the devil, thus his only traceable own contribution to the devil legend, saying that he became a genius on the guitar because he sold his soul to the devil at a crossroads. Listening to the two takes of his recording, however, you can't find anything really haunted or tortured in them. On the contrary, the words and Johnson's delivery appear self-assured and rather jovial: "Hello, Satan, I believe it's time to go / Me and the Devil was walkin' side by side ...". Accompanied by the devil, however, he might do things that are evil: "And I'm goin' to beat my woman until I get satisfied". And the singer, not necessarily a portrayal of Johnson himself, realizes that he's a sinner: "It must-a be that old evil spirit so deep down in the ground / ... You may bury my body, ooh down by the highway side / So my old evil spirit can catch a Greyhound bus and ride", what includes a lot of black humour, too. All in all, this was one of Johnson's most striking recordings, notably showing the full range and versality of his singing. "Little Queen Of Spades" is a less original song, derived from Peetie Wheatstraw's "King Of Spades", of which Johnson not only took the idea but also the melody. Different from that one, Johnson sings about a woman, a fair brown one, who seems to be a smarter gambler than himself: "Let us put our heads together, hoo, fair brown, then we can make our money green." This was Robert Johnson's eleventh single, and the last one that was issued during his life. On August 16, 1938, at the age of 27, he died near Greenwood, Mississippi. He may have been poisoned as some putative witnesses told later, or he may have died of syphilis, as it was noted as a possible cause of death on Johnson's death certificate.