- Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
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"Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" Single by Bessie Smith B-side "Take It Right Back" Released 1929 Format 10" 78 rpm record Recorded May 15, 1929 Genre Blues Length 3:00 Label Columbia (Cat. no. 14451) Writer(s) Jimmy Cox Bessie Smith singles chronology "My Kitchen Man"/ "I've Got What It Takes"
(1929)"Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out"
(1929)"It Makes My Love Come Down"/ He's Got Me Goin'"
(1929)"Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" is a blues standard, written by Jimmy Cox in 1923. Its lyric, told from the point of view of a one-time millionaire during the Prohibition era, reflects on the fleeting nature of material wealth and the friendships that come and go with it.
Recording history
The song was first recorded and popularized by Bessie Smith, the preeminent female blues singer of the 1920s and '30s. Since then, numerous cover versions have been recorded. The following is a list of some of the more notable renditions:
1968 Duane and Gregg Allman Blues -
Year Performer Style 1927 Julia Lee blues 1927 or 1928 Bobby Leecan & Robert Cooksey blues 1928 Pinetop Smith talking blues 1929 Bessie Smith blues 1936 Count Basie Orchestra jazz 1938 Louis Jordan And His Tympany Five jazz 1939 Sidney Bechet jazz 1942 Eddie Condon jazz 1945 Josh White blues 1946 Mutt Carey & Hociel Thomas jazz 1946 Lee Collins & Chippie Hill jazz 1948 Leadbelly blues 1958 Juanita Hall blues 1958 LaVern Baker jazz 1959 Nina Simone jazz 1959 Bill Smith jazz clarinet 1959 Scrapper Blackwell blues 1961 Rolf Cahn & Eric Von Schmidt blues 1962 Dave Guard And The Whiskeyhill Singers folk 1962 Odetta jazz 1962 Jimmy Witherspoon jazz 1963 Colette Magny blues 1963 Chad Mitchell Trio folk 1964 Alice Stuart folk 1964 Janis Joplin & Jorma Kaukonen blues 1964 Sam Cooke soul 1965 Liza Minnelli pop 1966 Otis Redding soul 1966 The Spencer Davis Group rock 1969 José Feliciano Latin 1969 The Blues Magoos rock 1970 Derek and the Dominos blues 1970 Trader Horne folk 1972 The Allman Brothers Band rock 1973 Tim Hardin folk 1973 George Melly jazz 1974 John Lennon rock 1975 Rory Block blues 1976 Carrie Smith blues 1976 Vic Dickenson jazz trombone 1978 Alberta Hunter blues 1970s Martin, Bogan & The Armstrongs folk 1980 Archie Shepp & Horace Parlan jazz instrumental 1985 Dick Hyman jazz piano 1985 Chris Barber jazz 1985 Newport Jazz Festival All-Stars jazz 1988 Rod Stewart pop 1988 Danny Barker jazz 1989 Ruth Brown blues 1992 Eric Clapton blues 1993 Billy Joel rock 1997 Don McLean rock 1997 Popa Chubby blues 1997 Andrés Calamaro Latin 1999 B.B. King blues 2001 Dave Van Ronk folk 2005 David Krull Blues unknown
(released 1992)Bobby Womack R&B unknown
(released 1993)Big Joe Williams blues unknown Joe Dassin blues unknown Carla Bruni folk Other appearances
In the 1980s, the song was used in the Tony-nominated Broadway musical Blues in the Night.
This song is featured during the load screen for the Pauper's Drop level in the game Bioshock 2, released 9 Feb 10.
References
Categories:- 1923 songs
- Blues songs
- Bessie Smith songs
- Barbra Streisand songs
- Blues song stubs
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