Cross Road Blues

"Crossroad Blues" redirects here. For the Supernatural episode, see Crossroad Blues (Supernatural).

"Cross Road Blues"
Song by Robert Johnson
Released	1936[1]
Format	78 rpm
Recorded	November 27, 1936 in San Antonio, Texas
Genre	Blues
Length	2:40
Label	Vocalion
Writer	Robert Johnson

"Cross Road Blues" is a song by Delta Blues singer Robert Johnson; released on a 78 rpm record in 1936 by Vocalion Records, catalogue 3519. The original version remained out of print after its initial release until the appearance of The Complete Recordings in 1990. In 1961, producer Frank Driggs substituted the previously unreleased alternative take on the first reissue of Johnson's work, the long-playing album King of the Delta Blues Singers.^[2] Because of the historical significance of "Cross Road Blues", it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.^[1]

Lyrics and interpretation

"The Crossroads", where Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for mastery of the blues, according to the legend. It is the intersection of U.S. Route 61 and U.S. Route 49, at Clarksdale, Mississippi, United States.

The lyrics tell of the narrator's failed attempts to hitch a ride from an intersection as night approaches. The song had frequently been linked to stories of Johnson selling his soul to the devil for the ability to play music, although nothing in the actual lyrics speaks of these events.^[3] Historian Leon Litwack and others state that the song refers to the common fear felt by blacks who were discovered out alone after dark; that Johnson was likely singing about the desperation of finding his way home from an unfamiliar place as quickly as possible because of a fear of lynching.^[3][4] In addition, the lyrics could be allusion to the curfews that were then imposed on blacks in the South. The imagery of the singer falling to his knees and the mention of his failure to find a "sweet woman" suggests that the song is also about a deeper and more personal loneliness. ^[5]

Covers

Cream

"Crossroads"
1969 Polydor 45 picture sleeve, 59259, Italy
Single by Cream
from the album Wheels of Fire
B-side	"Passing the Time"
Released	January 1969[6]
Format	7" 45 rpm
Recorded	March 10, 1968 (1st show) at Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco
Genre	Jazz blues[7], hard rock
Length	4:14
Label	Atco 8646[6]
Writer(s)	Robert Johnson, arr. Eric Clapton
Producer	Felix Pappalardi
Cream singles chronology
"White Room" (January 1969) "Crossroads" (January 1969) "Badge" (April 1969)

On March 10, 1968, Cream recorded a live version "Crossroads" from their performance at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The version was arranged by guitarist Eric Clapton, and included two lines borrowed from Johnson's "Traveling Riverside Blues." The song features an eight-note guitar riff and has both major and Minor scale centers.^[7] Cream's cover of the song was placed at #409 on the 2004 List of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and #3 on the 2008 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time. The song also ranks #10 on Guitar World's 100 Greatest Guitar Solos.^[8]

Other cover versions

Other artists who have covered the song range from:

• The Doors during their 1970 Live in Detroit Concert/CD and the recent release Live in Pittsburgh 1970
• Bob Dylan performed a variation, "Down the Highway", for his second album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.
• Cowboy Junkies
• Derek & The Dominos
• Dion on Bronx in Blue 2006
• Free (live)
• Elmore James
• The Hamsters (live)^{[9][unreliable source?][10][dead link]}
• Ibex (live)
• Lynyrd Skynyrd (live)
• Jimi Hendrix (live)

• Rush (on Feedback)
• Ten Years After
• The Allman Joys
• Van Halen (live)
• Robin Trower (on Another Days Blues)
• Steve Miller Band (live)
• Molly Hatchet (live)
• Janell Mosser on the Boys on the Side soundtrack, 1995
• Mountain (live)
• Smak (live)
• Stephen Stills (Indiana University's Assembly Hall, Indiana, USA - 19 October 1972)
• Jeff Berlin on Pump It 1986
• Page and Plant (live)
• John Mayer (on Battle Studies / live)
• The Radiators (live)
• Stoney Larue (live)
• Son Of Dave
• Racer X (live)
• Phish (live) (08-09-1997 for example)
• Peter Rowan (live - 07/20/2000 for example)
• Cyndi Lauper feat. Jonny Lang on Memphis Blues

Sample

See also

• Traveling Riverside Blues
• Deal with the Devil
• Crossroads (1986 film)

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Grammy Hall of Fame
2. ^ Sony Music Soundtrack for A Century: Folk, Gospel & Blues. Legacy Records J2K 65804, 1999. Liner notes, p. 35
3. ^ ^{a b} Cross Robert Johnson, mythmaking, and contemporary American culture By Patricia R. Schroeder p. 37 [1]
4. ^ Litwack, Leon F (1998). Trouble in Mind: Black Southerners in the Age of Jim Crow. New York: Vintage Books. pp. 410–411. 
5. ^ Charlton, Katherine (2008). Rock Music Styles: A History. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. pp. 13. ISBN 978-0-07-312162-8. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Strong, Martin Charles (2002). The great rock discography. The National Academies. p. 323. ISBN 9781841953120. http://books.google.com/books?id=eyvXOydfVt8C&pg=PT323#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
7. ^ ^{a b} Howard Mandel, ed (2005). "The Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues". The Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues. Billboard Books. p. 217. ISBN 0-8230-8266-0. 
8. ^ http://www.guitarworld.com/article/100_greatest_guitar_solos_10_quotcrossroadquot_eric_clapton
9. ^ "The Hamsters - Hamster Jam". Bluesrockers website. 2002-06-11. http://www.bluesrockers.ws/hamstereview.html. Retrieved 2009-03-16. 
10. ^ Patrick Burbridge. "Music Review - The Hamsters". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/music/reviews/hamsters/hamsters.shtml. Retrieved 2009-03-16.