Junco Partner

Junco Partner is a traditional American blues song remarkable for being covered and revised by many artists over several decades. Some of them include Dr. John, Professor Longhair, James Booker and even The Clash, the legendary British punk rock band. It was played in different music genres such as blues, folk, rock, reggae and dub. The song’s lyrics refer to needles, drugs, wishes, and to the notorious Louisiana prison farm in Angola.

History

Junker's Blues

The song, originally named "Junker's Blues", was written by Willie Hall (also known as "Drive'em Down"), a blues and boogie-woogie pianist from New Orleans, but he never recorded or credited it to himself. In 1940, Champion Jack Dupree, an American pianist influenced by Hall and his friend, recorded the song for the first time on "Chicago A&R man extraordinaire Lester Melrose and OKeh Records".

Fats Domino first attracted national attention with "The Fat Man", a variation on this traditional New Orleans tune. Domino recorded the song for Imperial Records in Cosimo Matassa's J&M studio on Rampart Street in New Orleans, Louisiana on Saturday, 10 December, 1949. This song is an early rock and roll record, featuring a rolling piano and Domino doing "wah-wah" vocalizing over a fat back beat. It sold over a million copies and is widely regarded as the first rock and roll record to do so.

The melody of "Junker's Blues" was used by Lloyd Price in 1952 for his song, "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", and by Professor Longhair for "Tipitina", a song from his 1972 album, "New Orleans Piano".

Junco Partner

In 1951, Bob Shad, a musical producer and owner of the “A&R at Mercury Records”, a company that worked with jazz and blues, renamed and rewrote the song, and credited it to himself and Robert Ellen. Shad knew the song because of his work in the New Orleans music scene. Since that moment all artists who recorded the song credited it to him and Ellen.

In 1952, many artists covered the song, such as the Richard Hayes & Edie Sauter band, and Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five for Decca (these two groups credited the song to Shad and Ellen). The first record of "Junco Partner" was made by James Wayne. Wayne's version became popular in the United States, though actual artists affirm that it was already a classic in New Orleans. [ [http://www.lastfm.es/user/barewires/journal/2006/03/19/3reb_about_%22junco_partner%22 Interview with Dr. John] ]

Posterior covers

Roland Stone (born as Roland LeBlanc), a jazz and blues musician, recorded two versions, the first in 1959 as "Preacher's Daughter", and the second in 1962 as "Down the Road". The Holy Modal Rounders covered the song as "Junko Partner" in 1965.

Better known covers were recorded in the 1970s and afterwards. In 1972, Dr. John covered the song for his "Gumbo" album. In 1976, Professor Longhair covered it for his "Rock 'N Roll Gumbo" album, and James Booker did the same for his homonymous album.

Perhaps the best-known cover versions of the song was done by British punk rock band The Clash on their triple album "Sandinista!", released in 1980. In this album (where they placed several music genres), they recorded two versions: a reggae version, "Junco Partner" (featured on disc one) and a dub version, "Version Pardner" (featured on disc three). In Sandinista! the song was credited to "writer, at present, unknown"; however, in the promotional Japanese EP the credit says (along with the rest of the songs) "The Clash". In the "Revolution Rock" recompilation, the credit was attributed to "Shad and Ellen". The reggae version has been played many times by ex-Clash members in their later bands.

Carlos del Junco covered the song for his "Big Boy" album released in 1999.

An American band band took its name from this song.

The origins of the song are so confuse that some musicians credited the song to themselves.

References

Videos

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcBlwQVY8qk Junco Partner by Carbon/Silicon with Tymon Dogg, video 1]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4Txh96m6iU Junco Partner by Carbon/Silicon with Tymon Dogg, video 2]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qypqDcW1kto Junco Partner by Carbon/Silicon with Tymon Dogg, video 3]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6Fcf-WXa54 Junco Partner by Carbon/Silicon with Tymon Dogg, video 4]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUte-oT4moo Junco Partner by The Clash, in Jamaica]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoyH5jCMS8w Junco Partner by The Clash, in Jamaica, in 1982]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFHP9m-DvNU Junco Partner by Lonnie Donegan in the '60s]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuNALpGBxK0 Junco Partner by Dr. John in Montreux Jazz Festival 1986]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWhqUcEDs3w Junco Partner by Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros, in Brixton Academy, 2001]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPL4dOnVjOY Junco Partner by The Midnight to Special in 1988]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpT2ZMnyoBk Junco Partner by Phil&Hervé played around 1986]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZskoF9ohNWg Junco Partner placed with a banjo by Napoleon Washington]