At the end of the trail, looking back.
“Sitting On Top Of The World” & “Things ‘Bout Coming My Way” made their entrance into my musical consciousness thanks to two items I purchased somewhere back in the mid-to-late 1970’s.
One was a songbook and the other was a 12″ vinyl LP.
Since I can’t remember which one came first, I’ll start with the LP.
Any Old Wind That Blows…
…was an album released in 1975 on Philo Records by Arkansas-born, singer/guitarist/songwriter Jim Ringer (1936-1992).
Any Old Wind That Blows was Jim’s third album, his first coming out in 1972.
The last track on the second side was “Sittin’ On Top Of The World,” with the songwriting credit given to: Traditional. Jim provided the vocals and rhythm guitar; Alfred Gertler played bass; and the bottleneck slide guitar part was by Martin Grosswendt in this timeless and truly outstanding performance.
BTW#1: Mr. Grosswendt’s gorgeous introductory statement of the melody in this recording sits deep in my heart as the inspiration for my beginning the on-going process of learning how to play slide guitar.
Take it, boys.
That recording of “Sitting On Top Of The World” led me to the discovery of a whole array of dazzling and inspirational covers, as well as the Mississippi Sheiks’ original.
The “Sitting On Top Of The World” playlist in my iTunes library presently includes versions by:
- Doc Watson
- Ray Charles
- Bill Monroe
- Howlin’ Wolf
- the Grateful Dead
- Chet Atkins
- Cream
- The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
- Bob Dylan
- Sweet Honey In The Rock
- Bill Frisell
- Richard Shindell
- Carolina Chocolate Drops
- B.B. King.
Every single one of those is very highly recommended listening.
BTW#2: If you’ve been wondering where the “…Through American Music” part of my title for this series of posts came from, take a few minutes and figure out all the genres that are represented by the artists/bands in that list. I think you’ll see what I mean.
Now, the songbook.
Jerry Silverman’s Folk Song Encyclopedia, Volume 2 (1975, Chappell Music)…
…has proven itself to be one of the most valuable and often-referenced books in my library.
The first section of the contents in Volume 2 is titled: Blues And Jazz.
Page 26 is where I found “Things About Comin’ My Way.”
I learned how to play “Things About Comin’ My Way” from that transcription. But when I finally heard the Mississippi Sheiks recording of it, I pondered the differences between the two in both the lyrics and the chord progression.
The mystery remained until I discovered a recording of “Things About Comin’ My Way” by Josh White.
Joshua Daniel White (1914-1969)…
…was born in Greenville, South Carolina. His illustrious, successful and very influential career as a recording artist and performer began in 1928 and extended into 1969.
He first recorded “Things About Coming My Way” in 1932 under the name: Joshua White & His Guitar.
He recorded the song again in 1960 for an album on Elektra Records titled: Spirituals & Blues. Bassist Bill Lee and drummer Walter Perkins accompany Josh’s guitar and vocals on this very cool and Jazz-influenced recording. (It even has a bass solo!)
In conclusion…
I will be forever grateful to Jim Ringer for introducing me to “Sitting On Top Of The World” and Jerry Silverman for introducing me to “Things About Comin’ My Way.”
I have musician, author, historian and educator Elijah Wald to thank for pointing me in the direction of “You Got To Reap What You Sow.” In his liner notes to the revelatory 2004 Yazzo Records CD, Back To The Crossroads: The Roots of Robert Johnson, Mr. Wald wrote this about “Sitting On Top Of The World” (one of the tracks on the CD): “Its success seems to have inspired Tampa Red, who had already recorded the same melody as an instrumental called ‘You Got To Reap What You Sow.'”
I opened the first post of this series back on June 18 with a quote from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:
“Melody is the essence of music.”
Well, for my money, no contemporary guitarist plays a melody like Bill Frisell…
William Richard “Bill” Frisell was born in 1951 in Baltimore, Maryland. His debut solo album – In Line – came out in 1983 on the ECM label. His fifteenth album – The Willies – came out on Nonesuch Records in 2002.
The lead track on The Willies is “Sittin’ On Top Of The World.”
Bill Frisell plays electric and acoustic guitar on the album. He is accompanied by Danny Barnes on banjo, acoustic guitar, bass harmonica and pump organ and Keith Lowe on bass.
This a joyous rendering; a most fitting final mark.
Happy trails. Thanks for tagging along.