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Song of the Day: On Top of the World w the Mississippi Shieks

July 27th, 2009 categories: Song of the Day

Song of the Day

"Sittin' on Top of the World", by the Mississippi Shieks

The Mississippi Shieks... Sittin" on Top of the WorldThe Delta Big 4, Willie Brown, Tommy Johnson, Charlie Patton and Son House, were not the only thing going on in the evolution of the blues in the 1920's. They were just the most influential, and perhaps the most recorded.

The Mississippi Shieks (formed in the mid '20s, disbanded in the late '30's) were based out of Jackson, Mississippi, rather than the Delta. They were a popular guitar and fiddle band that played and recorded country blues in the 1920's and '30's. Named after the Rudolph Valentino film, the Shieks recorded some 70 sides throughout their decade plus career.

Listen to song of the day here

"Sittin"on Top of the World" (Lyrics here)  The Shieks recorded their greatest hit in 1930, and yes this is the original. The song became an instant classic, even back then, and since it has been recorded by, well… virtually the recording industry it seems, and by that we mean country, blues, rock, bluegrass, protest and beyond. The song was also the theme to the Film "A Face In the Crowd" (1957) produced by Elia Kazan and starring Andy Griffith. (As Dick Waterman also pointed just pointed out , the melody also became Robert Johnson's song, "Come on in My Kitchen".

What we thought would be fun is to listen to the original (click the gramophone), then we'll link to other 9 other versions of the song. As we will hear,  it evolves from its country blues origin into something very different with each new cover and artistic interpretation. Then we'll have some fun showing you the magnitude of what "Sittin' on Top of the World" brung.

Howllin' Wolf version
Bob Wills and Texas Playboys version
Doc Watson version
Ray Charles version
Bob Dylan version
Grateful Dead version
Willie Nelson version
 Cream version
North Mississippi Allstars version

Previous Song of the Day  here.

Just for Fun: (It became a big world to sit on top of)
From this song recorded by a country string band trying to scratch out a living in rural Mississippi in 1930, there are now 197 different recording artists who have their version of "Sittin' on Top of the World"… on iTunes alone! The artistic interpretations range from 50 seconds to more than 10 minutes long, and they are found in most every genre of the music industry. This is not counting versions by Frank Sinatra, Harry Belafonte, Nat King Cole and a few others I know of that I could not find.

Just for drill, lets see who they all are: (this is the iTunes list in its entirety. (If you notice Al Jolson is first, and he probably was.)

Al Jolson Greg Ross Radiators
Allen Singer Hans Theessink Rafe Stefanini
Amanda Marshall Harmonica Frank Floyd Ray Charles
Ana Popovic Harry Manx Richard Shindell
Andy Weaver Howard Armstrong Robbie McIntosh
Archie Edwards Howlin' Wolf Rod Price
Asleep At the Wheel Hubert Sumlin Ronnie Earl
B.B. King Hylo Brown Roscoe Holcomb
Barrelhouse Chuck Hylo Brown Ryan Spearman
Big Fat Gap Jack Bruce & Friends Sam Chatmon
Bill Flagg Jack White Sam Rudin
Bill Frisell Jackie Phelps Scott B.
Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys Jake Leg Stompers seven ender
Blind Corn Liquor Pickers Jake Speed & The Freddies SGN
Blue Voodoo James Anthony Cotton Shananagans
Bluegrass Invasion James Blood Ulmer Sleepy LaBeef
Bo Ramsey Jeff Adams Sonny "Hootin" Terry & Brownie McGhee
Bob Dylan Jeff Healey Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee
Bob McCarthy Jelly Roll Kings Springfield
Bob Paisley & The Southern Grass Jerry Reed Strings For Industry
Bob Willis Jethro Burns Taj Mahal
Bobby Darin Jim Froman Texas Blues Rangers
Botany Boyz featuring Lil' Real Joey Negro & The Sunburst Band The Delafields
Boundary Water Boys John Cowan The Delta Souls
Box Fox John Mueller The Hangovers
Brandon Giles Joseph Parsons The Juggernauts
Bristol Mountain Bluegrass Kate Brislin The Light Crust Doughboys
Bruce, Jack Ken Emerson The Lonesome River Band
Bryan Bowers Kenny Wayne Shepherd The Lost Trailers
Bullsboro LeAnn Rimes The Lost Trailers
CAFE R&B Lenny Kravitz The Mashville Brigade
Carter Family Leon Redbone The Mississippi Sheiks
Certified Fools Les Paul & Mary Ford The Nashville Bluegrass Band
Chet Lott Les Paul & Mary Ford The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Chris Smither & Burnett Les Paul & Mary Ford The Outliers
Clarence Ashley & Doc Watson Les Wilson & The Mighty Houserockers The Pogues
Clarence Williams Little Toby Walker The Rage
Columbia River Group Entertainment Little Wolf and the Hellcats The Spinners
Cream Lonnie Johnson The Sunburst Band
Curly Fox Mac Wiseman The Three Bears Bluegrass Band
Da Brat Mary Alice Amidon The Toasters
Dark Star Orchestra Matthew Fox The Wonderbeans
Dave Rowe Trio Max B The Yardbirds
Dave Stryker Memphis Slim Tim Easton
David Holt and the Lightning Bolts Michael Johnathon Tim Gearan
David Holt, Doc Watson & Richard Watson Mississippi Sheiks Tim Lake
David Jon DeWees Motor City Josh Tom Shaka
Dick Bright Mountain Therapy Trae
Dix Bruce & Jim Nunally Neal Pattman Unknown
Doc Watson New York's King of Western Swing Unknown
Doc Watson and David Holt Nolan Bruce Allen Van Morrison
Doug Legacy & The Donkey Biters Norman Blake Van Morrison with Carl Perkins
Downtown Brown North Mississippi Allstars Various Artists
Druha Trava Odell Harris Various Artists
E Old Timey Custard Suckin' Band Various Artists
Earl Scruggs Paperboy Various Artists
Earl Scruggs with Family & Friends Pat Surface with the Boundary Water Boys Vini and the Demons
Eddie Shaw And The Wolf Gang Pat Webb Walter Trout Power Trio
Eden MacAdam-Somer & Larry Unger Paul Ponnudorai Willie Nelson
Eden's Empire Pete French Willie Nelson & Asleep At the Wheel
Fabrizio Poggi & Francesco Garolfi Peter Rowan & Lowell Levinger YarmonyGrass Joint Set
Fiddleworms Peter Thompson  
Flat Top Reed Pickin' On Series  
Gee Gee Kettel & Soluna Samay Pine Tree String Band  
Geoff Baker Pinnacle Boys
Grateful Dead R.L. Burnside
  Sound Machine w R.L. Burnside
References: (click on 'em, and click on the book to get one!)
Big Book of the Blues by Bob Santelli Chasin' the Devil's Music by Gayle Dean Wardlow Nancy Meyer
 Deep blues by Robert Palmer Rising Tide by Ed Komara  Peter Aschoff, PhD
Bob Santelli Gayle D. Wardlow Nancy Meyer Robert Palmer John
Barry		 Ed Komara  Peter Aschoff
About this and that:
I know and have worked with most of the folks here, with the exception of Robert Palmer and John Barry. At present Robert Santelli is the Executive Director of the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. It is Gayle Dean Wardlow who is particularly associated with research into the lives of Charlie Patton and Robert Johnson. Our friend Nancy Meyer managed Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy, among others, and has distinguished herself in artists royalty recovery for some 30 years. Deep Blues and Rising Tide are must reads to understand the world from which it all sprung. Ed Komara, also a good friend, was curator of the Blues Archive at the University of Mississippi for years, and now Music Librarian at SUNY Potsdam. Peter Aschoff, PhD was my dear friend, mentor, and blues historian, musicologist and cultural anthropologist for whom this work is dedicated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How Song for a Day works:

We'll do this as often as we can. Sometimes it'll be nearly every day, sometimes a little longer than that. We'll focus on something for awhile, like starting off with the beginning of it all, then we might jump into something totally different. Sometimes it'll be educational, then tangential, as if in protest to it to what we've been doing, but always it will be fun.

There are two ways for you to get immediate access to this series: (1) subscribe to this blog at the top of the left sidebar, which will give you immediate email updates, or (2) click on "Song for a Day" under "Categories" in our right sidebar, which will automatically queue up "song for a day" posts only, starting from the most recent to the first.

 

(Note: The song link above works much easier and faster in Firefox. (Firefox opens a player immediately, whereas IE transfers the song into real player.) Download Firefox instantly  here… it won't hurt anything, I promise!

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 27th, 2009 at 8:07 am and is filed under Song of the Day. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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