Mean Woman Blues

"Mean Woman Blues" is a 12-bar blues song written by Claude Demetrius. It was first recorded by Elvis Presley as part of the soundtrack for his 1957 motion picture, Loving You. Presley also released the song on Side 2 of a four-song EP record. The Elvis Presley version of "Mean Woman Blues" went to #11 on the R&B charts.

Jerry Lee Lewis recorded a version of the song on Sun Records which was released in 1957 as part of an EP, The Great Ball of Fire. Lewis also recorded his version of the song on the 1964 live album Live at the Star Club, Hamburg with The Nashville Teens. The song was also featured as the B side to the UK release of his hit "Great Balls of Fire". Jerry Lee Lewis' version differed significantly lyrically from the Claude de Metrius version as recorded by Elvis Presley. Roy Orbison's 1963 recording used the lyrics from the 1957 Jerry Lee Lewis version.

In 1959, Cliff Richard and The Shadows recorded a studio version on their Cliff Sings album.

1950s rockabilly artist Glen Glen from Los Angeles recorded a version of this song for England's Ace label which was released on the album "Everybody's Movin' Again" (ACde CD Ch403, scan # 029667140324) using the same musicians from his 1950s Era records.

I Know You Rider

"I Know You Rider" (aka "Woman Blues" and "I Know My Rider") is a traditional blues song that has been adapted by numerous artists.

History of the song

Modern versions can be traced back to the song's appearance in the 1934 book, American Ballads and Folk Songs, by the noted father-and-son pair of musicologists and folklorists, John Lomax and Alan Lomax. The book notes that "An eighteen-year old black girl, in prison for murder, sang the song and the first stanza of these blues." The Lomaxes then added a number of verses from other sources and named it "Woman Blue".

The music and melody are similar to Lucille Bogan's "B.D. Woman Blues" (ca. 1935), although the lyrics are completely different.

In the mid-1950s, traditional musician Bob Coltman found the song in the Lomax book, arranged it and began singing it frequently around Philadelphia and New England circa 1957-1960. In 1959, Coltman taught it to Tossi Aaron who recorded it in 1960 for her LP Tossi Sings Folk Songs & Ballads on Prestige International.Joan Baez recorded a version for her 1960 debut album on Vanguard Records but the track was not released until 2001. Throughout the early 1960s the song gained popularity through folk performers, most notably The Kingston Trio, who included the song "Rider" on their album Sunny Side! in 1963. So did The Big 3, an American folk trio that featured Cass Elliot. Folk singer Judy Roderick also recorded an influential version of the song under the title "Woman Blue" and it became the title track of her second album, recorded and released by Vanguard in 1965. British folk singer John Renbourn recorded a version of the song (titled "I Know My Babe") and it was included on his 1967 solo album, Another Monday.

Boston

Boston (pronounced ⁱ/ˈbɒstən/) is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Boston also served as the historic county seat of Suffolk County until Massachusetts disbanded county government in 1999. The city proper covers 48 square miles (124 km²) with an estimated population of 655,884 in 2014, making it the largest city in New England and the 24th largest city in the United States. The city is the economic and cultural anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area called Greater Boston, home to 4.7 million people and the tenth-largest metropolitan statistical area in the country. Greater Boston as a commuting region is home to 8.1 million people, making it the sixth-largest combined statistical area in the United States.

One of the oldest cities in the United States, Boston was founded on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by Puritan settlers from England. It was the scene of several key events of the American Revolution, such as the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the Siege of Boston. Upon American independence from Great Britain, the city continued to be an important port and manufacturing hub, as well as a center for education and culture. Through land reclamation and municipal annexation, Boston has expanded beyond the original peninsula. Its rich history attracts many tourists, with Faneuil Hall alone drawing over 20 million visitors per year. Boston's many firsts include the United States' first public school, Boston Latin School (1635), and first subway system (1897).

Barry Goudreau

Barry Goudreau (born November 29, 1951) is a musician, best known as one of the original guitarists for the rock band Boston.

Before Boston

Goudreau had developed a musical interest at an early age and got his first guitar, an acoustic which he borrowed from a friend, at age 11. He began taking lessons and by age 13, joined his first band, the "Tornadoes". At age 15, he joined another band with future Boston drummer Sib Hashian. They would often play at night clubs, sometimes seven times a week. Later, he met up with Brad Delp and Fran Sheehan, both future members of Boston. He auditioned for Delp's band, but didn't make the cut as he explains here:

It was around this time that I met Fran Sheehan and Brad Delp. Fran's house was the place musicians went to and jam. We had some great times there, refining our chops until the wee hours. I'm sure the neighbors didn't appreciate it as much as we did. I met Brad when I auditioned for his band. The guitar player had decided to leave and brought me there as his replacement. Brad sang Led Zeppelin's “Communication Breakdown”. I had never heard anybody sing like that before, I will never forget it. Unfortunately, I did not get the gig.

Brad Delp

Bradley Edward "Brad" Delp (June 12, 1951 – March 9, 2007) was an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock bands Boston and RTZ.

Early life

Delp was born in Peabody, Massachusetts on June 12, 1951 to French-Canadian immigrants, and raised in Danvers, Massachusetts. While his father played the fiddle at home, Delp was inspired after seeing the Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. He began learning to play the guitar and claimed to have locked himself in his bedroom for several days in order to learn all the guitar and vocal parts. He saw the Beatles perform live at Suffolk Downs in East Boston on August 18, 1966.

Musical career

In 1969, guitarist Barry Goudreau introduced Delp to Tom Scholz, who was looking for a singer to complete some demo recordings. Eventually Scholz formed the short-lived band Mother's Milk (1973–74), including Delp and Goudreau. After producing a demo, Epic Records eventually signed the act. Mother's Milk was renamed Boston, and the eponymous debut album (recorded in 1975, although many tracks had been written years before) was released in August 1976. Delp performed all of the lead and backing vocals, including all layered vocal overdubs.