Talk:Walkin' Blues

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There was a link from Robert Johnson (musician) leading to a blank page. When the article is written, it will need an 'Infobox Single' -- largely similar to one I have created for Sweet Home Chicago. My first posting contained an error, but the solution was to correct it -- not to divert to another page.DavidCrosbie (talk) 13:55, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Son House vs Robert Johnson

This article was recently edited to attribute the original version song to Son House. A user claiming to be employed by the managers of Robert Johnson's copyrights reverted that edit, claiming that similarities between House's "My Black Mama" and "Walking Blues" were not relevant. The song was in fact recorded by House as "Walking Blues" for Paramount and later for the Library of Congress. It is clear that the Johnson version is re-worked version of House's song, and one House version predates Johnson's recording session significantly. All evidence points to the song being original to House. Alpha Omicron (talk) 03:23, 22 January 2012 (UTC)

The song owes much to Son House, but is not the same as any of the three recorded House songs with the title Walkin' Blues. We cannot know exactly what performances inspired Johnson, but the verse from which the song takes its title is clearly Son's.The basic tune, verse structure, guitar accompaniment etc are all to be found in House's 1930 recording of My Black Mama — which does not necessarily mean that the record was the direct source for Johnson's song. Unlike many blues singers, Son did not keep exact copies of recordings in his repertoire, or at least he did not offer any such copy to Lomax and Work in 1941-42. The copies of old recordings that he sang after rediscovery were not from memory; he had to relearn his songs, and even his guitar style.DavidCrosbie (talk) 23:57, 26 September 2012 (UTC)