"Travelling Riverside Blues" is a blues song written by the bluesman Robert Johnson. He recorded it on June 20, 1937, in Dallas, Texas, during his last recording session. The song was unreleased until its inclusion on the 1961 Johnson compilation album King of the Delta Blues Singers.
Johnson's song has a typical twelve-bar blues structure (though as is common in downhome blues of this era, the length of each verse is in fact thirteen-and-a-half bars of 4/4), played on a single guitar tuned to open G, with a slide.[citation needed] An alternate version was recorded the same day (and was considered lost) but was finally released officially on the 1998 reissue of King of the Delta Blues Singers.
Lyricsedit
The song is well known for the lyric "Now you can squeeze my lemon 'til the juice run down my leg", which was later used by Led Zeppelin in their song "The Lemon Song", from the album Led Zeppelin II. It is likely that Johnson had taken this himself from a song recorded earlier that same year (1937) called "She Squeezed My Lemon", by Roosevelt Sykes.[1]
English rock bandLed Zeppelin's version of this song was produced by John Walters at the BBC studios in Aeolian Hall on June 24, 1969 during the band's UK Tour of Summer 1969. Jimmy Page dubbed extra guitar tracks onto the track (the main track being played on a 12-string electric guitar) and it was broadcast four days later on John Peel's Top Gear show under the title "Travelling Riverside Blues '69",[2] and repeated on January 11, 1970. Page used an acoustic slide guitar for the entire song, while Bonham played triplets on the bass drum.[2]
It was interest from US radio interviewers and fans during Page's Outrider tour that originally led him to negotiate with BBC Enterprises for the song's release.[2] A promotional video clip was also released in 1990, with out-take footage from the band's 1976 concert film, The Song Remains the Same inter-spliced with other footage from the band's archive. The clip also features a railroad montage, and underwater shots of the Mississippi River. The song reached number seven on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks Top 50 chart in November 1990, culled from national album rock radio airplay reports.[2] In Canada, it reached number 57 on the RPM Top 100 Chart[3]
^Australian Broadcasting Corporation - Triple J Music Specials - Led Zeppelin (first broadcast 2000-07-12)
^ abcdDave Lewis (1994), The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, Omnibus Press, ISBN0-7119-3528-9.
^"RPM Singles Chart - 1 December 1970". RPM. Retrieved January 15, 2009 – via Collectionscanada.gc.ca.
External linksedit
"Travelling Riverside Blues" promo video at ledzeppelin.com
December 18, 2023
travelling, riverside, blues, blues, song, written, bluesman, robert, johnson, recorded, june, 1937, dallas, texas, during, last, recording, session, song, unreleased, until, inclusion, 1961, johnson, compilation, album, king, delta, blues, singers, song, robe. Travelling Riverside Blues is a blues song written by the bluesman Robert Johnson He recorded it on June 20 1937 in Dallas Texas during his last recording session The song was unreleased until its inclusion on the 1961 Johnson compilation album King of the Delta Blues Singers Travelling Riverside Blues Song by Robert Johnsonfrom the album King of the Delta Blues SingersReleased1961 1961 RecordedDallas Texas June 20 1937GenreBluesLength2 47LabelColumbiaSongwriter s Robert JohnsonProducer s Don Law Contents 1 Robert Johnson original version 2 Lyrics 3 Led Zeppelin version 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksRobert Johnson original version editJohnson s song has a typical twelve bar blues structure though as is common in downhome blues of this era the length of each verse is in fact thirteen and a half bars of 4 4 played on a single guitar tuned to open G with a slide citation needed An alternate version was recorded the same day and was considered lost but was finally released officially on the 1998 reissue of King of the Delta Blues Singers Lyrics editThe song is well known for the lyric Now you can squeeze my lemon til the juice run down my leg which was later used by Led Zeppelin in their song The Lemon Song from the album Led Zeppelin II It is likely that Johnson had taken this himself from a song recorded earlier that same year 1937 called She Squeezed My Lemon by Roosevelt Sykes 1 Led Zeppelin version edit Travelling Riverside Blues nbsp Single by Led Zeppelinfrom the album Led Zeppelin Boxed SetReleasedOctober 8 1990 1990 10 08 RecordedJune 24 1969StudioBBC LondonGenreBlues rockLength5 11LabelAtlanticSongwriter s Robert Johnson Jimmy Page Robert PlantProducer s John WaltersLed Zeppelin singles chronology Fool in the Rain 1979 Travelling Riverside Blues 1990 Baby Come On Home 1993 English rock band Led Zeppelin s version of this song was produced by John Walters at the BBC studios in Aeolian Hall on June 24 1969 during the band s UK Tour of Summer 1969 Jimmy Page dubbed extra guitar tracks onto the track the main track being played on a 12 string electric guitar and it was broadcast four days later on John Peel s Top Gear show under the title Travelling Riverside Blues 69 2 and repeated on January 11 1970 Page used an acoustic slide guitar for the entire song while Bonham played triplets on the bass drum 2 It was interest from US radio interviewers and fans during Page s Outrider tour that originally led him to negotiate with BBC Enterprises for the song s release 2 A promotional video clip was also released in 1990 with out take footage from the band s 1976 concert film The Song Remains the Same inter spliced with other footage from the band s archive The clip also features a railroad montage and underwater shots of the Mississippi River The song reached number seven on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks Top 50 chart in November 1990 culled from national album rock radio airplay reports 2 In Canada it reached number 57 on the RPM Top 100 Chart 3 See also editList of Led Zeppelin songs written or inspired by othersReferences edit Australian Broadcasting Corporation Triple J Music Specials Led Zeppelin first broadcast 2000 07 12 a b c d Dave Lewis 1994 The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin Omnibus Press ISBN 0 7119 3528 9 RPM Singles Chart 1 December 1970 RPM Retrieved January 15 2009 via Collectionscanada gc ca External links edit Travelling Riverside Blues promo video at ledzeppelin com Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Travelling Riverside Blues amp oldid 1123208685, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
