Traveling Riverside Blues
Encyclopedia
"Travelling Riverside Blues," sometimes called "Mudbone" or "Mud Bone," is a blues
song written and recorded in Dallas, Texas
by the bluesman Robert Johnson. Johnson's June 20, 1937 recording has a typical 12 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
. It was first released on the 1961 compilation LP
King of the Delta Blues Singers
. The song has proved popular with more recent blues musicians.
The song is well known for the lyrics:
rock band
Led Zeppelin
's version of this song was recorded at the BBC
studios in Aeolian Hall on June 24, 1969, by engineer John Waters, which took place 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, possibly the same one used on the track "Thank You
"), and it was broadcast four days later on John Peel
's Top Gear
show under the title "Travelling Riverside Blues '69", and repeated on January 11, 1970.
It is quite different from the original, and it is more a tribute to Robert Johnson than a straight cover. The song showcases a riff by Page (also in open G tuning), and in the lyrics Robert Plant
quotes many Robert Johnson songs, such as "She studies evil all the time", from "Kind Hearted Woman Blues
", and "Why don't you come on in my kitchen", from "Come on in My Kitchen
" (which is heard during the song's solo). Conversely, parts of Johnson's "Travelling Riverside Blues" are used as lyrics in Led Zeppelin's "The Lemon Song
", namely the "squeeze my lemon" sequence. It is likely that Johnson borrowed this himself, from a song recorded in the same year (1937) called "She Squeezed My Lemon", by Roosevelt Sykes
. The line "she got a mortgage
on my body, got a lien
on my soul" and reference to "front teeth lined with gold" at the end of the song are also from Johnson's original.
"Travelling Riverside Blues" can be found on the Led Zeppelin BBC Sessions
album, on disc 1 of the Led Zeppelin Boxed Set, and on the expanded Coda
album from The Complete Studio Recordings box set. 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. A promotional video clip was also released in 1990, with outtake 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.
's "Crossroads", their 1968 version of Johnson's "Cross Road Blues
".
Eric Clapton
covered this song, along with several other Robert Johnson classics, on his 2004 album, Me and Mr. Johnson
.
Myles Kennedy
has sung and played the song with his band Alter Bridge
at live shows in 2007 and 2008. Alter Bridge's version of the song was included on the live Alter Bridge DVD Live from Amsterdam
.
Dion DiMucci
covered this song on his 2006 Grammy-nominated album Bronx in Blue.
Takoma Deathpunk
band Zeke's
"10 To The Riverside Blues", from their split with Peter Pan Speedrock
, is a clear, if unconventional, homage to the Johnson recording.
Dave Hole
covered this song on his 1990 album Short Fuse Blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
song written and recorded in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
by the bluesman Robert Johnson. Johnson's June 20, 1937 recording has a typical 12 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
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
tuned to open G
Open G tuning
Open G tuning is a tuning for guitar, such that the open strings play a G major chord with no fingering or capo.The standard Open G tuning is D-G-D-G-B-D. Note that this leaves the D as the bottom of the chord, creating an inversion. To rectify this problem, some guitar players will remove the low...
, with a slide
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
. It was first released on the 1961 compilation LP
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
King of the Delta Blues Singers
King of the Delta Blues Singers
King of the Delta Blues Singers is a compilation album by American blues musician Robert Johnson, released in 1961 on Columbia Records. It is considered one of the greatest and most influential blues releases ever...
. The song has proved popular with more recent blues musicians.
The song is well known for the lyrics:
- "I want you to squeeze my lemon
- until the juice runs down my leg."
Led Zeppelin version
EnglishEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
rock band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
's version of this song was recorded at the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
studios in Aeolian Hall on June 24, 1969, by engineer John Waters, which took place during the band's UK Tour of Summer 1969
Led Zeppelin United Kingdom Tour Summer 1969
Led Zeppelin's Summer 1969 United Kingdom Tour was a concert tour of the United Kingdom by the English rock band. The tour commenced on 8 June and concluded on 29 June 1969. It included a single show in Paris, France, performed for French television...
. Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
dubbed extra guitar tracks onto the track (the main track being played on a 12-string electric guitar, possibly the same one used on the track "Thank You
Thank You (Led Zeppelin song)
"Thank You" is a song written by Robert Plant and Jimmy Page that was released by English rock band Led Zeppelin on their 1969 album Led Zeppelin II.-Overview:...
"), and it was broadcast four days later on John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
's Top Gear
Top Gear (radio show)
Top Gear was originally a short-lived pop music show on the BBC Light Programme in the mid-1960s.- Origin and format :It was one of the Corporation's few attempts to compete with the pirate radio stations and Radio Luxembourg, who had attracted large audiences of young British pop music listeners...
show under the title "Travelling Riverside Blues '69", and repeated on January 11, 1970.
It is quite different from the original, and it is more a tribute to Robert Johnson than a straight cover. The song showcases a riff by Page (also in open G tuning), and in the lyrics Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
quotes many Robert Johnson songs, such as "She studies evil all the time", from "Kind Hearted Woman Blues
Kind Hearted Woman Blues
"Kind Hearted Woman Blues" is a blues song recorded on November 23, 1936 in San Antonio, Texas by legendary bluesman Robert Johnson. The song was originally released on 78 rpm format as Vocalion 03416 and ARC 7-03-56. Johnson performed the song in the key of A, and recorded two takes, the first...
", and "Why don't you come on in my kitchen", from "Come on in My Kitchen
Come On in My Kitchen
"Come On in My Kitchen" is a blues song by Robert Johnson. Johnson recorded the song on Monday, November 23rd, 1936 at the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, Texas - his first recording session...
" (which is heard during the song's solo). Conversely, parts of Johnson's "Travelling Riverside Blues" are used as lyrics in Led Zeppelin's "The Lemon Song
The Lemon Song
"The Lemon Song" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, featured on their 1969 album Led Zeppelin II. It was recorded at Mystic Studios in Hollywood when the band was on their second concert tour of the United States....
", namely the "squeeze my lemon" sequence. It is likely that Johnson borrowed this himself, from a song recorded in the same year (1937) called "She Squeezed My Lemon", by Roosevelt Sykes
Roosevelt Sykes
Roosevelt Sykes was an American blues musician, also known as "The Honeydripper". He was a successful and prolific cigar-chomping blues piano player, whose rollicking thundering boogie-woogie was highly influential.-Career:Born in Elmar, Arkansas, Sykes grew up near Helena but at age 15, went on...
. The line "she got a mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
on my body, got a lien
Lien
In law, a lien is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation...
on my soul" and reference to "front teeth lined with gold" at the end of the song are also from Johnson's original.
"Travelling Riverside Blues" can be found on the Led Zeppelin BBC Sessions
BBC Sessions (Led Zeppelin album)
BBC Sessions is a compilation album featuring studio sessions and a live concert recorded by English rock group Led Zeppelin for the BBC. It was released on 11 November 1997, by Atlantic Records. This was the first release of new Led Zeppelin material in 15 years. Disc 1 consists of material from...
album, on disc 1 of the Led Zeppelin Boxed Set, and on the expanded Coda
Coda (album)
-Sales chart performance:AlbumSinglesNo commercial or promotional singles were issued, although three tracks received independent radio airplay...
album from The Complete Studio Recordings box set. It was interest from US radio interviewers and fans during Page's Outrider
Outrider (album)
Outrider is an album by Jimmy Page, released by Geffen Records on 19 June 1988. It is his first genuine solo album, and the first time since 1969 he recorded with a record label other than Atlantic Records/Swan Song Records. It was recorded at The Sol, Page's personal studio...
tour that originally led him to negotiate with BBC Enterprises for the song's release. A promotional video clip was also released in 1990, with outtake footage from the band's 1976 concert film
Concert film
A concert movie, or concert film, is a type of documentary film, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert by a musician ....
, The Song Remains the Same
The Song Remains the Same (film)
The Song Remains the Same is a concert film by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. The recording of the film took place during three nights of concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City, during the band's 1973 concert tour of the United States. The film premiered on 20 October 1976, at...
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
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Top Rock Tracks Top 50 chart in November 1990, culled from national album rock radio airplay reports.
Other versions
A verse was incorporated into CreamCream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
's "Crossroads", their 1968 version of Johnson's "Cross Road Blues
Cross Road Blues
"Cross Road Blues" is a song by Delta Blues singer Robert Johnson; released on a 78 rpm record in 1936 by Vocalion Records, catalogue 3519. The original version remained out of print after its initial release until the appearance of The Complete Recordings in 1990...
".
Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
covered this song, along with several other Robert Johnson classics, on his 2004 album, Me and Mr. Johnson
Me and Mr. Johnson
Me and Mr. Johnson is an album by Eric Clapton released in 2004. The album is a tribute to legendary bluesman Robert Johnson. According to Clapton's autobiography, the recordings weren't intended to become an album. The band had rented the studio, but Clapton didn't have any songs written, so he...
.
Myles Kennedy
Myles Kennedy
Myles Richard Kennedy is an American musician and singer-songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Alter Bridge, and as the lead vocalist in Slash's current solo project...
has sung and played the song with his band Alter Bridge
Alter Bridge
Alter Bridge is an American rock band that was formed in 2004 in Orlando, Florida by lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Phillips, who are all also members of Creed. Lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Myles Kennedy, formerly of The Mayfield Four and the frontman...
at live shows in 2007 and 2008. Alter Bridge's version of the song was included on the live Alter Bridge DVD Live from Amsterdam
Live from Amsterdam (DVD)
Live from Amsterdam is the first concert film and live album by American rock band Alter Bridge, recorded on December 7, 2008 at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands and released to extremely positive reviews on September 12, 2009 via Amazon...
.
Dion DiMucci
Dion DiMucci
Dion Francis DiMucci , better known as Dion, is an American singer-songwriter whose work has incorporated elements of doo-wop, pop oldies music, rock and R&B styles....
covered this song on his 2006 Grammy-nominated album Bronx in Blue.
Takoma Deathpunk
Deathrock
Deathrock is a term used to identify a sub-genre of punk rock incorporating horror elements and spooky atmospherics, that emerged on the West Coast of the United States in 1979.-Characteristics:...
band Zeke's
Zeke (band)
Zeke is an American hardcore punk band from Seattle, Washington formed in 1993. They are known for their extremely fast, energetic guitar sound. Zeke mixes this with strong influences from hard rock, and occasionally blues-rock, and are often compared to Motörhead.Zeke has released six full-length...
"10 To The Riverside Blues", from their split with Peter Pan Speedrock
Split (Zeke/Peter Pan Speedrock)
Split is an album by the rock bands Zeke and Peter Pan Speedrock. It was released on February 12, 2005, by Bitzcore Records.-Track listing:#"Two Lane Blacktop"#"Death Train"#"10 To The Riverside Blues"#"Wang Dang"#"Fuck All Night"#"Rid"...
, is a clear, if unconventional, homage to the Johnson recording.
Dave Hole
Dave Hole
Dave Hole is an Australian slide guitarist known for his style of playing rock and roll and blues music.-Biography:...
covered this song on his 1990 album Short Fuse Blues
Short Fuse Blues
Short Fuse Blues is the debut album by Australian blues singer and guitarist Dave Hole, released in 1990. The album was recorded over three days at Planet Studios in Perth, Western Australia. It was financed and produced by Hole...
Led Zeppelin single
| Chart (1990) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart | 7 |
| Canadian RPM Top 100 Chart | 57 |