What Good Can Drinkin' Do (song)
Encyclopedia
"What Good Can Drinkin' Do" is a blues song by Janis Joplin
, the first song she ever recorded.
The song has six verses, following the 12-bar blues
pattern. Lyrics in the first and last verse are almost identical: "What good can drinkin' do ?" is sung twice, then answered with "Lord, I drink all night but the next day I still feel blue."
Recordings of this song can be heard on Early Performances
, or on the box set Janis
. Record Collector
cites her intro to the song: Up steps a feisty young woman, one month short of her twentieth birthday. "Uh, this is a song called 'What Good Can Drinkin' Do', that I wrote one night after drinkin' myself into a stupor." ...
In 2009, Austin musician Carolyn Wonderland
began including the song in some of her live performances after appearing at The American Music Masters tribute to Janis Joplin, "Kozmic Blues: The Life and Music of Janis Joplin."
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
, the first song she ever recorded.
The song has six verses, following the 12-bar blues
Twelve bar blues
The 12-bar blues is one of the most popular chord progressions in popular music, including the blues. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics and phrase and chord structure and duration...
pattern. Lyrics in the first and last verse are almost identical: "What good can drinkin' do ?" is sung twice, then answered with "Lord, I drink all night but the next day I still feel blue."
Recordings of this song can be heard on Early Performances
Janis (1975 album)
Janis is a collection of performances by Janis Joplin, issued in 1975 as a compilation album containing film soundtrack and live recordings. Disc one is subtitled "From the soundtrack of the motion picture Janis ". In addition to concert recordings from Toronto and Frankfurt, there are several...
, or on the box set Janis
Janis (1993 album)
Janis is a compilation album by Janis Joplin, released in 1993. The album features a broad overview of her career from her very first recording in December 1962, to the last songs she did during the sessions for Pearl just a few days before her death in October 1970.-Disc one:#"What Good Can...
. Record Collector
Record Collector
Record Collector is the United Kingdom's longest-running monthly music magazine. It distributes both within the UK and worldwide. It started in 1979.-The early years:...
cites her intro to the song: Up steps a feisty young woman, one month short of her twentieth birthday. "Uh, this is a song called 'What Good Can Drinkin' Do', that I wrote one night after drinkin' myself into a stupor." ...
In 2009, Austin musician Carolyn Wonderland
Carolyn Wonderland
Carolyn Wonderland is an American blues singer, songwriter and musician. She is married to A. Whitney Brown.-Biography:Wonderland dropped out of Houston's Langham Creek High School to pursue her music ambitions...
began including the song in some of her live performances after appearing at The American Music Masters tribute to Janis Joplin, "Kozmic Blues: The Life and Music of Janis Joplin."