Crawling King Snake

"Crawling King Snake"
Single by Big Joe Williams
B-side"Meet Me Around the Corner"
Released1941 (1941)
RecordedChicago, March 27, 1941
GenreBlues
Length2:51
LabelBluebird
Songwriter(s)Unknown

"Crawling King Snake" (alternatively "Crawlin' King Snake" or "Crawling/Crawlin' Kingsnake") is a blues song that has been recorded by numerous blues and other artists. It is believed to have originated as a Delta blues in the 1920s[1] and be related to earlier songs, such as "Black Snake Blues" by Victoria Spivey[2] and "Black Snake Moan" by Blind Lemon Jefferson.[3]

As "Crawling King Snake", it was first recorded by Big Joe Williams on March 27, 1941. The song is a country-style blues, with Williams on vocal and nine-string guitar and William Mitchell providing imitation bass[4] accompaniment. On June 3, 1941, Delta bluesman Tony Hollins recorded "a markedly different version",[5][6] which served as the basis for many subsequent versions.

  1. ^ Herzhaft, Gerard (1992). "Crawling King Snake". Encyclopedia of the Blues. Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas Press. p. 443. ISBN 1-55728-252-8.
  2. ^ OKeh Records 8338 (1926)
  3. ^ OKeh Records 8455 (1926)
  4. ^ Usually a jug or washtub bass.
  5. ^ Young, Alan (1997). Woke Me Up This Morning: Black Gospel Singers and the Gospel Life. University Press of Mississippi. p. 292. ISBN 978-0-87805-944-7.
  6. ^ OKeh Records 06350