| Poor Boy Blues | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Gus Cannon as "Banjo Joe" |
| B-Side: | Can You Blame the Colored Man |
| Recorded: | 1927 |
| Genre: | Blues |
| Label: | Paramount |
"Poor Boy Blues", or "Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home", is a traditional blues song that has been cited as one of the oldest in the genre.[1] As with most traditional blues songs, there is great variation in the melody and lyrical content as performed by different artists. However, there is often a core verse containing some variation of the line "I'm a poor boy a long way from home."
Blues historian described it as:The song is often associated with a slide guitar accompaniment. Gus Cannon recalled hearing a slide guitarist named Alec or Alex Lee in Coahoma County around 1900, playing a version of the song.[2] In 1927, Cannon recorded the song under the pseudonym Banjo Joe[3] for Paramount Records. He performed the piece using a slide on a five string banjo, with guitar accompaniment by Blind Blake.[3]
A version recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1957 is described by Herzhaft as "a sensational rendering". Chess Records issued it as a single, with another traditional song, "Sitting on Top of the World" as the second side.[4]
. Deep Blues. Robert Palmer (American writer). 1981. Penguin Books. 46. 978-0-14-006223-6. registration.