Reggie, I think the most famous version of that song is Skip James's, although I've heard several other people do it as well -- be best, IMO, is Paul Geremia. I know what you mean about "simple" rural styles, but if you listen to the vocals and guitar work in that tune (at least in the SJ and PG versions) they are quite complex -- way beyond my ability to figure them out, at least. If I remember correctly, both do the song in open D-minor. But don't hold me to that as fact. I've recently come across another tune you might like called "I've Sold My Soul To The Devil (And My Heart Done Turned To Stone). The two versions I've come across are by Clara Smith and a hillbilly singer named David Edward -- not to be confused with the Delta bluesman Dave "Honeyboy" Edwards. Oddly enough, the hillbilly version showed up on a CD that came with a book about Delta bluesmen. The song is a kind of swing number with fiddle and an electric guitar (I think) played almost like a horn. Nice catchy tune. Other "devil" songs that come to mind are the old fiddle showpiece "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" and a cowboy tune called "Sierre Peaks" (pronounced Si-ree). I guess the best known version of the former is Charlie Daniels's and the best version of the latter I've heard is by Ian Tyson on one of his "Cowboyography" albums -- one of the original three, but I don't remember offhand which one. There's also Robert Johnson's "Me And The Devil" — great tune. Cheers, david
|