“The blues are the roots and the other musics are the fruits. It’s better keeping the roots alive, because it means better fruits from now on. The blues are the roots of all American music. As long as American music survives, so will the blues.”
Willie Dixon
Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
One way or another, we’ve all heard the song “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” whether it was in an advertisement or in a movie (Kill Bill, for example). I have always thought that the song was created by “Santa Esmeralda” until, recently, I stumbled upon Nina Simone’s version which turned out to be the original, to my great surprise. The styles are extremely different but they’re both great in their own right. Another famous version was performed by The Animals but it is not as catchy, at least for my tastes.
Where Did You Sleep Last Night
“Where did you sleep last night” was arguably one of the best songs on Nirvana’s legendary “MTV Unplugged”. The original song, however, as most fans of the band should know, is an old folk classic that originates as far as the mid 19th Century called “In the pines”. Blues singer Leadbelly gave the song wider success to the point that he is often mistaken for the original writer and composer.