How Long Blues (song)

"How Long, How Long Blues" (also known as "How Long Blues" or "How Long How Long") is a blues song recorded by the American blues duo Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell in 1928. The song became "an instant best-seller (claimed to be over a million copies)" and one of the first blues standards, inspiring many blues songs of the era. It has gone on to be recorded by many artists, not only in blues, but also country and western, pop, and jazz.

Original song
"How Long, How Long Blues" was one of the first songs recorded after Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell began performing together in 1928. It was recorded in Indianapolis, Indiana on June 19, 1928 for Vocalion Records with Carr providing the vocals and piano and Scrapper Blackwell on guitar. It is a moderately slow-tempo blues with an eight-bar blues structure, notated in or common time in the key of C. Carr is credited with the lyrics and music for the song, which uses a departed train as a metaphor for a lover who has left:
 * Heard the whistle blowin', couldn't see no train
 * Way down in my heart, I had an achin' pain
 * How long, how long, baby how long

Carr's and Blackwell's songs reflected a more urban and sophisticated blues in contrast to the rural bluesmen of the time. Carr's blues were "expressive and evocative", although his vocals have also been described as emotionally detached, high-pitched and smooth, with clear diction. Blackwell's single-string jazz guitar lines provided the role of a responsorial voice as well as rhythmic chording.

"How Long, How Long Blues" was Carr and Scrapwell's biggest hit. They subsequently recorded several versions of the song as "How Long, How Long Blues, Part 2", "Part 3", "How Long Has That Evening Train Been Gone", "New How Long, How Long Blues", etc. There are variations in the lyrics, but most versions begin with the line: "How long, how long, has that evening train been gone?"

Legacy
"How Long, How Long Blues" became an early blues standard and "its lilting melody inspired hundreds of later compositions", including the Mississippi Sheiks' "Sitting on Top of the World" and Robert Johnson's "Come On in My Kitchen". Although his later style would not suggest it, Muddy Waters recalled that it was the first song he learned to play "off the Leroy Carr record".

In 1988, Carr's "How Long, How Long Blues" was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in the "Classics of Blues Recordings--Singles or Album Tracks" category. In 2012, the song received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award, which "honor[s] recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance".

Carr's partnership with guitarist Blackwell combined his light bluesy piano with a melodic jazzy guitar that was a progenitor of urban blues. His vocal style moved blues singing toward an urban sophistication and influenced such singers as T-Bone Walker, Charles Brown, Amos Milburn, Jimmy Witherspoon, Ray Charles amongst others. Blackwell's jazz single-string guitar lines helped pave the way for electric guitarists such as Eddie Durham and Charlie Christian.

Later renditions
It has been noted that "How Long, How Long Blues" "enjoyed such immense popularity that it as seized upon by numerous blues singers and jazz artists, its impact spreading way beyond the boundaries of the purely black community". Some of these artists include: James Crutchfield, who recorded the song in 1955 (released on the 2000 CD Biddle Street Barrelhousin'); Lonnie Donegan (1956, Lonnie Donegan Showcase); Johnnie Ray (1956, The Big Beat); Lou Rawls (1962, Black and Blue); Hot Tuna (1970, Hot Tuna); Grateful Dead performed it live once (February 12, 1989 at the Great Western Forum with Spencer Davis as a special guest); Eric Clapton (1994, From the Cradle); and Pinetop Perkins (1997, Born in the Delta).