In honor of both having to wait only 14 more days for Icky Thump and my very favorite of the old-timey bluesmen, I’m here to bring you two amazing blues songs and two amazing covers.

Blind Willie McTell, like most of those blues guys, never really made any proper money and only really achieved the fame he deserved after his death. He performed under a number of different names – the best has to be Red Hot Willie Glaze – for a variety of labels, a sneaky way to get away with multiple record deals. His recording career is a labyrinth; it took me ages just to find out the dates of the two songs posted here. Thankfully, Blind Willie’s songs are available on a bunch of different collections – if you’ve never listened to him, I recommend picking one up.

Two of Blind Willie’s best songs, in my opinion, were covered by the wonderful White Stripes. I have to admit, I hadn’t really noticed exactly how violent the jealousy in “Southern Can Is Mine” really is until I read this blog post. Both Blind Willie and Jack White sing it in such a relaxed way, you don’t really hear all the stuff about beatings. “Lord, Send Me An Angel” is all about Willie’s ladies and why you shouldn’t be messing around with married womens (because their husbands will beat your ragged ass, in case you’re curious).

   Blind Willie McTell – Southern Can Is Mine (1931)
   The White Stripes – Your Southern Can Is Mine

   Blind Willie McTell – Lord, Send Me An Angel (1933)
   The White Stripes – Lord, Send Me An Angel

If you want to know more about Blind Willie McTell, visit bluesnet and read eMusic’s Spotlight article. Also, Bob Dylan scholar Michael Gray has written a book about Blind Willie, which will be out in the UK on July 2nd. Find out more about the book on the author’s blog and pre-order the book from Amazon UK.