"Gin House Blues" is the title of two different blues songs, which have become confused over the years. Both songs were first recorded by Bessie Smith.
The song originally titled "Gin House Blues" was written by Fletcher Henderson and Henry Troy in 1925, and recorded by Bessie Smith with Henderson on 18 March 1926. It has the opening lines "I've got a sad sad story today / I'm goin' to the gin house when the whistle blows..."
However, the song now most usually called "Gin House" or "Gin House Blues" - with the opening lines "Stay away from me 'cause I'm in my sin / If this place gets raided, it's just me and my gin..." - is an entirely different song. It was originally entitled "Me and My Gin", and was recorded by Bessie Smith on 25 August 1928 and released on Columbia 14384-D. It was written by "Harry Burke", which may be a pseudonym of the pianist and songwriter James C. Johnson. It is this song which has been recorded by many musicians over the years under the title "Gin House Blues" (see listing below), with authorship usually credited to Henderson and Troy, apparently in error.
Read more about Gin House Blues: Recorded Versions of 'Me and My Gin' Under The Title 'Gin House Blues'
Famous quotes containing the words gin, house and/or blues:
“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.”
—Julius J. Epstein (1909–1952)
“I was a closet pacifier advocate. So were most of my friends. Unknown to our mothers, we owned thirty or forty of those little suckers that were placed strategically around the house so a cry could be silenced in less than thirty seconds. Even though bottles were boiled, rooms disinfected, and germs fought one on one, no one seemed to care where the pacifier had been.”
—Erma Bombeck (20th century)
“The blues women had a commanding presence and a refreshing robustness. They were nurturers, taking the yeast of experience, kneading it into dough, molding it and letting it grow in their minds to bring the listener bread for sustenance, shaped by their sensibilities.”
—Rosetta Reitz, U.S. author. As quoted in The Political Palate, ch. 10, by Betsey Beaven et al. (1980)