Last Fair Deal Gone Down

About Last Fair Deal Gone Down

"Last Fair Deal Gone Down" is a song by American blues musician Robert Johnson. It was recorded during Johnson's third recording session in San Antonio, Texas, on November 27, 1936. The song was released on a 78 rpm record in April the following year by Vocalion Records as the second side of "32-20 Blues". It was included on the first reissue of Johnson's songs, King of the Delta Blues Singers in 1961. In 1990, it was released on compact disc as part of The Complete Recordings box set, and in 2000 it was included in Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music, Vol. 4. The song connects some scenes of gambling, work and romance, by situating them on the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad. The expression "Deal Go Down" comes from the card game "Georgia Skin". The railroad serves as more than a setting; Max Haymes finds, in the one unclear verse, a furious description of the convict lease work used when the railroad was laid, before Johnson was born. Elijah Wald agrees that the song features lyrics and structure of an archaic work song, similar to "It Makes A Long Time Man Feel Bad"; the traditional melody and structure were adapted from Charley Patton's record, "You're Gonna Need Somebody When You Die" (1929), its lyrics discarded. David Brackett describes the musical changes, "Johnson modifies this arrangement, simplifying the high-register slide part... and adding a contrasting syncopated figure in the middle of the recording (but omitting the sermon)." But Wald traces also lyrics borrowed from the song "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down", recorded by Fiddlin' John Carson among others, which might have suggested to Johnson some of the changes in arrangement. Artists who later interpreted the song include Keb Mo, Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Todd Rundgren, C. W. Stoneking and the Blue Tits, Crooked Still, and Beck in concert. more »

Year:

2004

2:35

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It's the last fair deal goin' down
Last fair deal goin' down
It's the last fair deal goin' down, good Lord
On that Gulfport Island Road

Ida Belle, don't cry this time
Ida Belle, don't cry this time
If you cry about a nickel, you'll die about a dime
She wouldn't cry, but your money won't mine

I love the way you do
I love the way you do
And I love the way you do, good Lord
On that Gulfport Island Road

My captain's so mean on me
My captain's so mean on me
And my captain's so mean on me, good Lord
On this Gulfport Island Road

And it's camp ain't he and see
Camp ain't he and see
Well it's camp ain't he and seen, good Lord
On thist Gulfport Island Road

Ah, this last fair deal goin' down
It's the last fair deal goin' down
This is the last fair deal goin' down, good Lord
On that Gulfport Island Road

And I'm workin' my way back home
Working my way back home
Lord I'm workin' my way back home, good Lord
On this Gulfport Island Road

And that thing don't keep-a ringin' so soon
That thing don't keep-a ringin' so soon
And that thing don't keep-a ringin' so soon, good Lord
On that Gulfport Island Road

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Eric Clapton

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE (born 30 March 1945) is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time. Clapton ranked second in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in Gibson's Top 50 Guitarists of All Time. more »

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