Cross Road Blues

Tags:

the-last-shot-got-him(Robert Johnson)
1936

I went down to the cross road.
Fell down on my knees
I went down to the cross road.
Fell down on my knees.
Asked the Lord above for mercy,
“save a poor boy if you please.”

Standing at the cross road.
I tried to flag a ride.
Standing at the cross road.
I tried to flag a ride.
Didn’t nobody seem to know me.
Everybody pass me by.

Well, the sun’s goin’ down, child.
Oh, that dark’s gonna catch me here.
Well, the sun’s goin’ down, child.
Oh, that dark’s gonna catch me here.
And I haven’t got no lovin’, sweet woman
who loves and feels my care.

You can run, you can run,
tell my friend, boy, Willie Brown.
You can run, you can run,
tell my friend, boy, Willie Brown.
Well, that I’m standin’ at the cross road, babe.
I believe I’m sinkin’ down.

A landmark tune from Johnson’s San Antonio sessions in November, 1936. (You’ll notice the devil is not mentioned…)

Scott Ainslie

Born in Rochester NY in 1952, Scott Ainslie has been playing music on something since he was three years old. A guitarist since 1967 with powerful appreciation for and apprenticeships with elder black and white musicians in different musical traditions, Ainslie carries a portion of them forward in his own traditional blues performances and songwriting.

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