Level: 2
Tuning: Dropped D

Tommy Johnson never recorded this song, but he had it in his repertoire, and several musicians learned it from him and continued to perform it in later years. It is a version of a 1928 hit song by pianist Leroy Carr and has been widely covered by other blues artists. The moving lyrics paint a grim picture of a prisoner's state of mind. Johnson played it in dropped D tuning. His guitar part, somewhat influenced by the part played on Carr's record by his guitar accompanist Scrapper Blackwell, features a recurring figure on the bass strings. My version is adapted from the playing of Roosevelt Holts, Babe Stovall, and Arzo Youngblood.