Level: 2
Tuning: Standard

Bessie Smith recorded this bad-ass number in 1927 with a piano, cornet and trombone. The ragtimey chord changes are typical of many of her tunes. David Bromberg recorded it in the 1970s. By the way, the "Barlow" referred to in the lyric has been a popular pocket knife since the 1600s. George Washington owned one, and you can still buy one on Amazon.com! In this key-of-C version of the tune, the backup guitar is sketchy and sparse during the introductory verse, and then it settles into a combination of strums and Travis-style (alternating thumb-bass) fingerpicking.