Level: 2
Tuning: Open D

"Sitting on Top of the World" is a folk-blues song written by Walter Vinson and Lonnie Chatmon, core members of the Mississippi Sheiks, a popular country blues band of the 1930s. Walter Vinson claimed to have composed "Sitting on Top of the World" one morning after playing a white dance in Greenwood, Mississippi. The Mississippi Sheiks recorded it in 1930. In May 1930, Charlie Patton recorded a version of the song (with altered lyrics) called "Some Summer Day." During the next few years cover versions of "Sitting on Top of the World" were recorded by a number of artists: The Two Poor Boys, Doc Watson, Big Bill Broonzy, Sam Collins, Milton Brown and His Musical Brownies, and Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys. The song has become a staple in the repertoire of western swing bands. The version taught in this lesson was influenced by Doc Watson's arrangement. It is played in an Open D tuning.