Many of us, who were kids back in the late 1950's and 1960's, did not realize that the music we were hearing, called rock and roll, had it's roots in the black American music known as the blues.
One of the most recorded songs ever, with pure blues roots, goes back to at least 1925. American blues singer, Ma Rainey (above picture) made it popular back then and, historically, the tune is considered to be one of the most famous of all of the blues songs. It was recorded, at one time or another, by Elvis, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Janis Joplin and others.
In the rock era, as far as single releases, an artist named Chuck Willis took the old blues standard back up the charts in 1957 and Lavern Baker did it again in 1963.
It took a "British Invasion" band to propel the song into Billboard's American Top 10. One of the most famous of the "rockin" blues bands from England was the Animals---fronted by powerhouse lead singer Eric Burdon. Burdon's screaming 1966 vocal rendition of the 40 year old blues number not only made it into the top ten over here, but it hit #1 in Canada and #8 in Australia. This was the last release by the original Animals, prior to the group breaking up later that year.
Now you know the name of the rock band that had the big hit, but you probably can't name the famous song. To solve the mystery, and to see Eric Burdon and the Animals perform the blues classic, simply click on the play button on the old TV. Don't hesitate, go for it---you can watch Leave it to Beaver reruns any old day.
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