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Rub Alcohol Blues

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First done by Dock Boggs back in the 20s, it’s a great piece of melancholy parafunalia. Eerie to think it’s a suicide note and reassuring to know he was still a tough old bird 40 years later.

History Machine's avatar
History Machine said

Yeah, definitely nailed the Woody Guthrie and Billy Bragg feeling. Love it.

Guest said

My kind of blues,spot on matey,spot on.

Norm's avatar
Norm said

Great song. The tune reminds me a bit of "House of the Rising Sun", which can be traced back to the Appalachian area in the early 1900's (Alan Price of the Animals has claimed that the song was originally a sixteenth-century English folk song about a Soho brothel, and that English emigrants took the song to America where it was adapted to its later New Orleans setting.) Cool piece and well done!

Wildgeas Music's avatar
Wildgeas Music said

Just ducky Mr. Gumbo. I love it!!

kavin.'s avatar
kavin. said

From the samples I've been listening too, DB was a monster banjo picker, among other things.

Rick Phillips's avatar
Rick Phillips said

R.I.P Dock!

Gumbo's avatar
Gumbo said

thanks guys kavin. - there's a good Folkways collection of Boggs' 60s recordings and you can hear a few of his 78rpm sides at the Archive.org

Guest said

Just goes to show you can't trust some people. Ha! It's a great song with the special Gumbo treatment.

kavin.'s avatar
kavin. said

Thanks for resurrecting this tune. Well done. Will have to look up some more of Boggs' work.

kirklynch's avatar
kirklynch said

Very cool! Love the harp breaks!

Guest said

Smashing cover! Great harmonies GUUUUMBOOOOO!!!!!

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