Forty-Four
Blues standard written by Roosevelt Sykes
title: "Forty-Four" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1929-songs", "roosevelt-sykes-songs", "howlin'-wolf-songs", "1954-singles", "chess-records-singles", "blues-songs", "eric-burdon-songs", "songs-with-unknown-songwriters"] description: "Blues standard written by Roosevelt Sykes" topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forty-Four" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Blues standard written by Roosevelt Sykes ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox song"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | 44 Blues |
| cover | 44 Blues single label.jpg |
| type | single |
| artist | Roosevelt Sykes |
| B-side | Boot That Thing |
| released | |
| recorded | June 14, 1929 |
| genre | Blues |
| length | 3:05 |
| label | OKeh |
| writer | Roosevelt Sykes (single credit) |
| :: |
| name = 44 Blues | cover = 44 Blues single label.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = Roosevelt Sykes | B-side = Boot That Thing | released = | recorded = June 14, 1929 | studio = | genre = Blues | length = 3:05 | label = OKeh | writer = Roosevelt Sykes (single credit) | producer = "Forty-Four" or "44 Blues" is a blues standard whose origins have been traced back to early 1920s Louisiana. However, it was Roosevelt Sykes, who provided the lyrics and first recorded it in 1929, that helped popularize the song. "Forty-Four," through numerous adaptations and recordings, remains in the blues lexicon eighty years later.
Origins
"Four-Four" was developed from an earlier piano-based blues theme titled "The Forty-Fours". Little Brother Montgomery, who is usually credited with early performances of the song, described it as a "barrelhouse, honky-tonk blues" without any lyrics. He taught it to another blues pianist, Lee Green, who taught it to Roosevelt Sykes. Sykes explained: ::quote
::
Sykes added lyrics to the tune and recorded it as "44 Blues" on June 14, 1929, for Okeh Records. According to blues historian Paul Oliver, Sykes' lyrics "played on the differing interpretations of the phrase 'forty-fours'—the train number 44, the .44 caliber revolver and the 'little cabin' on which was the number 44, presumably a prison cell".
After Sykes recording, Green and Montgomery recorded their versions of "The Forty-Fours". While instrumentally both were similar to Sykes' version, the subject matter and lyrics were different. Green recorded his version, titled "Number 44 Blues," two months after Sykes and about one year later, Montgomery recorded his version titled "Vicksburg Blues". Sykes' version was the most popular and "was to be far more influential than Green's version". Oliver believes that Sykes lyrics, with their "overlays of meaning" accounted for the popularity of his song among singers. Many versions of "Forty-Four" appeared over the following years, including some that bore little resemblance to the original except for the title. Sykes, Green, and Montgomery recorded it themselves ten times between 1929 and 1936.
Howlin' Wolf version
| name = Forty Four | cover = | alt = | type = single | artist = Howlin' Wolf | B-side = I'll Be Around | released = | recorded = 1954 | studio = | genre = Blues | length = | label = Chess | writer = Chester Burnett Howlin' Wolf (single credit) | producer = Leonard Chess, Phil Chess, Willie Dixon
Backing Wolf, who sang and played harmonica, were Hubert Sumlin and Jody Williams on electric guitars, Otis Spann on piano, Willie Dixon on bass, and Earl Phillips on drums. Chess Records issued the song, with "I'll Be Around" as the B-side, on both 78 and 45 rpm record singles in 1954. It is included on Howlin' Wolf's first compilation album, Moanin' in the Moonlight (1959), as well as several other anthologies, such as Howlin' Wolf: The Chess Box (1991) and His Best (1997). | url = https://www.allmusic.com/song/forty-four-mt0052200538 | title = Howlin' Wolf: 'Forty-Four'Appears On | website = AllMusic | access-date = November 12, 2020
Legacy
"Forty-Four" is identified as a blues standard by blues historian Gerard Herzhaft, who calls it "a necessary piece for all followers of the '88' (piano)". The song has been recorded by numerous musicians in a variety of styles; in reviews, it is often described as a Howlin' Wolf song. | url = https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-progressive-blues-experiment-mw0000272912 | last = Koda | first = Cub | author-link = Cub Koda | title = Johnny Winter: The Progressive Blues ExperimentReview | website = AllMusic | access-date = November 12, 2020 | url = https://www.allmusic.com/album/little-feat-mw0000653350 | last = Erlewine | first = Stephen Thomas | author-link = Stephen Thomas Erlewine | title = Little FeatReview | website = AllMusic | access-date = November 12, 2020 | url = https://www.allmusic.com/album/out-of-the-madness-mw0000601090 | last = Koda | first = Cub | author-link = Cub Koda | title = The Derek Trucks Band: Out of the MadnessReview | website = AllMusic | access-date = November 12, 2020 | url = https://www.allmusic.com/album/soul-of-a-man-mw0000746844 | last = Horowitz | first = Hal | title = Eric Burdon: Soul of a ManReview | website = AllMusic | access-date = November 12, 2020 | url = http://www.robertplant.com/press/robert-plants-new-band-makes-u-s-debut-in-mississippi/#more-4287 | title = Robert Plant's New Band Makes U.S. Debut in Mississippi | date = August 15, 2012 | website = Robert Plant.com | access-date = April 29, 2013
References
Sources
- {{cite AV media notes | first1 = Les | last1 = Fancourt | first2 = Chris | last2 = Morris | author-link2 = Chris Morris (author) | first3 = Dick | last3 = Shurman | title = Howlin' Wolf: The Chess Box | others = Howlin' Wolf | type = Box set booklet | year = 1991 | location = Universal City, California | publisher = MCA Records/Chess Records | id = CHD3-9332}}
- {{cite encyclopedia | last = Hall | first = Bob | editor-first = Edward | editor-last = Komara | encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of the Blues | title = Vicksburg Blues | year = 2006 | location = New York City | publisher = Routledge | isbn = 978-0-415-92699-7}}
- {{cite encyclopedia | last = Herzhaft | first = Gerard | encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of the Blues | title = Forty Four Blues | year = 1992 | location = Fayetteville, Arkansas | publisher = University of Arkansas Press | isbn = 1-55728-252-8}}
- {{cite book | last = Oliver | first = Paul | author-link = Paul Oliver | year = 1968 | title = Screening the Blues: Aspects of the Blues Tradition | location = New York City | publisher = Da Capo Press | isbn = 978-0306803444}}
- {{cite book | last1 = Segrest | first1 = James | last2 = Hoffman | first2 = Mark | title = Moanin' at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf | location = New York City | publisher = Pantheon Books | year = 2004 | isbn = 0-375-42246-3}}
References
- August 16, 1929, [[Vocalion Records]] (No. 1401)
- September 1930, [[Paramount Records]] (No. 13006-A)
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