Posts by Steve Lubet

"Freight Train" was written by Elizabeth Cotten (1893-1987) in the early 20th century when she was performing in and around her hometown of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  Cotten stopped performing ...

"I Want to Hold Your Hand" was the Beatles' first hit in the U.S., as the archetypal rock song, so it is interesting how often it has been covered as ...

I considered using these songs for Saturday posts, but I couldn't find enough interesting covers, so here is a compilation of random one-offs. I'm not saying there are no other ...

also Woody Guthrie's birthday:  

Although it is most closely associated with Ray Charles, "The Night Time Is the Right Time" was written and first released by Napoleon "Nappy" Brown in 1957, a year before ...

"Bury Me beneath the Willow" is an American folk song of unknown origin, included in several early 20th century collections. It is the story of an abandoned lover contemplating death ...

Muskrat Ramble was written by Edward "Kid" Ory in the early 1920s and first recorded by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five (including Ory on trombone and Lil Hardin Armstrong ...

Percy Sledge's 1966 release of "When a Man Loves a Woman" reached number one on both the Hot 100 and the Billboard R & B list. Michael Bolton's 1991 release ...

"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is an African American spiritual of uncertain origin. According to one story, it was composed by Wallace Willis -- either an enslaved or freed person in ...