“Smokestack Lightnin” by Frankie Lee

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We’ll give credit for this great blues tune to Howlin Wolf, born, Chester Burnett, in 1910.  A companion of Charley Patton and possibly Robert Johnson, Wolf recorded the song for the first time in 1955 or 56.   Back around 1930,The Mississippi Sheiks had a recording with the line “”A-ah, smokestack lightnin‘, that bell shine just like gold, now don’t you hear me talkin.”  I guess that plagiarism is a sincere form of flattery, if not larceny.  In music, before ASCAP and BMI, it was part of the folk process, the oral (aural) tradition.  As an aside,  The Mississippi Sheiks big hit was “Stealin.”

Today’s song of the day is eminently listenable, with Frankie Lee doing the only acoustic version I’ve heard, of Smokestack Lightning.  Smokestack is not just another blues song.  With due respect to Wolf, I like this track more than any other version.

From Wikipedia:   “Smokestack Lightning” received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999 honoring its lasting historical significance.  It is ranked #285 in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”  It is also included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame list of the “500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll”.  In 2009 “Smokestack Lightning” was selected for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress in the United States.”

Frankie Lee (reference Judas Priest and Bob Dylan) was discovered by Ike and Tina Turner.  He recorded first in 1963 as Little Frankie Lee.  Later he would work for six years as a member of Albert Collins’ band.  In the 1970s, now out working with his own band, Frankie hired a young Robert Cray.  I don’t usually quote this source, but New York Daily News called Frankie Lee “one of the most energetic blues voices of any time or place.”

Enjoy Frankie Lee, (without Judas Priest) doing Howlin’ Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightning.”  HL