Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out

When composed in 1923, the "Roaring Twenties" were coming into full swing. Cox's publisher Clarence Williams Music Publishing Co. filed a copyright registration, December 17, 1923[1] listing the title as "Nobody knows you when you are down and out" (no contraction).[2] After the post-World War I recession, a new era of prosperity was experienced in the U.S. and elsewhere. However, in the face of all the optimism, the known lyrics form a cautionary tale about the fickle nature of fortune and its attendant relationships:

Once I lived the life of a millionaire, spendin' my money I didn't have a care
I carried my friends out for a good time, buying bootleg liquor, champagne and wine
When I begin to fall so low, I didn't have a friend and no place to go
So if I ever get my hand on a dollar again, I'm gonna hold on to it 'til them eagles grin
Nobody knows you, when you down and out
In my pocket not one penny, and my friends I haven't any

The song is a moderate-tempo blues with ragtime-influences, which follows an eight-bar progression Play :[3][4]

I – III7

VI7

ii – VI7

ii

IV7 – ♯ivo7

I – VI7

II7

V7

It features chromaticism through the use of secondary dominant and leading-tone chords:

II⁷ = V⁷/V

VI⁷ = V7/ii = V⁷/V/V

III⁷ = V7/vi = V⁷/V/V/V

♯iv^o7 = vii^o7/V

Although "Nobody Knows You When You Are Down and Out" was copyrighted in 1923, the first known publication did not appear until a recording of 1927. Piedmont blues musician Bobby Leecan, who recorded with various ensembles, such as the South Street Trio, Dixie Jazzers Washboard Band, and Fats Waller's Six Hot Babies, recorded "Nobody Needs You When You're Down and Out" under the name "Blind Bobby Baker and his guitar", with his vocal and fingerpicking-style guitar. His version, recorded in New York around June 1927, is credited on the record label to Bobby Leecan and has completely different lyrics from the popular 1929 version, with emphasis on being poor, including a verse about being cheated playing "The Numbers".[5]

The second known recording of the song was on January 11, 1929 by an obscure vocal quartet, the Aunt Jemima Quality Four, first to use the now familiar title, "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out".[6] The lyrics in this recording can be heard to track roughly with the well known lyrics and are partially spoken, as if being read.[7]

Four days later, influential boogie-woogie pianist Pinetop Smith recorded "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" in Chicago,[8] crediting Cox as the author. In it, lyrics (again quite different from either Bobby Leecan's or Bessie Smith's) are spoken rather than sung, by Pinetop Smith and Alberta Reynolds,[9] to Pinetop's piano accompaniment. The song is one of 11 known recordings by Smith, who died two months after he recorded it.

Bessie Smith recorded the song on May 15, 1929, in New York.[10] Unlike the earlier versions, Bessie Smith recorded the song with instrumental accompaniment, including a small trumpet section. When Smith's record was released on September 13, 1929 (a Friday), the lyrics turned out to be oddly prophetic. The New York stock market had reached an all-time high less than two weeks earlier, only to go into its biggest decline two weeks later in the Wall Street Crash of 1929, which signaled the beginning of the ten-year Great Depression. Williams Music Publishing renewed its copyright at that time.[11]

Bessie Smith's "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" became one of her biggest hits, but was released before "race records" were tracked by record industry publications, such as Billboard magazine. Today, it "more than any other, is the song that most people associate with Bessie Smith".[12]

The song was so identified with Bessie Smith that no one recorded the song again until a generation later. The first subsequent recording was Josh White's recording on December 10, 1945 and released the following year.[13] Since then, numerous musicians have interpreted the song in recordings of their own. The song is considered a standard with jazz and blues artists, with recordings by such artists as the Count Basie Orchestra, Louis Jordan And His Tympany Five, Sidney Bechet, Eddie Condon, Julia Lee, and Lead Belly.

In the late 1950s – early 1960s, it again became popular with the American folk music revival, with recordings by Scrapper Blackwell, Eric Von Schmidt, Odetta, Chad Mitchell Trio, Dave Van Ronk, and an early demo by Janis Joplin with Jorma Kaukonen. In 1960, a version by Nina Simone reached number 23 in the Billboard R&B chart as well as number 93 in the Hot 100 pop chart.[14] In the mid-1960s, soul versions were recorded by Sam Cooke and Otis Redding; rock versions by the Spencer Davis Group, pre-Allman Brothers Band Duane Allman and Gregg Allman, and Them; and a French version by Nino Ferrer (as "Le Millionnaire").

When he was an art student in the early 1960s, Eric Clapton was attracted to London's folk-music scene and the fingerpicking acoustic guitar-style of Big Bill Broonzy.[15] Along with "Key to the Highway", "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" was one of the first songs that Clapton learned to play in this style.[15] In 1970, he recorded a group version with his band, Derek and the Dominos, for their debut album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. The recording took place at the Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida, with Jim Gordon (drums), Carl Radle (bass), Bobby Whitlock (organ), and Duane Allman (slide guitar). As Whitlock recalled, Sam Samudio, who was also recording at Criteria, suggested that they record the song.

This was Duane Allman's first song with us. I believe that it was a song that he and Eric both had in common ... This song was recorded live, vocals and all, with no overdubs. It was the first take, but of course it was all worked out before we went into it.[16]

Allman had recorded "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" earlier with his brother Gregg and used similar guitar lines for the Derek and the Dominos recording.[16] Whitlock also noted that Clapton played through a Fender Champ guitar amplifier (a five-watt practice amp), while Allman used a Fender Twin.[16]

Shortly after the studio recording, the song became part of the Dominos live set. Although it did not appear on their 1973 In Concert album, a recording from the Fillmore East on October 24, 1970 was later included on the expanded Live at the Fillmore album released in 1994. For this version, Clapton played all the guitar parts and Whitlock performed on piano. In 1992, Clapton recorded another rendition for the MTV Unplugged series. In keeping with the show's theme, the song was performed in an acoustic style. Clapton recounted: "I also enjoyed going back and playing the old stuff like 'Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out', which was how it all started back in Kingston [University] so long ago."[17] The version from Unplugged was released as a special limited edition single in Argentina, where it reached number eight on the record chart in 1992 and was certified as a "gold" record (50,000 copies shipped).[18]

• Albertson, Chris (2005). Bessie. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-10756-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Clapton, Eric (2007). Clapton: The Autobiography. Broadway Books. ISBN 978-0-7679-2536-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Hal Leonard (1995). The Blues. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 0-7935-5259-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Martinéz, Aciano (1994). Unplugged y solteros de Eric Clapton son productos más vendidos en el país!. Buenos Aires: CAPIF.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Weissman, Dick (2005). Blues. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8160-6926-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Whitburn, Joel (1988). Top R&B Singles 1942–1988. Record Research, Inc. ISBN 0-89820-068-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Whitlock, Bobby; Roberty, Marc (2010). Bobby Whitlock: A Rock 'n' Roll Autobiography. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-5894-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

• Dean, Maury (2003). Rock 'n' Roll Gold Rush. Algora Publishing. ISBN 978-0-87586-207-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Herzhaft, Gerard (1992). "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out". Encyclopedia of the Blues. University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 1-55728-252-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)