Basin Street Blues
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Basin Street Blues" is a song often performed by Dixieland jazz bands, written by Spencer Williams. The song was published in 1926 and made famous in a recording by Louis Armstrong in 1928. The famous verse with the lyric "Won't you come along with me/To the Mississippi..." was later added by Glenn Miller and Jack Teagarden.
The Basin Street of the title refers to the main street of Storyville, the notorious red-light district of the early 20th-century New Orleans French Quarter.
Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys also recorded a version during the group's heyday with Tommy Duncan. Louis Prima also recorded the song on his 1957 album The Wildest! as did Dr. John on his 1992 album Goin' Back to New Orleans.
The "official" lyrics to the Bob Wills version don't contain the actual lyrics as heard on Bob Wills' Anthology. Instead of Basin Street being the place where the "dark and light folks" meet, as sung on the recording, the printed lyrics widely available on the internet all state that Basin Street is the place where the "young and old folks" meet. The true genius of New Orleans music in that jazz period was not that young and old folks got together, but rather that black and white people got together and made music and the cultural exchange created even better music. The friendly lyrics "officially" in print are not the real lyrics and undermine the wonder of Basin Street in that time period.
Jo Stafford also recorded a duet version with Frankie Laine.
