Tupelo Blues

Album: Country Blues of John Lee Hooker (1959)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Tupelo is a city in the state of Mississippi, which is best known for being the birthplace of Elvis Presley. John Lee Hooker recorded the original version of this song in 1959, which chronicles a flood in Tupelo, 20 years previously. Said Hooker: "People never forgot it. So when I grew up and got famous, I wrote about it and it brought back memories to a lot of people."
  • Inspired by John Lee Hooker's song, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds reworked it as "Tupelo," combining imagery of the flood with memories of Elvis. It was released on the Bad Seeds 1985 album The Firstborn is Dead.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Spot The Real Red Hot Chili Peppers Song Titles

Spot The Real Red Hot Chili Peppers Song TitlesMusic Quiz

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have some rather unusual song titles - see if you can spot the real ones.

Graduation Songs

Graduation SongsFact or Fiction

Have you got the smarts to know which of these graduation song stories are real?

Daryl Hall

Daryl HallSongwriter Interviews

Daryl Hall's TV show is a hit, and he's been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - only one of these developments excites him.

Steve Morse of Deep Purple

Steve Morse of Deep PurpleSongwriter Interviews

Deep Purple's guitarist since 1994, Steve talks about writing songs with the band and how he puts his own spin on "Smoke On The Water."

Eric Burdon

Eric BurdonSongwriter Interviews

The renown rock singer talks about "The House of the Rising Sun" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood."

Muhammad Ali: His Musical Legacy and the Songs he Inspired

Muhammad Ali: His Musical Legacy and the Songs he InspiredSong Writing

Before he was the champ, Ali released an album called I Am The Greatest!, but his musical influence is best heard in the songs he inspired.