I Know You Rider (aka Woman Blues and I Know My Rider) is a traditional womans blues song that has been adapted by numerous artists. Modern versions can be traced back to the songs appearance in the 1934 book,American Ballads and Folk Songs, by the noted father and son musicologists and folklorists, John Lomax and Alan Lomax. The book notes that An eighteen-year old black girl, in prison for murder, sang the song and the first stanza of these blues. The Lomaxes then added a number of verses from other sources and named it Woman Blue. In the mid-1950s, traditional musician Bob Coltman found the song in the Lomax book, arranged it and began singing it frequently around Philadelphia and New England circa 1957-1960. In 1959 Coltman taught it to Tossi Aaron who recorded it in 1960 for her LP Tossi Sings Folk Songs & Ballads on Prestige International. Joan Baez recorded a version for her 1960 debut album on Vanguard Records but the track was not released until 2001. Throughout the early 1960s the song gained popularity through folk performers, most notably The Kingston Trio, who included the song Rider on their album Sunny Side! in 1963. Folk singer Judy Roderick also recorded an influential version of the song under the title Woman Blue and it became the title track of her second album, recorded and released by Vanguard in 1965. British folk singer John Renbourn recorded a version of the song (titled I Know My Babe) and it was included on his 1967 solo album, Another Monday. By the mid-1960s rock acts began recording the song. Well-known versions include those by Janis Joplin, James Taylor (as Circle Around the Sun, on James Taylor), the Seldom Scene and Hot Tuna.[ The Byrds recorded the song during 1966, under the title I Know My Rider (I Know You Rider), but their version remained unreleased until 1987, when it was included on Never Before. The Byrds version was later included as a bonus track on the expanded CD edition of their Fifth Dimension album. The Byrds also performed the song at the Monterey Pop Festival but this performance of I Know My Rider (I Know You Rider) has never been officially released. I Know You Rider was also a staple of the Grateful Deads live shows. It was the first song that bass player Phil Lesh rehearsed with the band upon joining. However, Lesh was not confident enough in his own singing abilities to handle the songs lead vocal. During the Grateful Deads live concerts, it was usually performed as the second half of a medley with China Cat Sunflower. This segue was later used by Bruce Hornsby and The Range, with I Know You Rider following their song, The Red Plains.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 15:55:26 +0000
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