Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out

During hard times people often find out who their true friends are - a fact Bessie Smith learns in the Prohibition-era blues standard "Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out." The singer recalls living the high life as a millionaire and sharing the spoils of wealth with her friends, who all abandon her when she loses her money. When vaudevillian Jimmy Cox wrote the song in 1923, the decade was just starting to roar with unprecedented prosperity in the US. Putting a bit of a damper on everyone's high spirits, Cox warned that fortune, and the friendships gained from it, are fleeting. Unbeknownst to Bessie when she recorded the song on May 15, 1929, folks would relate to its sentiment in a big way. Its September release coincided with the start of the Wall Street Crash Of 1929 that initiated the Great Depression.

Although Bessie made the song famous, a few other artists recorded it before her with various lyrics related to being down-and-out. Piedmont bluesman Bobby Leecan released it under the name Blind Bobby Baker and his guitar in 1927. Leecan's version, titled "Nobody Needs You When You're Down And Out," had lyrics about losing all his money to crooked gamblers. The vocal group Aunt Jemima Novelty Four also sang the friendless lament in 1929, followed by Clarence "Pinetop" Smith, who issued a spoken rendition on January 15, 1929. Exactly two months later, Pinetop was fatally wounded by a stray bullet when a fight broke out at a dance hall.

Bessie had a lock on the song throughout the 1930s, but other acts began covering it in the ensuing decade, including Josh White, Count Basie, Eddie Condon, Louis Jordan, and Lead Belly. It found prominence again during the 1960s folk revival, with covers from the Chad Mitchell Trio, Dave Van Ronk, Eric Von Schmidt, Scrapper Blackwell, and Odetta, as well as soul takes from Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, and Nina Simone. Simone's 1960 single peaked at #23 on the R&B chart and #93 on the Hot 100. Janis Joplin also recorded an early demo with blues-rock guitarist Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. The Spencer Davis Group and Them rounded out the decade with their rock interpretations.