Black Angel Blues
Tampa Red first recorded "Black Angel Blues" in 1934, establishing a melody that would echo through the decades. Accompanying himself with precise, singing slide guitar lines on his National resonator, Red sang a...
Tampa Red first recorded "Black Angel Blues" in 1934, establishing a melody that would echo through the decades. Accompanying himself with precise, singing slide guitar lines on his National resonator, Red sang a smooth, mournful narrative about a "sweet black angel." The track demonstrated the sophisticated, polished style that made Red a leading blues musician in pre-war Chicago. The song's melody and lyrical themes proved durable; Robert Nighthawk later recorded his own version in 1949, drawing heavily from Tampa Red's original and pushing it toward the heavier, electric Chicago sound that was emerging after the war.