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 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.