Tupelo Blues

Album: Country Blues of John Lee Hooker (1959)
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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.

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