"Cocaine Blues" is a Western Swing song written by T. J. "Red" Arnall, a reworking of the traditional song "Little Sadie".
Background
The song is the tale of a man, Willy Lee, who murders his unfaithful girlfriend while under the influence of whiskey and cocaine. He flees to Mexico and works as a musician to fund his continued drug use. Willy is apprehended by a sheriff from Jericho Hill, tried, and promptly sentenced to "ninety-nine years in the San Quentin Pen". The song ends with Willy imploring the listener:
Early recordings
This song was originally recorded by W. A. Nichol's Western Aces on the S & G label, probably in 1947, and by Roy Hogsed and the Rainbow Riders May 25, 1947, at Universal Recorders in Hollywood, California. Hogsed's recording was released on Coast Records and Capitol, with the Capitol release reaching number 15 on the country music charts in 1948.
famously performed the song at his 1968 Folsom Prisonconcert. He replaced the lyric "San Quentin" with "Folsom", and changed "C'mon you hypes..." to "C'mon you gotta listen unto me...", as well as using the then-provocative lyric "I can't forget the day I shot that bad bitch down." Cash also altered the last line to "Lay off the whiskey..." instead of "Drink all you want...". During the performance, which was released uncensored by Columbia Records in 1968, Cash can be heard coughing occasionally; later in the concert recording, he can be heard noting that singing the song nearly did his voice in. The song was also featured on Cash's 1960 Columbia album Now, There Was a Song! under the title "Transfusion Blues" substituting the line "took a shot of cocaine" with "took a transfusion" along with some other minor lyrical changes. Cash later recorded "Cocaine Blues" for his 1979 album Silver. Cash chose not to use the word "bitch" in this version. Cash also performed the song -- with original lyrics and the use of the word "bitch" -- for his December 1969 performance at Madison Square Garden, which was recorded but withheld from release until Johnny Cash at Madison Square Garden was released by Columbia Records in 2002. Cash's Folsom Prison performance of "Cocaine Blues" was portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix in the 2005 Cash biographical filmWalk the Line. The film version, edited down to make it shorter, fades into the next scene before the line "I can't forget the day I shot that bad bitch down" is sung. The DVD specials include an extended version of the song with the lyric, and the full, unedited version is found on the soundtrack CD.
Recordings by other artists
Several artists have recorded "Cocaine Blues", including:
Arnall is also sometimes credited with the version of "Cocaine Blues" written and recorded by Billy Hughes. The music is similar, bearing a marked resemblance to 'Little Sadie", however the lyrics in Hughes' vary considerably from Arnall's. For instance, Hughes has the Cocaine Kid, not Willy Lee, killing "his woman and a rounder, too" in Tulsa, being captured in El Paso, and sentenced to "ninety-nine years way down in Mac." It ends with:
Other songs titled "Cocaine Blues"
"Cocaine Habit Blues"/"Take a Whiff on Me" "Cocaine Blues"/"Coco Blues" "Take a Whiff on Me" "Take a Drink on Me" "Cocaine Habit Blues" "Croquet Habits" "Tell It to Me" "Cocaine Done Killed My Baby" "Cocaine"
