BackDoorMan
Well-Known Member
"Back Door Man" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon for Howlin' Wolf, released by Chess Records as a B-side to Wolf's "Wang Dang Doodle" in 1961 (catalog no. 1777). The song is considered a classic of Chicago blues.
In southern culture, the phrase "back-door man" refers to a man having an affair with a married woman, using the back door as an exit before the husband comes home.[1] "When everybody trying to sleep, I'm somewhere making my midnight creep. / Every morning the rooster crow, something tell me I got to go / I am a back door man", Wolf sings. The promiscuous "back-door man" is a standard theme found in many blues, including those by Charley Patton, Lightnin' Hopkins, Blind Willie McTell and Sara Martin: "every sensible woman got a back-door man," Martin wrote in "Strange Loving Blues" (1925).[2] Robert Plant references the Dixon song in Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" (196: "Shake for me girl, I want to be your back-door man."[3] The phrase "back-door man" dates from the 1920s, but the term became a double entendre in the 1960s, also meaning "one who practices anal intercourse."[4]
The single was recorded in Chicago in 1960 by Howlin' Wolf (vocals), Otis Spann (piano), Hubert Sumlin and [anonymous] (guitar), Willie Dixon (bass), and Fred Below (drums). The chord progression in the refrain of the song, similar to that found in Bo Diddley's "I'm A Man" (1955), John Lee Hooker's "I'm Mad (Again)" (1957), and Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man" (1954), dates back to work songs sung during the construction of train tracks.[5]
[edit] Cover versions
The song became an early standard cover song of The Doors, (along with Dixon's "Little Red Rooster", also written for Howlin' Wolf, and "Close to You"), and they recorded it for their 1967 debut album. The "door" of the song, like the name of the band, suggests a Blakean symbol of perception, with an awareness of the 1960s Queer-culture double entendre giving the expression an additional layer of meaning.[6] The Doors' drummer John Densmore described the song as "deeply sexual and got everyone moving."[7] The song also appears on The Doors' live album Absolutely Live (1970).
The song has also been covered by Blues Project, Shadows of Knight, Bob Weir, Harmonica Slim & Hosea Leavy, Sam Gopal, T-Model Ford, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Soul Asylum fronted by Iggy Pop at the opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Frank Marino, of the band Mahogany Rush, recorded it on Mahogany Rush Live. The song's author Willie Dixon recorded it on his 1970 album I Am The Blues. In 1984 "Back Door Man" was also covered by Viktor Lazlo. Eric Burdon performed it during his tour with ex-Doors-guitarist Robby Krieger in 1990/91.
I chose the name, because when Injoined this site, that is whaat I was, and back at home, am still known for..
If a friend of mine seen me cozening up to a guy with a pretty wife, they would tell the husband "lock your backdoor before you head out the front door on your way to work .. he's a backdoor man"..
I know alot of you simple ignorant people will still continue to try to make your dumb jokes, and that is fine.. but now you have all been educated... or atleast an attempt has been made to educate you...
In southern culture, the phrase "back-door man" refers to a man having an affair with a married woman, using the back door as an exit before the husband comes home.[1] "When everybody trying to sleep, I'm somewhere making my midnight creep. / Every morning the rooster crow, something tell me I got to go / I am a back door man", Wolf sings. The promiscuous "back-door man" is a standard theme found in many blues, including those by Charley Patton, Lightnin' Hopkins, Blind Willie McTell and Sara Martin: "every sensible woman got a back-door man," Martin wrote in "Strange Loving Blues" (1925).[2] Robert Plant references the Dixon song in Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" (196: "Shake for me girl, I want to be your back-door man."[3] The phrase "back-door man" dates from the 1920s, but the term became a double entendre in the 1960s, also meaning "one who practices anal intercourse."[4]
The single was recorded in Chicago in 1960 by Howlin' Wolf (vocals), Otis Spann (piano), Hubert Sumlin and [anonymous] (guitar), Willie Dixon (bass), and Fred Below (drums). The chord progression in the refrain of the song, similar to that found in Bo Diddley's "I'm A Man" (1955), John Lee Hooker's "I'm Mad (Again)" (1957), and Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man" (1954), dates back to work songs sung during the construction of train tracks.[5]
[edit] Cover versions
The song became an early standard cover song of The Doors, (along with Dixon's "Little Red Rooster", also written for Howlin' Wolf, and "Close to You"), and they recorded it for their 1967 debut album. The "door" of the song, like the name of the band, suggests a Blakean symbol of perception, with an awareness of the 1960s Queer-culture double entendre giving the expression an additional layer of meaning.[6] The Doors' drummer John Densmore described the song as "deeply sexual and got everyone moving."[7] The song also appears on The Doors' live album Absolutely Live (1970).
The song has also been covered by Blues Project, Shadows of Knight, Bob Weir, Harmonica Slim & Hosea Leavy, Sam Gopal, T-Model Ford, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Soul Asylum fronted by Iggy Pop at the opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Frank Marino, of the band Mahogany Rush, recorded it on Mahogany Rush Live. The song's author Willie Dixon recorded it on his 1970 album I Am The Blues. In 1984 "Back Door Man" was also covered by Viktor Lazlo. Eric Burdon performed it during his tour with ex-Doors-guitarist Robby Krieger in 1990/91.
- ^ Segrest, James; & Hoffman, Mark (2005). Moanin' at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf. Thunder's Mouth Press. p. 174. ISBN 1560256834
- ^ Oliver, Paul (1990). Blues Fell This Morning: Meaning in the Blues. Cambridge University Press. p. 87. ISBN 0521377935
- ^ "Whole Lotta Love". Rolling Stone. December 9, 2004. Retrieved on February 16, 2008.
- ^ Green, Jonathon (2006). Cassell's Dictionary of Slang. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. p. 48. ISBN 0304366366
- ^ Scott, Richard J. (2003).Chord Progressions for Songwriters. iUniverse. p. 110. ISBN 0595263844
- ^ Smith, Patricia Juliana (1999). The Queer Sixties. Routledge. p. 177. ISBN 0415921686
- ^ Densmore, John (1991). Riders on the Storm: My Life With Jim Morrison and the Doors. Dell Publishing. p. 77. ISBN 0385304471
I chose the name, because when Injoined this site, that is whaat I was, and back at home, am still known for..
If a friend of mine seen me cozening up to a guy with a pretty wife, they would tell the husband "lock your backdoor before you head out the front door on your way to work .. he's a backdoor man"..
I know alot of you simple ignorant people will still continue to try to make your dumb jokes, and that is fine.. but now you have all been educated... or atleast an attempt has been made to educate you...