Driving Wheel
{{Short description|Blues song first recorded by Roosevelt Sykes in 1936}}
{{for multi|the David Wiffen song|Driving Wheel (David Wiffen song)|the Foghat song "Drivin' Wheel"|Foghat}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Driving Wheel Blues
| cover = Driving Wheel Blues single cover.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = the Honey Dripper {{a.k.a.}} Roosevelt Sykes
| B-side = Barrel House Man
| released = {{Start date|1936}}
| recorded = February 18, 1936
| studio =
| genre = Blues
| length = 3:06
| label = Decca
| writer = Roosevelt Sykes
}}
"Driving Wheel", also called "Drivin' Wheel" or "Driving Wheel Blues", is blues song first recorded by Roosevelt Sykes (listed as "The Honey Dripper") in 1936. It was an influential early blues composition and has been recorded by numerous artists, including Junior Parker and Al Green, whose renditions were hits on the record charts.
Original song
Roosevelt Sykes' "Driving Wheel Blues" is a solo twelve-bar blues, with Sykes providing piano accompaniment to his vocal. The song is performed at a medium tempo with the opening lyrics:
{{poemquote|People, I don't have to work and I ain't gonna rob and steal (2×)
My baby gives me everything I need, she is my driving wheel}}
Sykes' recorded the song on February 18, 1936, for Decca Records.
{{cite encyclopedia
| last = Herzhaft
| first = Gerard
| year = 1992
| section = Driving Wheel
| encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of the Blues
| location = Fayetteville, Arkansas
| publisher = University of Arkansas Press
| isbn = 1-55728-252-8
| page = 445
}} It was released before 'Billboard magazine or a similar service began tracking such singles, but "Driving Wheel" is identified as influential early blues composition.
{{cite encyclopedia
| last = Dahl
| first = Bill
| title = All Music Guide to the Blues: The Experts' Guide to the Best Blues Recordings
| year = 1996
| section = Roosevelt Sykes
| editor-last = Erlewine
| editor-first = Michael
| editor-link = Michael Erlewine
| editor-last2 = Bogdanov
| editor-first2 = Vladimir
| editor-link2 = Vladimir Bogdanov (editor)
| editor-last3 = Woodstra
| editor-first3 = Chris
| editor-last4 = Koda
| editor-first4 = Cub
| editor-link4 = Cub Koda
| encyclopedia = All Music Guide to the Blues
| location = San Francisco
| publisher = Miller Freeman Books
| isbn = 0-87930-424-3
| page = 243
Sykes later recorded additional studio and live versions of the song.
{{cite web
| url = https://www.allmusic.com/song/drivin-wheel-mt0004643907
| title = 'Drivin' Wheel' – Appears on
| website = AllMusic
| access-date = January 8, 2016
}} A version from the late 1940s
{{cite web
| url = https://www.allmusic.com/album/complete-recorded-works-vol-9-1947-1951-mw0000107816
| author = arwulf arwulf
| title = Roosevelt Sykes: Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 9 (1947-1951){{snd}}Review
| website = AllMusic
| access-date = August 3, 2020
}} includes the opening verse with the genders reversed:
{{poemquote|
My baby don't have to work, she don't have to rob and steal (2×)
I give her everything she needs, I am her driving wheel}}
Renditions
Junior Parker, as "Little Junior Parker", recorded "Driving Wheel" for Duke Records in 1960 or 1961.
{{cite AV media notes
| title = Junior's Blues – The Duke Recordings Volume One
| others = Junior Parker
| year = 1992
| last = Vera
| first = Billy
| author-link = Billy Vera
| type = Album notes
| publisher = MCA/Duke Records
| id = MCAD-10669
| page = 5
}} Although Parker's vocal line and lyrics follow Sykes' late 1940s version, the song uses a group arrangement with a horn section and adds a break in the middle of the song. Musician and music writer Billy Vera notes: "Fronting a horn section was really how Junior heard himself. He was a singer, not a shouter. His voice was sweet, his vibrato throbbing{{nbsp}}... [his songs] were all more melodic than the average blues."
Most subsequent versions of "Driving Wheel" show Parker's influence, including the distinctive bass line. When the song was released in 1961, it spent eleven weeks on the US Billboard R&B chart, where it reached number five; it also reached number 85 in the pop chart.
{{cite book
| last = Whitburn
| first = Joel
| author-link = Joel Whitburn
| title = Top R&B Singles 1942–1988
| year = 1988
| location = Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin
| publisher = Record Research
| isbn = 0-89820-068-7
| pages = [https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whit/page/174 174, 319]
| url = https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whit/page/174
}}
In 1971, soul/gospel singer Al Green recorded the song in Memphis for Hi Records. His song peaked at number 46 on the R&B chart and reached number 115 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles pop chart. The song is included on the 1971 Al Green Gets Next to You album
{{cite web
| url = http://www.allmusic.com/album/gets-next-to-you-mw0000101242
| title = Al Green: Gets Next to You – Review
| last = Erlewine
| first = Stephen Thomas
| author-link = Stephen Thomas Erlewine
| website = AllMusic
| access-date = January 8, 2016
}} as well as various compilation albums. Green's version uses a different arrangement, in keeping with his soul music approach.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Roosevelt Sykes}}
{{Paul Butterfield}}
{{authority control}}