B-side "Blue Coat Man" Recorded May–June 1952 | Released July 1952 (1952-07) Genre Blues | |
Format 10-inch 78 rpm & 7-inch 45 rpm record Studio Modern Recording Studio, Chicago | ||
"Five Long Years" is a song written and recorded by blues vocalist/pianist Eddie Boyd in 1952. Called one of the "few postwar blues standards [that has] retained universal appeal", Boyd's "Five Long Years" reached number one on the Billboard R&B chart. Numerous blues and other artists have recorded interpretations of the song.
Contents
Original song
"Five Long Years" is a moderate-tempo twelve-bar blues notated in 12/8 time in the key of C. It tells of "the history of the metal worker who, for five years, worked hard in a factory and who gave his check every Friday night to his girlfriend, who nevertheless dumped him". Backing Boyd on vocal and piano are Ernest Cotton on tenor sax, L. C. McKinley on guitar, Alfred Elkins on bass, and Percy Walker on drums. "Five Long Years" was revisited by Boyd several times during his career, with additional studio and live recordings.
Recognition and legacy
In 2011, Eddie Boyd's original "Five Long Years" was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame, who called it "a true-to-life blues in 1952 that hit home with many a working man".
A variety of artists have recorded "Five Long Years", including Junior Parker, whose version reached number thirteen in the R&B chart (1959 Duke 306); Willie B. Huff and Johnny Fuller recorded it for Bob Geddins as "I've Been Thinkin' and Thinkin'"; John Lee Hooker (The Folk Lore of John Lee Hooker, 1961); the Yardbirds (Five Live Yardbirds, 1963); Muddy Waters (1963); Long John Baldry (Long John's Blues, 1964); Ike & Tina Turner (Outta Season, 1968); Bobby "Blue" Bland (If Loving You is Wrong, 1970); Freddie King (Getting Ready, 1971); B.B. King (Guess Who, 1972); and Buddy Guy (Damn Right, I've Got the Blues, 1991); and Eric Clapton (From The Cradle, 1994).