A-side Tell Mama Released 1968 (1968) Length 2:32 | B-side I'd Rather Go Blind Genre R&B-rock, soul, blues | |
Recorded 1967, FAME Studios, Muscle Shoals, AL | ||
"I'd Rather Go Blind" is a blues song written by Ellington Jordan and co-credited to Billy Foster. It was first recorded by Etta James in 1967, released in 1968, and has subsequently become regarded as a blues and soul classic.
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Original version by Etta James
Etta James wrote in her autobiography Rage To Survive that she heard the song outlined by her friend Ellington "Fugi" Jordan when she visited him in prison. She then wrote the rest of the song with Jordan, but for tax reasons gave her songwriting credit to her partner at the time, Billy Foster, singer with doo-wop group The Medallions.
Etta James recorded the song at the FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. It was included on the album Tell Mama and as the B-side of the single of the same name which made number 10 on the Billboard R&B charts and number 23 on the pop charts. The song is also on the 1978 Jerry Wexler-produced album Deep in the Night but it is titled "Blind Girl" (track 10). Some critics have regarded "I'd Rather Go Blind" as of such emotional and poetic quality that it makes that release one of the great double-sided singles of the period. Critic Dave Marsh put the song in his book The Heart of Rock and Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made (number 429).
Other versions
It has since been recorded by a wide variety of artists, including Clarence Carter, blind from birth, on his 1969 album The Dynamic Clarence Carter. Other recordings include those by Little Milton, Chicken Shack, Koko Taylor, Man Man, Rod Stewart, B.B. King, Elkie Brooks, Paul Weller, Trixie Whitley, Ruby Turner, Marcia Ball, Sydney Youngblood, Barbara Lynn and Beyoncé Knowles for the Cadillac Records Soundtrack.
The song reached number 14 on the UK pop charts in 1969 in a version by British blues band Chicken Shack, featuring Christine Perfect, later to become Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac.
The song was also recorded in 1972 for Never a Dull Moment, the 4th album by Rod Stewart. Etta James refers to Stewart's version favorably in her autobiography, Rage to Survive.
A version of the song was UK singer Sydney Youngblood's third single release but it missed the Top 40, peaking at number 44 on the UK pop charts. However, it appeared on Now That's What I Call Music! 17. It appeared on the CD before the actual single was released.
Versions have been performed by Paolo Nutini, Australian musician Toby, and American folk singer Holly Miranda.
British soul singer Liam Bailey released a home-recorded version of the song with his EP 2am Rough Tracks in 2010. The EP was released on Amy Winehouse's Lioness Records.
In 2011, Joe Bonamassa and Beth Hart covered the song on their album Don't Explain.
At the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors concert honoring Buddy Guy, Beth Hart received a standing ovation for a rendition of the song accompanied by Jeff Beck on guitar. Buddy Guy, fellow inductees Led Zeppelin, and other celebrities, including the Obamas, were in the audience.
In 2012, Mick Hucknall covered the song on his album American Soul.
The Allman Brothers performed this song live occasionally with Susan Tedeschi. Tedeschi and Allman Brothers guitarists Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes performed their version of the song at The White House's Red White and Blues event in 2012.
In popular culture
The song is used in the ending credits of the 2016 video game Firewatch.