B-side "Love Me or Let Me Be" Format 10-inch 78 rpm record | Released 1945 (1945) Recorded October 24, 1945 | |
Label Columbia (Cat. no. 36948) | ||
"Look on Yonder Wall", or "Get Ready to Meet Your Man" as it was first named, is a blues song first recorded in 1945 by James "Beale Street" Clark. Clark, also known as "Memphis Jimmy", was a blues pianist from Memphis, Tennessee. During the 1940s, he appeared on recordings by Jazz Gillum, Red Nelson (a.k.a. Dirty Red), and an early Muddy Waters session, as well as several singles in his own name.
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Origins
"Look on Yonder Wall" was performed as a mid-tempo twelve-bar blues, with a recurrent post-World War II theme. It tells of a "man who is somewhat disabled and has not been drafted and takes advantage of that to entertain lonely married women".
Jazz Gillum, with whom the song is often associated, recorded a version on February 18, 1946, (RCA Victor 20-1974), four months after Clark. Although the release was retitled, it credits "James Clark" as the composer.
Elmore James version
In 1961, Elmore James recorded his version of "Look on Yonder Wall" as the flip side of "Shake Your Moneymaker" (Fire 504). Backing James (vocal and guitar) are Sammy Myers (harmonica), Johnny "Big Moose" Walker (piano), Sammy Lee Bully (bass), and King Mose (drums). The song is one of the few Elmore James songs to feature harmonica, as he typically used saxophone.
Recordings by other artists
"Look on Yonder Wall" has been interpreted and recorded by many different performers. Although several titles are used, some of the earlier releases are credited to "James Clark". After James recorded his version, most artists who covered the song used his arrangement.