B-side "Sugar Sweet" Format 7" 45rpm, 10" 78rpm Length 2:40 | Released 1955-56 Genre Blues | |
Recorded Chicago
November 3, 1955 | ||
"Trouble No More" is an upbeat blues song first recorded by Muddy Waters in 1955. The song was a hit the following year, reaching #7 in the Billboard R&B chart. Backing Muddy Waters were Jimmy Rogers (electric guitar), Little Walter (amplified harmonica), Otis Spann (piano), Willie Dixon (bass), Francis Clay (drums), a loose group of fellow Chess recording artists, sometimes known as the "Headhunters," who were instrumental in defining Chicago blues.
"Trouble No More" is a variation of "Someday Baby Blues," recorded by Sleepy John Estes in 1935 (Champion 50068/Decca 7279), a song that has been interpreted and recorded by numerous artists. "Muddy Waters calls his "Trouble No More" and Big Maceo titled his "Worried Life Blues." Be that as it may. . . they all derive from Sleepy John Estes' 1935 classic "Someday Baby Blues." As he did with "Rollin' Stone," "Rollin' and Tumblin'," "Walkin' Blues," and "Baby Please Don't Go," Muddy Waters took an older country blues and made it into a Chicago blues. Waters also modified the lyrics, using "Someday baby, you ain't gonna trouble, poor me anymore" instead of Estes' "Someday baby, you ain't gonna worry, my mind anymore" (Estes' 1938 version "New Someday Baby" uses "trouble" in place of "worry;" Bob Dylan's 2006 "Someday Baby" uses ". . . trouble, poor me anymore").
The Allman Brothers Band recorded their arrangement of Muddy Waters' "Trouble No More" for their 1969 debut album The Allman Brothers Band (Atco SD 33-308). A 1971 live recording of the song from the Fillmore East was included on their 1972 album Eat a Peach (Capricorn 2CP 0102). Both albums were best sellers (The Allman Brothers Band was certified "Gold," Eat A Peach as "Platinum") and brought "Trouble No More" to a new level of recognition.
In 2000, guitarist Larry Coryell along with his sons Julian and Murali covered the song from his album Coryells.