By the Spoonful - J.D. Short

By the Spoonful - J.D. Short

3:49

single, 1940??

Written by J.D. Short

I've never heard of him, but Short made records with Son House and Big Joe Williams, so he's the real deal.  (Also making him the real deal: a feud with another musician in which Short stabbed him and he shot Short's testicles off.)  This rollicking blues is a declaration of serious addiction, probably to a drug, but I guess it could metaphorically be about a loved one ("hit it all night long" could easily fit either interpretation).  But this guy, he'd kill his parents for a taste.  "It's all I crave, sugar, my babe, just a spoonful, spoonful / It's all I crave, sugar, my babe, carry me to my grave."  It's a catchy delta blues shuffle that picks up steam as it goes along, harmonica occasionally punctuating Short's vibrato-inflected voice.  I can only guess at the year released, information online on Short being scanty at best.