Countin' The Blues

Nearly 100 years ago Ma Rainey wrote and recorded Countin’ The Blues. It is now in the public domain world wide thus we own all rights to this arrangement per forum posting protocol.

It’s difficult to understand why over all these years virtually nobody else has recorded the song. One would think it would’ve become a blues classic. I guess all the heavy hitters were too busy mining the Robert Johnson catalog smile


We took her lyric and arranged it with a new melody (by Janice) while hoping to retain the emotion of the original. Ma Rainey was a complex lady whose life was at times care free and defiant or sad. The lyrics may initially seem obtuse but with our research they became more and more illustrative of her life. Many of the references are to the names of her other songs or to places where she apparently performed. But it gets deeper. Boll Weevil was a song she wrote that referenced the insect that changed so many lives in the south by destroying cotton crops. She also wrote about Moonshine and the troubles it brought her. Jailhouse is thought to reference the time she spent incarcerated supposedly for bi-sexuality.

Ultimately she was a survivor during a time that had to be extraordinarily difficult for an African-American woman (the last verse appears to allude to this but leaves one wondering about the ambiguity). We hope we did the song justice.

Big thanks to Peter. He provided us with multiple great guitar track styles to choose from. Ultimately we all agreed to use a dual recording of Fender Peter and Gibson Peter. BTW, Janice said her vocal tag came from Buddy Guy. Bud said, well, OK. smile

We thank you for listening and appreciate comments!

Tech/track stuff:

Janice - Vocal: Rodes NT1 mic > Scarlett 212 > Logic Pro EQ > CLA Vocals
Peter - guitar solos and fills: whatever the man does smile
Bass: RT 564 Blues Monday Sw 065 > Logic Pro EQ > Waves Bass Rider > CLA Bass
Rhythm Guitar: RT 565 Blues Monday Sw 065 > EMT 140 Reverb sim
Piano: MIDI SuperTrack 2848 BluesSlow128Mike Sw 065 > CLA Unplugged
Drum kit: RD BluesMondaySw8 > CLA Drums (hi-hat volume shaped down 6db)
Snare: Neutron 2 > EMT 140 Reverb sim
(Neutron masking on bass/drums & rhythm guitar/piano)

DAW: Logic Pro X
Mastering: Logic EQ > Waves LinMB > Waves L2 > Ozone Tonal Balance > YouLean Loudness Meter

Countin' The Blues
© 2020 Trad Arr B. Merritt, J. Merritt & P. Fulham
PD lyric by Ma Rainey

Layin' in bed this mornin' with my face turned to the wall
Layin' in bed this mornin' with my face turned to the wall
Trying to count these blues so I could sing 'em all

Memphis, Rampart, Beale Street set 'em free
Memphis, Rampart, Beale Street set 'em free
Graveyard, 'Bama Bound, Lord, Lord, come from Stingaree

Lord, ‘rested at midnight, jailhouse made me lose my mind
Lord, ‘rested at midnight, jailhouse made me lose my mind
Bad Luck ’n Boll Weevil made me think of old Moonshine

Lord, goin' to sleep now for mama just got bad news
Lord, goin' to sleep now for mama just got bad news
To try to dream away my troubles, countin' these blues


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