Music / Sad Days, Lonely Nights

Gimme your hand, girl / I got something to tell you, babe

Told me always take a knee
And it's got me down
I get down on my knees
And I cried, "Lord, have mercy on me"

- "Lord, Have Mercy on Me"

Sad Days, Lonely Nights is the second album released by Mississippi blues musician Junior Kimbrough. Released in 1994, it was live record performed with Kimbrough's backing band, The Soul Blues Boys, in Kimbrough's own juke joint (a kind of club primarily frequented by Afro-Americans in the early 1900s), without an audience.

Noted for it's jam-like quality and melancholic, but mesmerising atmosphere, it would further exemplify his hypnotic, drone-like guitar playing style and his battered vocals. And would gain further attention as a noted release within the Hill country blues scene during it's popularity spike in the 90s.

Tracklist

1. "Sad Says, Lonely Nights" (full band version) (4:22)
2. "Lonesome in My Home" (4:34)
3. "Lord, Have Mercy on Me" (9:54)
4. "Crawling King Snake" (4:50)
5. "My Mind Is Rambling" (6:21)
6. "Leaving in the Morning" (7:19)
7. "Old Black Mattie" (6:40)
8. "I'm in Love" (5:04)
9. "Pull Your Clothes Off" (4:28)
10. "I'm Gonna Have to Leave Here" (6:35)
11. "Sad Days, Lonely Nights" (solo version) (5:33)

Pull Your Tropes Off

• Blues: of the North Mississippi hill variant.
• Book Ends: Of a sort. The album begins and ends with a version of the title track.
• Cover Version: of "Crawling King Snake"
• Epic Rocking: Almost every other song breached five minutes, with "Lord, Have Mercy on Me" almost hitting ten minutes.
• Intercourse with You: "Pull Your Clothes Off".
• Minimalism: Although the blues genre is minimal by default, this record takes it farther with it's live sound, axed of overdubs or multi-tracks.
• Prayer Is a Last Resort: "Lord, Have Mercy on Me":
  Oh Lord, oh Lord, have mercy on me
  Oh Lord, oh Lord have mercy on me
  If I done anybody wrong
  Oh Lord, have mercy on me
• Surprisingly Gentle Song: The solo version of "Sad Days, Lonely Nights" is this in comparison to the rockling, cacophonous feel of the rest of the record.
• Title Track: "Sad Days, Lonely Nights".

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