One Way Out (song)
Encyclopedia
"One Way Out" is a blues
song first recorded and released in the early-mid 1960s by Sonny Boy Williamson II
and Elmore James
, an R&B hit under a different name for G.L. Crockett in the mid-1960s, and then popularized to rock
audiences in the early 1970s and onward by The Allman Brothers Band
.
at Beltone Studios in New York City
in late 1960 or early 1961, as part of James' legendary Fire
/Fury
/Enjoy
recording sessions. It features a full band arrangement with a four-piece horn section, but a completely different melody from later versions. James appears not to have released it at that time.
Instead, Sonny Boy Williamson II reworked and recorded it for Chess Records
in Chicago
in September 1961, releasing it shortly thereafter. He would then return and re-record a different working of it in September 1963, again for Chess in Chicago, this time with Buddy Guy
on guitar and Lafayette Leake
on piano. The two efforts were substantially different, with one dominated by harmonica
playing while the other has the vamp and arrangement that would become familiar with the Allman Brothers' rendition.
Subsequently, Elmore James finally released his initial recording of "One Way Out" in 1965, using it as the B-side of his single "My Bleeding Heart" for Sphere Sound Records. But by now, the song was associated with Sonny Boy not him.
Writing credits for "One Way Out" have varied over the years, with some recordings crediting Sonny Boy alone, then others giving Marshall Sehorn and Elmore James
the nod, and finally some naming all three. Furthermore Sehorn was a recording engineer, record producer
, and all-around "record man" at Fire/Fury Records in New York, who likely engaged in the then-common practice of adding himself onto composer credits of songs that he was not actually involved in writing, to get a cut of subsequent royalties. And of course no confusion is complete without mentioning that there are two different Sonny Boy Williamsons − I
and II
; "One Way Out" pertains to the second one.
Whatever its origins, the song's narrative captures the classic tale of a man having sex with another man's woman in an upstairs bedroom. Someone comes to the front door unexpectedly, and our lover must plan a hasty exit out a window:
, released yet another reworking of the song, now called "It's a Man Down There", on Four Brothers Records. It featured a slower tempo, a softer blues vocal line apparently styled after Jimmy Reed
, and a hint of rockabilly
. "It's a Man Down There" became a big hit in R&B circles, reaching number 10 on the Billboard
Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart, and qualified the otherwise obscure Crockett for one-hit wonder
status. Songwriting credits on this reworking appear to have been given to Crockett and one Jack Daniels. The Crockett track was memorialized on the Time-Life
album "Living the Blues: 1965-69," part of the "Living the Blues" series.
Indeed so much was the vocal style like Reed, that Reed himself then recorded an answer song
later that year, entitled "I'm the Man Down There", which became a mild hit.
In the same time period, under the name "The Man Down There", a Swedish band called the Melvins recorded a version of this song; it was included on Pebbles, Volume 26
.
Next up in 1966, "It's a Man Down There" was given the Tex-Mex music treatment by the Sir Douglas Quintet
on their debut album The Best of the Sir Douglas Quintet. The Beatles used the riff of the song during jams in 1969. It is instantly recognizable in a jam titled "My Imagination," featuring Paul shouting simplistic vocals over the main riff for 7 minutes, and later on a jam with Yoko Ono which incorporates the riff occasionally over its 16 minute span. Both tracks remain unreleased.
is known to have been playing "One Way Out" in concert from at least February 1971. A live recording was included on their 1972 album Eat a Peach
. This was indeed recorded at the Fillmore East
, but unlike the March 1971 live material used on the rest of Eat a Peach and At Fillmore East
, "One Way Out" was recorded at the venue's final show on June 27, 1971, as producer Tom Dowd
thought that to be their definitive effort on the song.
In this punchy, dynamic performance, the Allmans showcased their abilities in the blues-rock roadhouse style. Guitarist Dickey Betts
sets up the Sonny Boy Williamson boogie vamp, while Duane Allman
comes in over the top with bottleneck slide guitar
part, after which vocalist Gregg Allman
narrates the drama of the song. Betts takes a solo, Gregg instructs the audience "Ahh, put your hands together," and Duane Allman and Betts trade guitar licks. Duane Allman then takes the solo. Bassist Berry Oakley actually comes in a beat early after the guitar trade, but the band recovers quickly, and then drops out as Gregg carries the vocal a cappella
, after which the band returns for the "Big Ending". The recording of the song from Eat a Peach became popular on progressive rock
and album-oriented rock
radio formats, especially as it was under five minutes in length and more convenient to play than some of the band's lengthier jams; it remains quite popular on classic rock
radio. "One Way Out" has become a staple of Allmans concerts in the decades since, often used as an encore and stretched in length.
The Eat a Peach "One Way Out" is included in Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: A Musical Journey, a box set accompanying his 2003 documentary The Blues
. It is also on the soundtrack of Scorsese's 2006 film The Departed
; it was previously used in the soundtracks of Almost Famous
(2000), Dogtown and Z-Boys
(2001), and Lords of Dogtown
(2005). It is included in the Allmans compilations Dreams
(1989), A Decade of Hits 1969-1979
(1991), and Gold
(2005). Other concert performances of it are included on various retrospective live albums, such as Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY: 5/1/73
, which illustrates a rendition from the band's Chuck Leavell
era.
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
song first recorded and released in the early-mid 1960s by Sonny Boy Williamson II
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Willie "Sonny Boy" Williamson was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, from Mississippi. He is acknowledged as one of the most charismatic and influential blues musicians, with considerable prowess on the harmonica and highly creative songwriting skills...
and Elmore James
Elmore James
Elmore James was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and band leader. He was known as "the King of the Slide Guitar" and had a unique guitar style, noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice.-Biography:James was born Elmore Brooks in the old Richland community in...
, an R&B hit under a different name for G.L. Crockett in the mid-1960s, and then popularized to rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
audiences in the early 1970s and onward by The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
.
Song origins
As with many blues songs, the history of "One Way Out" falls into murk. It seems to have been originally recorded by Elmore JamesElmore James
Elmore James was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and band leader. He was known as "the King of the Slide Guitar" and had a unique guitar style, noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice.-Biography:James was born Elmore Brooks in the old Richland community in...
at Beltone Studios in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in late 1960 or early 1961, as part of James' legendary Fire
Fire Records
Fire Records was an independent record label set up in 1959 by Bobby Robinson . Among others, it released records by Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James and Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup.-Selected discography:...
/Fury
Fury Records
Fury Records was set up by Bobby Robinson in 1957. In 1959 it had a Billboard No.1 hit with Kansas City, sung by Wilbert Harrison. In the early seventies the label launched early rap groups like Grandmaster Flash....
/Enjoy
Enjoy Records
Enjoy Records was a record label owned and operated by Bobby Robinson from 1962 through the mid-1980s, and was run out of his record shop at 125th Street and 8th Ave. in Harlem...
recording sessions. It features a full band arrangement with a four-piece horn section, but a completely different melody from later versions. James appears not to have released it at that time.
Instead, Sonny Boy Williamson II reworked and recorded it for Chess Records
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in September 1961, releasing it shortly thereafter. He would then return and re-record a different working of it in September 1963, again for Chess in Chicago, this time with Buddy Guy
Buddy Guy
George "Buddy" Guy is an American blues and jazz guitarist and singer. He is a critically acclaimed artist who has established himself as a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound, and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of his generation...
on guitar and Lafayette Leake
Lafayette Leake
Lafayette Leake was a blues and jazz pianist, organist, vocalist and composer who played for Chess Records as a session musician, and as a member of the Big Three Trio, during the formative years of Chicago blues. He played piano on many of Chuck Berry's recordings.-Biography:Leake was born in...
on piano. The two efforts were substantially different, with one dominated by harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
playing while the other has the vamp and arrangement that would become familiar with the Allman Brothers' rendition.
Subsequently, Elmore James finally released his initial recording of "One Way Out" in 1965, using it as the B-side of his single "My Bleeding Heart" for Sphere Sound Records. But by now, the song was associated with Sonny Boy not him.
Writing credits for "One Way Out" have varied over the years, with some recordings crediting Sonny Boy alone, then others giving Marshall Sehorn and Elmore James
Elmore James
Elmore James was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and band leader. He was known as "the King of the Slide Guitar" and had a unique guitar style, noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice.-Biography:James was born Elmore Brooks in the old Richland community in...
the nod, and finally some naming all three. Furthermore Sehorn was a recording engineer, record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, and all-around "record man" at Fire/Fury Records in New York, who likely engaged in the then-common practice of adding himself onto composer credits of songs that he was not actually involved in writing, to get a cut of subsequent royalties. And of course no confusion is complete without mentioning that there are two different Sonny Boy Williamsons − I
Sonny Boy Williamson I
Sonny Boy Williamson was an American blues harmonica player and singer, and the first to use the name Sonny Boy Williamson.-Biography and career:...
and II
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Willie "Sonny Boy" Williamson was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, from Mississippi. He is acknowledged as one of the most charismatic and influential blues musicians, with considerable prowess on the harmonica and highly creative songwriting skills...
; "One Way Out" pertains to the second one.
Whatever its origins, the song's narrative captures the classic tale of a man having sex with another man's woman in an upstairs bedroom. Someone comes to the front door unexpectedly, and our lover must plan a hasty exit out a window:
- Ain't but one way out baby, Lord I just can't go out the door —
- Ain't but one way out baby, and Lord I just can't go out the door!
- 'Cause there's a man down there, might be your old man ... I don't know.
Under a different name
In mid-1965, bluesman G.L. Crockett, from Carrollton, MississippiCarrollton, Mississippi
Carrollton is a town in Carroll County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat of Carroll County. The population was 408 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Greenwood, Mississippi micropolitan area-Geography:...
, released yet another reworking of the song, now called "It's a Man Down There", on Four Brothers Records. It featured a slower tempo, a softer blues vocal line apparently styled after Jimmy Reed
Jimmy Reed
Mathis James "Jimmy" Reed was an American blues musician and songwriter, notable for bringing his distinctive style of blues to mainstream audiences. Reed was a major player in the field of electric blues, as opposed to the more acoustic-based sound of many of his contemporaries...
, and a hint of rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
. "It's a Man Down There" became a big hit in R&B circles, reaching number 10 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart, and qualified the otherwise obscure Crockett for one-hit wonder
One-hit wonder
A one-hit wonder is a person or act known mainly for only a single success. The term is most often used to describe music performers with only one hit single.-Characteristics:...
status. Songwriting credits on this reworking appear to have been given to Crockett and one Jack Daniels. The Crockett track was memorialized on the Time-Life
Time-Life
Time–Life is a creator and direct marketer of books, music, video/DVD, and multimedia products. Its products are sold throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia through television, print, retail, the Internet, telemarketing, and direct sales....
album "Living the Blues: 1965-69," part of the "Living the Blues" series.
Indeed so much was the vocal style like Reed, that Reed himself then recorded an answer song
Answer song
An answer song is, as the name suggests, a song made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. It is also known as a response song. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s through 1950s...
later that year, entitled "I'm the Man Down There", which became a mild hit.
In the same time period, under the name "The Man Down There", a Swedish band called the Melvins recorded a version of this song; it was included on Pebbles, Volume 26
Pebbles, Volume 26
Pebbles, Volume 26 is a compilation album in the Pebbles series. It is one of the ten albums in the sub-series The Continent Lashes Back and is sub-titled Sweden, Part 2...
.
Next up in 1966, "It's a Man Down There" was given the Tex-Mex music treatment by the Sir Douglas Quintet
Sir Douglas Quintet
Sir Douglas Quintet was a rock band active in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Despite their British sounding name, they came out of San Antonio, Texas. Their career was established when they began working with Texas record-producer Huey P. Meaux, after which the band relocated to the West Coast...
on their debut album The Best of the Sir Douglas Quintet. The Beatles used the riff of the song during jams in 1969. It is instantly recognizable in a jam titled "My Imagination," featuring Paul shouting simplistic vocals over the main riff for 7 minutes, and later on a jam with Yoko Ono which incorporates the riff occasionally over its 16 minute span. Both tracks remain unreleased.
Allman Brothers Band version
Returning to the original title, The Allman Brothers BandThe Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
is known to have been playing "One Way Out" in concert from at least February 1971. A live recording was included on their 1972 album Eat a Peach
Eat a Peach
Eat a Peach is a 1972 double album by the American Southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band; it was the last to include founding member and lead slide-guitar player Duane Allman, who was killed in a motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971 while the album was being recorded.-History:This album...
. This was indeed recorded at the Fillmore East
Fillmore East
The Fillmore East was rock promoter Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue near East 6th Street in the East Village neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City. It was open from 1968 to 1971, and featured some of the biggest acts in rock music at the time...
, but unlike the March 1971 live material used on the rest of Eat a Peach and At Fillmore East
At Fillmore East
At Fillmore East is a double live album by The Allman Brothers Band. The band's breakthrough success, At Fillmore East was released in July 1971. It ranks Number 49 among Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and remains among the top-selling albums in the band’s catalogue...
, "One Way Out" was recorded at the venue's final show on June 27, 1971, as producer Tom Dowd
Tom Dowd
Tom Dowd was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multi-track recording method. Dowd worked on a virtual "who's who" of recordings that encompassed blues, jazz, pop, rock and soul records.- Early years :Born in Manhattan, Dowd grew...
thought that to be their definitive effort on the song.
In this punchy, dynamic performance, the Allmans showcased their abilities in the blues-rock roadhouse style. Guitarist Dickey Betts
Dickey Betts
Forrest Richard "Dickey" Betts is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer best known as a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and also won with the band a best rock performance Grammy Award for his...
sets up the Sonny Boy Williamson boogie vamp, while Duane Allman
Duane Allman
Howard Duane Allman was an American guitarist, session musician and the primary co-founder of the southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band...
comes in over the top with bottleneck slide guitar
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
part, after which vocalist Gregg Allman
Gregg Allman
Gregory Lenoir Allman , known as Gregg Allman, is a rock and blues singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter, and a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia...
narrates the drama of the song. Betts takes a solo, Gregg instructs the audience "Ahh, put your hands together," and Duane Allman and Betts trade guitar licks. Duane Allman then takes the solo. Bassist Berry Oakley actually comes in a beat early after the guitar trade, but the band recovers quickly, and then drops out as Gregg carries the vocal a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
, after which the band returns for the "Big Ending". The recording of the song from Eat a Peach became popular on progressive rock
Progressive rock (radio format)
Progressive rock is a radio station programming format that prospered in the late 1960s and 1970s, in which the disc jockeys are given wide latitude in what they may play, similar to the freeform format but with the proviso that some kind of rock music is almost always what is played...
and album-oriented rock
Album-oriented rock
Album-oriented rock is an American FM radio format focusing on album tracks by rock artists.-Music played:Most radio formats are based on a select, tight rotation of hit singles...
radio formats, especially as it was under five minutes in length and more convenient to play than some of the band's lengthier jams; it remains quite popular on classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
radio. "One Way Out" has become a staple of Allmans concerts in the decades since, often used as an encore and stretched in length.
The Eat a Peach "One Way Out" is included in Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: A Musical Journey, a box set accompanying his 2003 documentary The Blues
The Blues (film)
The Blues is a 2003 documentary film series produced by Martin Scorsese, dedicated to the history of blues music. In each of the seven episodes, a different director explores a stage in the development of the blues...
. It is also on the soundtrack of Scorsese's 2006 film The Departed
The Departed
The Departed is a 2006 American crime thriller film, fashioned as a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. The film was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan...
; it was previously used in the soundtracks of Almost Famous
Almost Famous
Almost Famous is a 2000 musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Cameron Crowe and telling the fictional story of a teenage journalist writing for Rolling Stone magazine while covering the fictitious rock band Stillwater , and his efforts to get his first cover story published...
(2000), Dogtown and Z-Boys
Dogtown and Z-Boys
Dogtown and Z-Boys is a 2001 documentary film directed by Stacy Peralta. Using a mix of film the Zephyr skateboard team shot in the 1970s by Craig Stecyk and more recent interviews, the documentary tells the story of a group of teenage surfer/skateboarders and their influence on the history of...
(2001), and Lords of Dogtown
Lords of Dogtown
Lords of Dogtown is a 2005 biographical film directed by Catherine Hardwicke, written by Stacy Peralta. The film is based on the story of "The Z-Boys", an influential group of skateboarders who revolutionized the sport...
(2005). It is included in the Allmans compilations Dreams
Dreams (Allman Brothers Band)
Dreams is a 1989 four-disc box set issued by The Allman Brothers Band.Dreams is a compilation of material taken from not only The Allman Brothers Band, but also from throughout musical careers of the Allmans and the band's other members prior to and following its formation...
(1989), A Decade of Hits 1969-1979
A Decade of Hits 1969-1979
A Decade of Hits 1969–1979 is a compilation album of The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1991. The album features songs released on The Allman Brothers Band, Idlewild South, At Fillmore East, Eat a Peach, Brothers and Sisters, and Enlightened Rogues...
(1991), and Gold
Gold (The Allman Brothers Band album)
Gold: The Allman Brothers Band is a compilation album with songs from their first album until their 1979 album Enlightened Rogues. This was released in 2005...
(2005). Other concert performances of it are included on various retrospective live albums, such as Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY: 5/1/73
Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY: 5/1/73
Nassau Coliseum: Uniondale, NY 5/1/73 is a live album released by the Allman Brothers Band.-Disc One:# "Wasted Words" # "Done Somebody Wrong" # "Statesboro Blues" # "One Way Out" # "Stormy Monday"...
, which illustrates a rendition from the band's Chuck Leavell
Chuck Leavell
Chuck Leavell is an American pianist and keyboardist, who was a member of The Allman Brothers Band throughout the height of their popularity, a founding member of the jazz-rock combo Sea Level, a frequently-employed session musician, and later, the keyboardist for Eric Clapton and The Rolling...
era.