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A Mess of Blues

Rating:
4.5 / 5

Words & Music: Doc Pomus Mort Shuman

I just got your letter baby
Too bad you can't come home
I swear I’m goin' crazy
Sittin' here all alone
Since you're gone
I got a mess of blues

I ain't slept a wink since Sunday
I can't eat a thing all day
Every day is just blue Monday
Since you've been away
Since you're gone
I got a mess of blues

Whoops there goes a teardrop
Rollin' down my face
If you cry when you're in love
It sure ain't no disgrace

I gotta get myself together
Before I lose my mind
I'm gonna catch the next train goin'
And leave my blues behind
Since you're gone
I got a mess of blues

Whoops there goes a teardrop
Rollin' down my face
If you cry when you're in love
It sure ain't no disgrace

I gotta get myself together
Before I lose my mind
I'm gonna catch the next train goin'
And leave my blues behind
Since you're gone
I got a mess of blues
Since you're gone I got a mess of blues
Since you're gone I got a mess of blues

Recordingdate: 1960/03/20, first released on: single (album)

Musicians

Musicians who contributed to the first recording of A Mess of Blues:

(guitar)
(guitar)
(bass)
(electric bass)
(drums)
(drums)
(piano)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)

Availability

Find available albums with A Mess of Blues.

old shep wrote on April 11, 2008
The flip side of Girl of My Best Friend. A great bluesy number with Elvis raunchy vocal in top gear another one of the many great songs that were begging for another outing in the concert years and were cast aside
Steve V wrote on May 15, 2008
The flip side of Its Now Or Never (USA) which makes this one of the greatest singles of all time. Elvis is vocally at his peak. A song that is not too well known by the general public and it should be. A bona fide classic. Brilliant.
OtisBlue22 wrote on May 15, 2008
I can't believe how boring Elvis was in his setlist choice throughout the 70's. He had such a tremendous back-catalogue: Mess of Blues should have been at the top of any list. Maybe it was because the orchestra needed to know the score of every song, supporting my argument that Elvis should have ditched the Vegas trappings and hit the road with a small, versatile group like he did in the 50's and early 60's, a time when Heart of Stone, Maybellene & Only You graced his setlist.
ElvisDayByDay wrote on May 15, 2008
Elvis could sing anything, this great blues performance clearly shows our man had the blues in his voice.
JerryNodak wrote on September 21, 2008
Never cared for this. Just a B-side to me.
Deano1 wrote on March 05, 2010
After Elvis returned from the Army, he recorded three outstanding blues songs. Two of them ("Reconsider Baby" and "Like A Baby") ended up on the LP "Elvis Is Back" and this one was buried on the B-side of "It's Now Or Never". It did manage to hit #32, but it's A-side was #1 for five weeks!. Probably a bit too hard edged to have been a big hit in the early 60's, but an outstanding track. I remember a audience member "stumping the band" with this song the "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson. Johnny, Doc, Ed, Tommy and the band had never heard it! Why was this song not released on an album for eight years???
dgirl wrote on February 16, 2011
One of the true gems in his catalog. Amazing song & performance by all involved. Just a B side? Should have been saved for an A side. Every Elvis fan, heck every music fan should know this performance. A++++++++++++++++++
Lpool kid wrote on October 08, 2011
once again a great great song that was different to what was being recorded.should have been an A side and would have / should have been a massive hit.RCA at fault again on this.5 stars.
ElvisSacramento wrote on October 27, 2012
This is such a great song and it should be way better known than it actually is. This song deserved to be a smash hit here in the United States, but wasn't due to poor decision making by RCA.
Gorse wrote on October 29, 2012
In the UK this was coupled with Girl of My Best Friend. The public were not really ready for this type of hard bluesy song in the early 60's as much as they were for his ballads. I felt the same at the time but have come to appreciate that this is a superb recording.
sugartummy wrote on February 22, 2013
Led Zeppelin did a great version of this song live; not better then Elvis' though.
GEORGE (GK) wrote on May 14, 2013
"A Mess of Blues" should have been saved for a "A" side, and not represented as a "B" side. Why the Radio DJs didn't play this "B" side at radio, and RCA Records, didn't push both sides of the single (Its Now or Never/A Mess of Blues) I don't know? It worked for "Hound dog/Don't Be Cruel". No doubt, "A Mess of Blues" is one of Elvis Presley's best vocal performances, and overall productions/ recordings. And for trivia, the Jordanaires are doing a background vocal on this recording, imitating something Elvis is traveling on, Can you name his form of transportation?
cookingfat wrote on May 14, 2013
On the flip side of The Girl of My Best Friend for it's 1960 UK release."Friend" became a hit again in the 1970s, how this song was left to be forgotten is a mystery, then again RCA were Elvis' record company so enough said.Great A side material and indeed ten times better than some of the dubious songs Elvis sang during the concert years
Pedro Nuno wrote on May 14, 2013
A piece of perfection in Rock Music. A gem in one of the greatest albums from Rock history. A genius rendition. Elvis Presley at his very best, at his very top, on Top of the world. Love this song!
sugartummy wrote on July 14, 2013
My dear George, I never noticed it, but I think you're right. The Jordanaires are imitating a train. A Mystery train perhaps?
shawnrw wrote on January 04, 2014
A superb blues shouter that Elvis ate up. Wished he would have done more of this kind of material
skipsaweirdo wrote on May 30, 2014
Dont' mean to toot my own horn, lol, But in 1986 I told a lady Elvis recorded so much that never got heard in a wide reaching audience way that he was going to have more hits.... They're remixing and making some brilliant stuff, But this song should never be touched, at all. perfect and from what I read the last of it's style Elvis did. I'm not sure, I'm leaving some Elvis stuff at a distance so I can discover a new song Once year til I die. Then, I'll ask God to give Elvis concerts every day for eternity....haha
GEORGE (GK) wrote on October 01, 2014
The Jordanaires are indeed imitating a train whistle in their background vocals.Some don't pick up on that. It's a very clever background arrangement.
Cruiser621 wrote on August 24, 2017
5-star rating for sure. The flip side of the 45RPM single released in 1960 of "It's Now or Never" which I actually appreciated more so than the hit side. 1960 was the last great vestige of Elvis as far as songs and hits go. Yes, 1961 and 1962 would follow suit but in a lesser extent aka the Nashville Sound started taking over and everything started sounding the same. Oh for the 1950's when Elvis was truly "The King"....
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