Death Letter

E608847

"Death Letter" is a seminal Delta blues song, best known through Son House's powerful slide-guitar performance and anguished vocal delivery.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Death Letter canonical 3

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (40)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Delta blues song ⓘ
song ⓘ
associatedWith Son House ⓘ
associatedWithTheme betrayal ⓘ
funeral ⓘ
spiritual torment ⓘ
composer Son House ⓘ
countryOfOrigin United States ⓘ
genre Delta blues ⓘ
guitarStyle bottleneck slide guitar ⓘ
guitarTuning open G or open D (slide) ⓘ
hasCoverVersion Chris Thomas King ⓘ
Gov’t Mule ⓘ
James Blood Ulmer ⓘ
The Derek Trucks Band ⓘ
linked to: Derek Trucks Band

The Grateful Dead ⓘ
linked to: Grateful Dead

The White Stripes ⓘ
hasCulturalStatus blues standard ⓘ
seminal Delta blues recording ⓘ
hasPart call-and-response vocals and guitar ⓘ
slide guitar introduction ⓘ
influencedGenre blues rock ⓘ
garage rock revival ⓘ
inspiredByTradition Delta blues tradition ⓘ
language English ⓘ
lyricalPerspective first-person narrator ⓘ
lyricist Son House ⓘ
mainSubject death ⓘ
grief ⓘ
loss ⓘ
narrativeFocus receiving a letter about a lover’s death ⓘ
notableFor anguished vocal delivery ⓘ
slide guitar performance ⓘ
notablePerformanceBy Son House ⓘ
performanceType solo voice and guitar ⓘ
performer Son House ⓘ
tempo slow to mid-tempo blues ⓘ
typicalSetting rural American South ⓘ
vocalRange raw, intense baritone ⓘ
vocalStyle shouted blues vocal ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Son House → notableWork → Death Letter ⓘ
My Black Mama → influencedWork → Death Letter ⓘ
Step Back → hasPart → Death Letter ⓘ
subject linked to: album "Step Back"