Crawling King Snake

This song exists in versions that are passed from one musician to another like a secret, and “Crawling King Snake” is one of those songs that never fades away. It began as a Delta blues tune in the 1920s, but its most recognizable version came in 1941 when Big Joe Williams recorded it in Chicago with a nine-string guitar and a rhythm that seems to slither along like the animal in the title. Interestingly, Tony Hollins, another Delta bluesman, had already recorded a different version in June of that same year, and it was that version that John Lee Hooker used as a basis when he arrived in Detroit in the 1940s. Hooker admitted it bluntly: “I copied ‘Crawling King Snake’ from him.” When Hooker recorded it in 1949 for Modern Records, the song took off on radio stations across the United States and reached number six on the Billboard R&B chart, becoming one of his biggest hits.

Thirty years later, The Doors revived it for their 1971 album *L.A. Woman*, the last one they recorded with Jim Morrison alive. Morrison, who always had an ear for the blues, suggested including it on the album after years of listening to Hooker’s versions. The recording in California featured Jerry Scheff on bass and Marc Benno on rhythm guitar, but what’s most striking is that The Doors’ version lasts five minutes and one second—almost twice as long as Hooker’s original. The album, recorded without their usual producer and featuring a raw sound that sought to recapture the spirit of the blues, ended up serving as a bridge between the psychedelic rock of the ’60s and the Southern rock that would follow. The song, with its hypnotic groove and lyrics that sound like a warning, fit perfectly into that atmosphere.