"Spider in My Stew" is a song composed by

Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...

and first recorded by American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

musician

Buster Benton Arley "Buster" Benton (July 19, 1932 – January 20, 1996) was an American blues guitarist and singer. He played guitar in Willie Dixon's Blues All-Stars and is best known for his solo rendition of Dixon's song " Spider in My Stew." Benton wa ...

. It is performed as a slow, minor-key

, with Benton's impassioned vocal and B. B. King-influenced electric guitar playing. For the recording, Benton, on vocal and guitar, is joined by blues veterans Dixon on bass, Carey Bell on harmonica, Mighty Joe Young on guitar, and

Billy Davenport Billy Davenport (April 23, 1931 – December 24, 1999) was an American drummer known for his work with blues musicians such as Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Otis Rush, and Paul Butterfield. He played on the Butterfield album '' Eas ...

on drums. In 1970, the small Supreme Records label released the song on a single, with "Dangerous Woman" on the flip side (no A-side/B-side designations). When the Shreveport, Louisiana, Jewel Records released it again in 1974, it still failed to reach the ''Billboard'' charts, but it "gave Benton a taste of fame," according to biographer Bill Dahl. The song was used as the title track for the well-regarded 1979 Benton album on Jewel subsidiary Ronn Records, ''Spider in My Stew''; however, as the music journalist Tony Russell commented, Benton "never found another money spider." As Benton's best-known song, it is included on several anthology albums of Benton's music and various artists' compilations.

References

{{authority control 1970 songs 1970 singles 1973 singles 1974 singles Songs written by Willie Dixon Blues songs