"The Seventh Son" (also listed as "Seventh Son") is a

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

song written 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 ...

. The title refers to the

seventh son of a seventh son The seventh son of a seventh son is a concept from folklore regarding special powers given to, or held by, such a son. To qualify as "the seventh son of a seventh son" one must be the seventh male child born in an unbroken line with no female sibli ...

of folklore, which Dixon referenced previously in his "

Hoochie Coochie Man "Hoochie Coochie Man" (originally titled "I'm Your Hoochie Cooche Man") is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Muddy Waters in 1954. The song makes reference to hoodoo folk magic elements and makes novel use of a sto ...

". The lyrics include: In 1955,

Willie Mabon Willie James Mabon (October 24, 1925 – April 19, 1985) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singer, songwriter, pianist, and harmonica player. He had two number one hits on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' R&B chart, "I Don't Know (Will ...

was the first to record it. The jazz pianist and singer

Mose Allison Mose John Allison Jr. (November 11, 1927 – November 15, 2016) was an American jazz and blues pianist, singer, and songwriter. He became notable for playing a unique mix of blues and modern jazz, both singing and playing piano. After moving to N ...

released it as a single in 1959 and on an album in 1964, calling it one of his "featured numbers".

Johnny Rivers Johnny Rivers (born John Henry Ramistella; November 7, 1942) is a retired American musician. He achieved commercial success and popularity throughout the 1960s and 1970s as a singer and guitarist, characterized as a versatile and influential art ...

recorded the song as the lead track for his album ''

Meanwhile Back at the Whisky à Go Go ''Meanwhile Back at the Whisky à Go Go'' was Johnny Rivers's fourth official album, and was his third recorded live at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles. The album was on the ''Billboard'' charts for 21 weeks reaching #21 on August 30, 1965. Ri ...

'' in 1965. Also released as a single, "The Seventh Son" was one of Rivers' most popular singles.

Willie Mabon song

In his autobiography, Dixon described writing several tunes for Mabon, including "The Seventh Son". He noted that Mabon stuck to his arrangement, unlike others who recorded the song, and commented on its background:

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock an ...

released the song as a single with "Lucinda" as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

, however, it did not reach the record charts.

Johnny Rivers rendition

In the early 1960s,

recorded several albums at the

Whisky a Go Go The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed The Whisky) is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boulev ...

, a popular music venue in West Hollywood, California. "The Seventh Son" was included as the opening track on Rivers' 1965 release ''

''. In an

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

album review, Bruce Eder noted, " nthe opening track, 'Seventh Son'Rivers takes an approach that manages to intersect with swamp rock, white soul, and garage punk, all neatly wrapped up in three minutes so potent that it shot to the Top Ten on the Billboard Hot 100." The single version peaked at number seven on July 2, 1965, and topped ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' magazine's Top Singles chart.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seventh Son, The 1955 songs 1955 singles 1965 singles Songs written by Willie Dixon Chess Records singles Johnny Rivers songs RPM Top Singles number-one singles