Worried Man Blues

Notable recordings and performances

The Carter Family recorded the song for the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1930. Woody Guthrie recorded it in 1940, and it was later performed by Cisco Houston, Burl Ives, Ramblin' Jack Elliott with Derroll Adams, and Pete Seeger. Seeger included it on his 1955 Folksinger's Guitar Guide instruction record and booklet, and performed it in concerts through the 1960s. Lonnie Donegan and his band released a skiffle arrangement in 1955 with vocals by Dickie Bishop.

The Kingston Trio wrote new verses about married suburban businessmen and recorded it in 1959 as "A Worried Man". Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs included it on their 1961 Foggy Mountain Boys Songs Of The Famous Carter Family album with Maybelle Carter. June Carter and Johnny Cash sang it with Pete Seeger on the final episode of his Rainbow Quest television series in 1966. George Jones performed the song on the 2004 album The Unbroken Circle: The Musical Heritage of the Carter Family.

Devo recorded and filmed "It Takes a Worried Man" for the 1982 film Human Highway. Half Man Half Biscuit included a version on their 2001 EP and a 2016 compilation. Paolo Nutini's 2009 album Sunny Side Up features the song.

References by other artists

Numerous blues artists, including Big Bill Broonzy, Sam Collins, Blind Boy Fuller, Tampa Red, Sonny Terry, and Big Joe Williams, have recorded songs with similar titles but different lyrics and melody. Steve Ledford and Daniel Nicholson, accompanied by the Carolina Ramblers String Band, recorded a "Worried Man Blues" in New York in 1932 that may be closer to the Carter Family song. The song is quoted by The Doctor in the 1978 Doctor Who story The Stones of Blood. Railroad Jerk's 1995 song "Rollerkoaster" references it in the refrain. Beck's 1996 song "Hotwax" includes the line "It takes a backwash man to sing a backwash song". The Squirrel Nut Zippers' 2009 song "It Happens All the Time" also includes that line. In Joan North's 1967 children's book The Whirling Shapes, all characters sing this song.