music.wikisort.org - Composition

"Everybody Ought to Treat a Stranger Right" is a gospel blues song recorded in 1930 by Blind Willie Johnson with backing vocals by Willie B. Harris, who may have been his first wife.[1] The song was released in 1930 on Columbia 14597 as B-side to "Go with Me to That Land".[2]

"Everybody Ought to Treat a Stranger Right"
Single by Blind Willie Johnson
Released	c. 1930
Recorded	Atlanta, Georgia, April 20, 1930
Label	Columbia (14597-D)
Songwriter(s)	Unknown

The chorus consists of the lines:

Everybody should treat a stranger right, long ways from home,
Everybody should treat a stranger right, a long way from home.

The verses comment on that idea, notably with reference to the Three Wise Men offering gifts to the Christ-child in the manger.[2]

In 2018, Ry Cooder said that the song was "one of Blind Willie Johnson’s great songs - he’s the go to guy".[3]

Recordings

The following recordings are by people with Wikipedia articles:

• 1930 – Blind Willie Johnson[4]
• 1993 – Knut Reiersrud, on the album Tramp (in USA, Footwork) under the title "You Ought to Treat a Stranger Right" [5]
• 2018 – Ry Cooder, on the album The Prodigal Son [3]

References

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