Petway is based entirely on the recording date of his version of the song, but it cannot establish that his version was the original and the source of later versions. There is speculation that Tommy McClennan wrote the song, as he himself recorded it as "Deep Blues Sea". David "Honeyboy" Edwards (a follower of Petway's), asked if Petway wrote the song, replied, "He just made that song up and used to play it at them old country dances. He just made it up and kept it in his head." In his autobiography, Edwards also remembered the Delta blues guitarist Tom Toy, from Leland, Mississippi, who apparently was well known locally for his version of "Catfish Blues". Toy never recorded. The second verse of Petway's "Catfish Blues" is as follows: The first verse of Muddy Waters's "Rollin' Stone" has similar lyrics: Disappearance and death There is no record, official or unofficial, of Petway's death. The last record of his public life is a quote from Honeyboy Edwards: "nobody I know heard what become of him." In his autobiography, Edwards stated that he had heard that Petway may have moved to Chicago, where Edwards himself lived, but that he never met him there. Discography Petway only recorded two sessions, both for Bluebird Records in Chicago. Original 78s (in chronological order) References External links [ Robert Petway] at Allmusic Catfish Blues (Origins of a Blues) By Max Haymes 1900s births Year of death unknown American blues singers Blues musicians from Mississippi Songwriters from Mississippi Bluebird Records artists People from Wilcox County, Alabama American blues guitarists American male guitarists Singers from Chicago People from Yazoo City, Mississippi People from Yazoo County, Mississippi 20th-century American guitarists Songwriters from Illinois Songwriters from Alabama Guitarists from Alabama Guitarists from Chicago Guitarists from Mississippi Delta blues musicians African-American male songwriters African-American guitarists 20th-century African-American male singers