in Memphis, with the house band, Booker T. & the MG's. Group drummer Al Jackson Jr. has been identified as the one primarily responsible for bringing the song to Stax and King as well as giving it a Latin (Afro-Cuban) beat. Stax released it as a single, which reached number 34 in the Billboard R&B chart. It is included on King's Born Under a Bad Sign album, which "became one of the most popular and influential blues albums of the late '60s". The song remained in his repertoire throughout his career and several live recordings have been released on albums, such as Thursday Night in San Francisco (1990). Songwriter credits Bluebird Records listed "Tommy McClennan" as the songwriter on the 1941 original 78 record, but there is no indication that it was copyrighted. In 1964, R. G. Ford, a Memphis attorney, produced a single of "Cross Cut Saw" by a local group, the Binghamton Blues Boys, on his own East Side Records. The single was only distributed in Memphis and lists "Group" as the author. However, a copyright registration was filed by Ford, and it is his name (and sometimes the group members' names) that appears as the songwriter on Albert King's and most subsequent releases. This has led some commentators to misleadingly refer to "Crosscut Saw" as "the R. G. Ford song" and ignores the song's origins. Recognition In 2018, "Cross Cut Saw" was inducted into the Blues Foundation Blues Hall of Fame as a "classic of blues recording". In its announcement, the Foundation notes the song's "complicated evolution", but adds that King's version made it a popular blues standard with blues musicians. French music historian Gérard Herzhaft adds "it is Albert King (Stax 201 on 2 November 1966) who made it one of the necessary pieces of modern blues". Perone notes that King's frequent performances at rock venues also made it a blues rock staple, with recordings by Eric Clapton (Money and Cigarettes, 1983) and Stevie Ray Vaughan (SRV, 2000). References 1941 songs 1967 singles Albert King songs Eric Clapton songs Stevie Ray Vaughan songs Blues songs Hokum blues songs Songwriter unknown Bluebird Records singles