 ARC and Vocalion Records issued the first take of " Cross Road Blues " in May 1937 on the then standard 78 rpm record . The single , with its flip side " Ramblin ' on My Mind " , sold poorly . The song remained out of print after its initial release until The Complete Recordings box set in 1990 . The second take was released in 1961 , when producer Frank Driggs substituted it for the original on Johnson 's first long @-@ playing record album compilation King of the Delta Blues Singers . This take was also included on the 1990 Complete Recordings ( at 2 : 29 , it is : 10 shorter than the original 2 : 39 single version ) . 
