It's interesting, or it least it can be interesting, to compare how two different artists approach the same song. Bromberg's never been a rock star, but he does do a kind of rock 'n' roll take on the Bessie Smith standard. Washington is more laid back, tailoring the song for Eisenhower era sophisticates. Of course no matter how you slice it, the song is still a jilted lover's gleeful confession of murder and begging to be executed. They both honor that fact, as it were.
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These are both great versions of that song by a couple of fabulous performers.
I happened across a NY Times article from 1912 where a woman demanded the judge not pay attention to her lawyer and instead, send her to the electric chair. I wonder if that's where Bessie Smith got the idea.
No argument to the first point.
I wonder if there was some kind of prestige to being the first among your circle of friends to get the chair. Anyway, it's a darkly funny story. I could see it inspiring a song.
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