[3] McClennan, who sings and plays acoustic guitar, and an unknown bass player, recorded the song at the RCA Studio A in Chicago on September 15, 1941.

In part, it is this combination of lightness, extensive wide string bending, and subtle gritty distortion that helped to give King sound that was easily identifiable.

[9] 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.

[11] 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).

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.

[10] 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".