Hunter sang it during her engagement at the Dreamland Cafe, in Chicago, where she performed with Joe "King" Oliver's band.

[1] Blues singer Bessie Smith recorded the song with piano accompaniment by Clarence Williams.

[2] It was released as her first single (backed with "Gulf Coast Blues") and 780,000 copies were sold in the first six months.

[3] One historian noted that "sales through the years plus the bootlegging of her discs must have made it a million seller".

"[6] In 2001, the Recording Industry Association of America, with the National Endowment for the Arts, included it at number 315 in the list of the Top 365 "Songs of the Century".