Many music writers believe that it was written by Joe Medwick,[2] although Duke owner Don Robey (using the pseudonym "Deadric Malone") appears on the songwriting credits.
[2] He regularly sold his completed songs to Duke owner Robey for small sums, along with any claim for the songwriting credit.
[4] Blues historian David Evans calls Bland, "the picture of utter humiliation in this frightening outburst, sounding like he is going to do harm to himself or someone else.
[5] As one of his most successful songs, it appears on numerous compilation albums, such as Bobby Bland: I Pity the Fool – The Duke Recordings, Vol.
Jimmy Page was Talmy's regular session musician and he played the guitar solo on "I Pity the Fool".
[8] The B-side, "Take My Tip" was the first song written by David Bowie (then known and credited as Davie Jones) to be released on record.
The re-release by See For Miles in 1982 took the edge off a collector's market since EMI's March 1979 reissue disappeared almost as quickly as it had arrived.