The song made Arnold a star, and was widely adapted by artists in the blues, Western swing and rock idioms.
It is also found in "Mean Tight Mama" by Sarah Martin in 1928:[1] and in "My Black Mama Part 1" by Son House in 1930,[1] also in a four-line verse, but one formed by repetition: Arnold uses basically two melodic structures, according to the number of lines in a verse.
The earliest documented recording of a song titled "Milk Cow Blues" was by Freddie Spruell in 1926.
Lyrically, it shares with the Kokomo Arnold song: Robert Johnson recorded a version of Sleepy John Estes' song, re-titled "Milkcow's Calf Blues", at his last recording session on June 20, 1937.
Elvis Presley, on guitar, accompanied by Scotty Moore on guitar and Bill Black on double bass, recorded a rockabilly version retitled "Milkcow Blues Boogie" at Sun Records in November or December 1954.
[7] Elvis begins the song as a slow ballad, then adds a spoken interlude by halting after the first four lines: "Hold it, fellas!