"One Way Out" is a blues song first recorded and released in the early-mid-1960s by Sonny Boy Williamson II and Elmore James, an R&B hit under a different name for G.L. Crockett (who also recorded as "G. Davy Crockett") in the mid-1960s, and then popularized to rock audiences in the early 1970s and onward by The Allman Brothers Band.
As with many blues songs, the history of "One Way Out" falls into murk. It seems to have been originally at Beltone Studios in New York City in late 1960 or early 1961, as part of James' Fire/Fury/Enjoy recording sessions. It features a full band arrangement with a four-piece horn section, but a completely different melody from later versions. James appears not to have released it at that time.
Instead, Sonny Boy Williamson II reworked and recorded it for Chess Records in Chicago in September 1961, releasing it shortly thereafter. He would then return and re-record a different working of it in September 1963, again for Chess in Chicago, this time with Buddy Guy on guitar and Lafayette Leake on piano. The two efforts were substantially different, with while has the vamp and arrangement that would become familiar with the Allman Brothers' rendition.
Subsequently, the initial Elmore James version of "One Way Out" was posthumously released in 1965, using it as the B-side of his single "My Bleeding Heart" for Sphere Sound Records. But by now, the song was associated with Sonny Boy not him.
Writing credits for "One Way Out" have varied over the years, with some recordings crediting Sonny Boy alone, then others giving Marshall Sehorn and Elmore James the nod, and finally some naming all three. Furthermore, Sehorn was a recording engineer, record producer, and all-around "record man" at Fire/Fury Records in New York, who likely engaged in the then-common practice of adding himself onto composer credits of songs that he was not actually involved in writing, to get a cut of subsequent royalties. And of course no confusion is complete without mentioning that there are two different Sonny Boy Williamsons − I and II; "One Way Out" pertains to the second one.
Whatever its origins, the song's narrative captures the classic tale of a man having an affair with another man's woman in an upstairs apartment. Another man shows up downstairs, and an alternate exit route must be found.
Ain't but one way out baby, Lord I just can't go out the door
Ain't but one way out baby, and Lord I just can't go out the door!
'Cause there's a man down there, might be your old man ... I don't know.
Returning to the original title, The Allman Brothers Band demonstrated their abilities in the blues-rock roadhouse style. Guitarist Dickey Betts sets up the Sonny Boy Williamson boogie vamp, while Duane Allman comes in over the top with bottleneck slide guitar part, after which vocalist Gregg Allman narrates the drama of the song. Betts takes a solo, Gregg instructs the audience "Ahh, put your hands together," and Duane Allman and Betts trade guitar licks. Duane Allman then takes the solo. Bassist Berry Oakley actually comes in a beat early after the guitar trade, but the band recovers quickly, and then drops out as Gregg carries the vocal a cappella, after which the band returns for the "Big Ending".
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