Happy Halloween, everybody! In the spirit of the holiday, here’s a bonus track to listen to while you’re carving Jack-o’-Lanterns. It’s a little ghost story about someone who ignores the old maxim that you can’t go home again. He decides that he can . . . from the grave . . . and scares the hell out of his neighbors in the process.

Musically, even I won’t argue that this is rock and roll. It’s straight Americana; an acoustic blues-meets-Western swing hybrid with plenty of nods to some classic songs in both genres. I’m posting it here because it is do-it-yourself, and because Halloween music is such an interesting thing. When I was a college radio DJ, putting together my annual Halloween show was always a blast.

Everyone knows Monster Mash and Thriller, but there’s a ton of macabre music out there. Heck, you could have a great playlist of Halloween-appropriate music featuring only John Fogerty/Creedence Clearwater Revival (I Put a Spell on You, Bad Moon Rising, Wicked Old Witch, Haunted House, Eye of the Zombie, Graveyard Train, Sinister Purpose, Tombstone Shadow, Walk on the Water, Born on the Bayou, Gloomy, It Came Out of the Sky). (In addition to being a killer songwriter and guitarist, Fogerty seems to enjoy recording music with a bit of an eerie tinge).

As a Halloween tune, Zombie Blues probably harkens back to an earlier generation of spooky tracks. Give a listen to early gems like Bessie Smith’s Haunted House Blues, Famous Hokum Boys’ Black Cat Rag, Ma Rainey’s Black Cat Hoot Owl Blues, and Merline Johnson’s Black Ghost Blues.

Since this isn’t a full DIY rock experiment, I won’t do my usual musical how-I-did-it autopsy (keeping with the Halloween theme here). But for anyone curious, here’s the gear on this one:

• Acoustic Guitars: 1936 National Duolian Resonator Guitar (this is the guitar at the very start of the song, after the count-in it’s mixed to the left; this guitar is discussed more here); 2020 Martin D-28 (mixed to right channel)
• Slide Guitar (pictured below): It’s a cheap cigar box lap steel that my dad and I got from a guy on Ebay who made it himself. It originally came with a piezo style pickup and it sounded horrendous. About a year ago, my dad completely rebuilt it with a cheap P-90 kit from C.B. Gitty. Of all my guitars, it’s the one that gets the most compliments and comments at shows. I tuned it to open D here and played it with a heavy glass slide. It’s going straight into a Carr Super Bee with just a tiny bit of delay from an MXR Carbon Copy Mini.
• Bass: My usual setup.
• Percussion: This is the second recording featuring my Yamaha FGDP-50 finger drum pad. I also snapped and clapped, but not at the same time because that would be preternatural.

Zombie Blues Lyrics:

Freddie died in the morning, that evening he went downtown
Freddie died in the morning, that evening he went downtown
Scared the hell of Bobby, who was over by the bowling ground
[Ah, he sure did!]

Bobby called the Sheriff, said “think you best bring your men”
Bobby called the Sheriff, said “think you best bring your men”
Sheriff said, “Bobby, I’ll put you in the drunk tank again”

When Sherriff saw Freddie, couldn’t believe his natural eyes
Sherriff saw Freddie, couldn’t believe his natural eyes
Said, “hey, Freddie, I thought you’d upped and died”

[Lap steel solo]

Sheriff took Freddie, put him in a lonesome cell,
Sheriff took Freddie, and he put him in a lonesome cell,
But Freddie blew prison, faster than he left hell
[Aw, and that’s fast!]

You got the death letter blues just sitting ’round your old town
You got the death letter blues sitting ’round your old town
Read the P.S., you might come back around

[Lap steel solo]

If you catch the doggone Zombie, if you catch the doggone Zombie
You catch the doggone Zombie blues
You might find yourself on the evening news
[Scaring everybody!]

[Lap steel solos]

Bonus: If you enjoyed this little dose of holiday music and are looking to get ready for the next one, check out my playlist of Thanksgiving music!