Death Letter Blues

Single by Aaron Levin Harder / Released May 10, 2021

After recording the material that would eventually end up to be included on the Blues Done Let Me Dyin EP, Aaron Levin Harder partially recorded what was supposed to be his first full-length studio album titled ‘The Blues’ one day after on May 10, 2017. Of the 3 tracks recorded, one is an introductional monologue, and two cover-versions of essential songs from Son House. The 12-minute monologue presents Harder’s own experiences and his personal opinion on what the blues ultimately is, of which few excerpts have been already released of as segues on the mixtape I Am: The Ultimate Blues Experience. The two Son House-covers are Harder’s complete take of “Death Letter Blues”, which for the first time includes most of the known verses to have been performed by Son House, and his first and only recording of “Forever On My Mind”, which is a partial and slightly altered version of House’s “Levee Camp Moan” as he himself performed it. The tracks were recorded in the same order as they would have appeared on the album, which was originally meant to be comprised of rewritten and musically reworked versions of Harder’s most frequently performed covers alongside few other songs, before the concept of the album was eventually changed to contain regular covers with the same lyrics and music as the original songs. On the same day, Harder recorded additional guitar tracks which would be used few days later to create the instrumental remix of “I Would Die 4 U”, some tryouts, and an instrumental version of “Money Don’t Matter Tonight” titled “Whatever”. After focusing on the recording of new material and then eventually losing focus on music later on the following year, where both releases of Another Night Alone and Blues Done Let Me Dyin did not come to fruition, Harder eventually abandoned the ‘The Blues’-project entirely with only 3 tracks recorded.

‘Death Letter Blues’ is the ninth stand-alone single by Aaron Levin Harder released as part of The Aaron Levin Harder Legacy-release project, and presents the only two songs Harder recorded for his ‘The Blues’ album, which are crucial recordings of significant importance in Harder’s previously unreleased catalogue in their own right, independent from the album. The single features Harder’s definitive version of Son House’s “Death Letter Blues”, and his previously unreleased rendition of “Forever On My Mind” as the single’s virtual B-Side, both finally receiving their official release on the 4th anniversary of their recording.

An 8-track maxi-single of ‘Death Letter Blues’ is exclusively available here through our website for digital download only, including both tracks from the regular single along with all previously released versions of “Death Letter Blues”, the introductory monologue from the 2017 Studio Version not available on the regular single, a previously unreleased excerpt of the spoken-word intro “Monologue” from the unreleased ‘The Blues’ album, and an exclusive music video of “Death Letter Blues” as performed by Harder live on October 21, 2016, edited from the concert film Another Night Alone exclusively for this release. Additionally, the download includes complete artwork with front- and back cover, as well as a 12-page digital booklet.

---

Tracklist

Guitar and vocals performed by Aaron Levin Harder
Recorded and produced by Aaron Levin Harder
¹Audio recording by audience
^{2 3}Recorded and produced by Aldtie Mann
³Visual produced by ALH Music for Purple Eternity Records
³Visual recorded by P. Harder, H. Thiemann
³Executively directed, and executively produced by ALH
³Video cut, and edit by ALH
Produced by ALH Music for Purple Eternity Records

^{*℗ 2019, 2020, 2021 Purple Eternity Records. All rights reserved. © 2019 Purple Eternity Records. All rights reserved.}

^{℗&© 2021 Purple Eternity Records. All rights reserved.}

---

Download*

*The download of our releases provided through this website is part of our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Before you advance to download, make sure to read both articles. Choose below in which format you would like to download the files. This service is provided “as is”, and therefore excludes any kind of warranty. We reserve the right to also withdraw the availability of this service and discontinue the distribution of our digital downloads at any time.

Features:

• 8-track maxi-single ‘Death Letter Blues’
• Exclusive music video of “Death Letter Blues (Live in Berlin – October 21, 2016)”
• 12-page digital booklet
• Complete artwork with front- and back cover