DESCRIPTION:
Veteran blues guitarist Charlie Snuggs and bassist Butch Bowen play this Albert King classic, captured as part of a live webcast from Star Tavern, Little River, SC on July 8, 2014.

"Crosscut Saw", or "Cross Cut Saw Blues" as it was first called, is a bawdy blues song that probably belongs to the general repertoire of the Delta blues. It was first released in 1941 by Mississippi bluesman Tommy McClennan and has since been interpreted by many blues artists. "Crosscut Saw" became an early R&B chart hit for Albert King who made it one of the necessary pieces of modern blues;.

Tommy McClennan's original version "Cross Cut Saw Blues" is a Delta-style blues, which McClennan sings and plays acoustic guitar with an unknown player providing imitation bass accompaniment. The lyrics are rife with double-entendre:

Now, I'm a cross cut saw, drag me 'cross yo' log
I'm a cross cut saw, and drag me across yo' log
Babe, I'll cut yo' wood so easy, you can't help say "hot dog"

The song follows the classic twelve-bar blues progression, contrary to Big Bill Broonzy's characterization of McClennan's timing as "change from E to A to B when you feel like changing. Any time will do. Just close your eyes."

In 1966, Albert King recorded his version calling it "Crosscut Saw". The same lyrics as McClennan's "Cross Cut Saw Blues" were used, except for two verses which were replaced by guitar solos. However, King uses a different arrangement based on an Afro-Cuban rhythm pattern, similar to that of his 1962 song "I Get Evil". Backing King is the Stax Records' house band, Booker T. & the MG's. The song was a success, reaching No. 34 in the Billboard R&B chart. It was included on King's Born Under a Bad Sign album, which "became one of the most popular and influential blues albums of the late '60s". The song remained in his repertoire throughout his career and several live versions were issued.
In 1964, R. G. Ford, a Memphis attorney, produced a single of "Cross Cut Saw" by a local group, the Binghamton Blues Boys, on his own East Side Records. The single was only distributed in Memphis. Although the single credits the song to "Group", it is Ford's (who died in the late '60s) name (and sometimes the group members' names) that appear on Albert King's (and some other) releases.

Song information courtesy Wikipedia.