Mississippi Queen

Album

Climbing!

Label

Windfall Records

Genre

Southern Rock

Composer(s)

Leslie West;Lawrence Laing;Felix Pappalardi;David Rea

Entered Chart

Apr 4, 1970

Peak Date

Jul 11, 1970

Released

February 1970

Recorded

1969–1970

Catalog #

Windfall 532

B-Side

The Laird

Mountain guitarist Leslie West explained how "Mississippi Queen" came together: "When Corky (Laing, drummer) brought me the idea, it was a one-chord dance song. We got real high, took out a napkin, and I came up with the main riff and the chords. Then we fit the words over the sound." Laing says of the song: "I was madly in love with The Band, and I decided to put a 'Cripple Creek' feel behind it. Later on, I told Levon Helm that I felt bad about ripping him off, but he said that he didn't hear any similarity between the two songs, and that we didn't owe them any money!" Corky Laing started working on this song with David Rea, who was a friend of the band and frequent collaborator - he and Mountain bass player Felix Pappalardi were in Ian & Sylvia's band. The only Mississippi city mentioned in the song is Vicksburg, which according to Rea is because that's what he came up with when Laing asked him if he knew any towns in the state. Vicksburg is a small city on the Mississippi River known as the site of a famous Civil War battle in 1863. The song is about a seductive woman who teaches the singer a thing or two about the ways of love, but with the success of "Proud Mary" a year earlier, it almost sounds like this could be another song about a riverboat. In 1976, the "Mississippi Queen" riverboat was put into service by the Delta Queen company, taking its last cruise in 2008. This is one of the most famous cowbell songs of all time, but the band didn't envision the instrument in the song. In a Songfacts interview with Leslie West, he explained: "The cowbell in the beginning was just in there because Felix wanted Corky to count the song off. So we used the cowbell to count it off - it wasn't put in there on purpose. And it became the quintessential cowbell song." Mississippi is a special place for Leslie West not only because of this song, but because it's where he had part of his leg amputated. On June 18, 2011, the day after playing a show at the Hard Rock Cafe in Biloxi, West's right leg began to swell and he was taken to the emergency room in a Biloxi hospital, where it was amputated below the knee to save his life (West is diabetic). West told Songfacts: "When I play 'Mississippi Queen' now, I think about Jesus Christ. Of all places to lose my leg, it was Mississippi." TV, movie and video game uses of this song include: The title of a episode of the anime series Cowboy Bebop The Simpsons in the 1996 "Homerpalooza" episode The Dukes of Hazzard movie in 2005 Guitar Hero III in 2007 Rock Band in 2007 The Expendables movie in 2010 Regular Show in "Weekend at Benson's," 2012 This was used in a popular commercial for Miller Genuine Draft beer where some guys traveling in a jungle open a bottle of the beer to magically freeze the body of water separating them from some lovely ladies who beckon. This song got a music video for the first time on Aug 27, 2020, when Mountain posted a collage-style animated clip on YouTube.

Mississippi Queen
You know what I mean
Mississippi Queen
She taught me everything

Went down around Vicksburg
Around Louisiana way
Where lived the Cajun Lady
Aboard the Mississippi Queen

You know she was a dancer
She moved better on wine

While the rest of them dudes were gettin' their kicks
Boy, I beg your pardon, I was gettin' mine

Mississippi Queen
If you know what I mean
Mississippi Queen
She taught me everything

This lady she asked me
If I would be her man
You know that I told her
I'd do what I can

To keep her lookin' pretty
Buy her dresses that shine

While the rest of them dudes were makin' their friends
Boy, I beg your pardon, I was loosin' mine

You know she was a dancer
She moved better on wine

While the rest of them dudes were gettin' their kicks
Boy, I beg your pardon, I was gettin' mine

Yeah, Mississippi Queen