In October 2024, Sturgill Simpson played a sizzling cover of William Bell’s “You Don’t Miss Your Water.”
In addition to his classic original version, William Bell’s “You Don’t Miss Your Water” has been covered by artists such as Otis Redding, Gram Parsons, The Byrds, Percy Sledge, and more recently Sturgill Simpson. Not a bad group.
“You Don’t Miss Your Water” is one of the great heartache songs. The song recounts how we often do not appreciate our lovers until they are gone. The singer explains, “But now that you left me / Oh, how I cried out, I keep crying / You don’t miss your water ’til your well run dry.”
The live performance below by Sturgill Simpson (aka Johnny Blue Skies) is from October 25, 2024. Check it out.
Recently, Sturgill Simpson brought out a horn section for his performance at Paradiso in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Fortunately, rialto1961 did a great job of recording a large portion of the show in black and white before posting it on YouTube.
In this segment of the show from September 26, 2016, Simpson performs a number of originals and covers. The video includes: “Water in a Well,” “Long White Line,” “When the Levee Breaks” (Led Zeppelin cover), “I Never Go Around Mirrors” (Keith Whitley cover), “The Promise” (When in Rome cover), “You Don’t Miss Your Water” (William Bell cover), “Sea Stories,” and “In Bloom: (Nirvana cover).
Check out the video below.
What is your favorite Sturgill Simpson song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Although Sturgill Simpson’s voice is most often compared to Waylon Jennings, his choice in music often connects him to a wide variety of artists. So it was pretty cool recently to see he had performed “You Don’t Miss Your Water” live.
“You Don’t Miss Your Water” was written by William Bell, who released his own version of the song on Stax Records in 1961. Most people, however, may be familiar with Otis Redding‘s version that appeared on his 1965 album Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul.
Sturgill Simpson, however, is not the first person to take the soul song into country territory. The Byrds covered the song on Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968), with Roger McGuinn doing lead vocal work on the official release even though Gram Parsons had originally recorded the lead.
With such a rich history, a lot of people still do not know the song. So, it was great to see that Simpson performed “You Don’t Miss Your Water” at First Avenue in Minneapolis on Sunday, June 5, 2016. Check it out.
“You Don’t Miss Your Water” is a heartbreak song. The singer explains how how he took his lover for granted, but then he only realized what he had when the lover left: “You don’t miss your water/’Till your well runs dry.” It is a perfect song for both soul and country artists.
.
(2016).