Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out is a blues standard written by Jimmy Cox in 1923. It tells of a former millionaire who loses his fortune and finds that friends disappear when you're down and out. The song was first recorded in 1927 by Bobby Leecan as Blind Bobby Baker, with different lyrics, and was popularized in 1929 by Bessie Smith, who recorded it in New York and released it as a Columbia single on September 13, 1929, with the B-side Take It Right Back. It is a moderate tempo blues with ragtime influences. The lyrics captured the mood of the late 1920s and the onset of the Great Depression, and the tune has since been interpreted by many artists across genres. A famous later version is Eric Clapton with Derek and the Dominos on Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970).
