"Back Door Man" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon and recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1961. It was released by Chess Records as the B-side to Wolf's "Wang Dang Doodle" (catalog no. 1777). The song is considered a classic of Chicago blues.

Lyrics [link]

In southern culture, the phrase "back-door man" refers to a man having an affair with a married woman, using the back door as an exit before the husband comes home.^[1] "When everybody trying to sleep, I'm somewhere making my midnight creep / Every morning the rooster crow, something tell me I got to go / I am a back door man," Wolf sings. The promiscuous "back-door man" is a standard theme found in many blues, including those by Charley Patton, Lightnin' Hopkins, Blind Willie McTell and Sara Martin: "every sensible woman got a back-door man," Martin wrote in "Strange Loving Blues" (1925).^[2] Robert Plant references the Dixon song in Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" (1969): "Shake for me girl, I want to be your back-door man."^{[3][dead link]} The phrase "back-door man" dates from the 1920s, but the term became a double entendre in the 1960s, also meaning "man who practices anal intercourse."^[4]

Music [link]

The song was recorded in Chicago in June 1960 by Howlin' Wolf (vocals), Otis Spann (piano), Hubert Sumlin and Freddy Robinson (guitars), Willie Dixon (double bass), and Fred Below (drums).^[5] The chord progression in the refrain of the song, similar to that found in Bo Diddley's "I'm A Man" (1955), John Lee Hooker's "I'm Mad (Again)" (1957), and Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man" (1954), dates back to work songs sung during the construction of train tracks.^[6] "Back Door Man" was included on the 1962 Wolf compilation album Howlin' Wolf. He re-recorded the song in November 1968 and it appeared on The Howlin' Wolf Album.

The Doors version [link]

The Doors recorded a rock version of the "Back Door Man" for their eponymous debut album. The "door" of the song, like the name of the band, suggests a Blakean symbol of perception, with an awareness of the 1960s Queer-culture double entendre, giving the expression an additional layer of meaning.^[8] The Doors' drummer John Densmore described the song as "deeply sexual and got everyone moving."^[9] The song also appears on The Doors' live album Absolutely Live (1970).

Other versions [link]

The song has also been recorded by Guy Mitchell, Chicken Shack, Blues Project, Shadows of Knight, Bob Weir, Sam Gopal, T-Model Ford, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Soul Asylum fronted by Iggy Pop at the opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Frank Marino, of the band Mahogany Rush, recorded it on Mahogany Rush Live. The song's author Willie Dixon recorded it for his 1970 album I Am The Blues. In 1984, "Back Door Man" was also covered by Viktor Lazlo. Eric Burdon performed it during his tour with ex-Doors-guitarist Robby Krieger in 1990/91.

The nickname "Back Door Man" was also attached to Dick Cheney while serving as White House Chief of Staff for Gerald Ford. The moniker is alleged to be in reference to Cheney's handling of Congressional negotiations and his aptitude for achieving his aims through often opaque means.^[10]

References [link]