They're Red Hot

"They're Red Hot" is a song originally performed and written by blues musician Robert Johnson. It is one of very few songs recorded by the bluesman that is not based around twelve bar blues, instead being based on a common ragtime chord progression. Unlike some other Johnson songs, only one recording of this song exists.

It was also performed by the Red Hot Chili Peppers on their 1991 album Blood Sugar Sex Magik. The band recorded this song outside of The Mansion on top of a hill at two in the morning, as seen in the 1992 documentary Funky Monks. The song is available for download for the Rock Band series, being one of the shortest and most difficult.

The song has also been covered by Eric Clapton, featured on his 2004 homage to Johnson, Me and Mr. Johnson. American jazz vocalist Cassandra Wilson recorded her own version on her album Belly of the Sun. However, the song appeared under the title "Hot Tamales". Richie Kotzen has his version of this song on his Bipolar Blues album. The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain performs a version of this song on their DVD Anarchy in the Ukulele under the title, "Hot Tamales, They're Red Hot".

Hugh Laurie covered the song on his 2011 album "Let Them Talk".

Andrew Bird uses the structure of this song in one of his own, Cock O' the Walk, which appeared on the 1998 album Thrills, under the band name Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire.

The song "All By Myself," originally performed by Fats Domino in the fifties, bears some lyrical resemblance to Johnson's song. There is also another early rock and roll number, written by Billy Lee Riley, titled simply "Red Hot." This version contains lyrics that are very similar to the song by Robert Johnson, with the most obvious difference being the chorus, which goes "my gal is red hot / your gal ain't doodley squat." These songs may be homages to Johnson's song or simply revised adaptations rewritten to appeal to the early rock and roll fan base (another example of this being Carl Perkins' "Matchbox," a popular adaptation of Blind Lemon Jefferson's "Matchbox Blues," for which Perkins gave Jefferson no authorship credit). However, Johnson's songs were not generally available until 1961, so these other songs may have drawn from a common source that may also have influenced Johnson.