Broonzy had written this protest song, which addressed the experiences of black war vets and the painful issue of preferential treatment by gradations of skin color, in 1945 and had offered it to RCA Victor, Columbia, Decca and several of the newly formed independent record companies, but none of them wanted to record it. As a result Big Bill had to wait until 1951 before he could record the song commercially in Europe for a white and overseas audience. In the US it took until after his death in 1958 to be released (as "Get Back"). In the meantime Broonzy was singing the song in public so other artists were able to learn it and it was Brownie McGhee who first released it in 1948.