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{{Short description|Blues standard popularized by Muddy Waters}}
{{Infobox single <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Songs -->
{{Infobox song
| Name = Roll and Tumble Blues
| Cover = Roll and Tumble Blues single cover.jpg
| name = Roll and Tumble Blues
| Artist = [[Hambone Willie Newbern]]
| cover = Roll and Tumble Blues single cover.jpg
| artist = [[Hambone Willie Newbern]]
| B-side = "Nobody Knows What the Good Deacon Says"
| Released = {{Start date|1929}}
| type = single
| released = {{Start date|1929}}
| Format = [[Gramophone record|10" 78 rpm record]]
| Recorded = March 14, 1929, Atlanta, Georgia
| recorded = March 14, 1929, Atlanta, Georgia
| Genre = [[Blues]]
| genre = [[Blues]]
| writer = Unknown (Newbern credited on single)
| Length = {{Duration|m=3|s=03}}
| length = 3:03
| Label = [[Okeh Records|Okeh]] <small>(no. 8679)</small>
| label = [[Okeh Records|Okeh]]
}}
}}

"'''Rollin' and Tumblin''''" (or "'''Roll and Tumble Blues'''") is a [[blues]] song first recorded by American singer/guitarist [[Hambone Willie Newbern]] in 1929. Called a "great [[Delta blues]] classic", it has been interpreted by hundreds of Delta and Chicago blues artists, including well-known recordings by [[Muddy Waters]].<ref>
"'''Rollin' and Tumblin''''" (or "'''Roll and Tumble Blues'''") is a [[blues standard]] first recorded by American singer-guitarist [[Hambone Willie Newbern]] in 1929.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Deep Blues|first=Robert |last=Palmer|year=1981|author-link=Robert Palmer (American writer)|publisher=[[Penguin Books]]|page=[https://archive.org/details/deepblues00palm/page/123 123]|isbn=978-0-14-006223-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/deepblues00palm/page/123}}</ref> Called a "great [[Delta blues]] classic", it has been interpreted by hundreds of Delta and Chicago blues artists, including well-known recordings by [[Muddy Waters]].<ref>
{{cite encyclopedia
{{Cite encyclopedia
| last = Herzhaft
| last = Herzhaft
| first = Gerard
| encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of the Blues
| first = Gerard
| encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of the Blues
| title = Rollin' and Tumblin'
| title = Rollin' and Tumblin'
| year = 1992
| year = 1992
| publisher = [[University of Arkansas]] Press
| location = Fayetteville, Arkansas
| publisher = [[University of Arkansas Press]]
| isbn = 1-55728-252-8
| isbn = 1-55728-252-8
| page = 468
| page = 468
}}</ref> "Rollin' and Tumblin'" has also been refashioned by a variety of rock-oriented artists.
}}</ref> Rock musicians usually follow Waters' versions, with the 1960s group [[Cream (band)|Cream]]'s rendition being perhaps the best known.


==Original song==
==Original song==
Hambone Willie Newbern recorded "Roll and Tumble Blues" on March 14, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia for [[Okeh Records]]. It shares several elements of "Minglewood Blues", first recorded in 1928 by [[Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers]].<ref name="Obrecht">
[[Hambone Willie Newbern]] recorded "Roll and Tumble Blues" on March 14, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia for [[Okeh Records]]. It shares several elements of "Minglewood Blues", first recorded in 1928 by [[Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers]].<ref name="Obrecht">
{{cite web
{{Cite web
| url = http://jasobrecht.com/rollin-tumblin-story-song
| url = http://jasobrecht.com/rollin-tumblin-story-song
| title = Rollin' and Tumblin': The Story of a Song
| title= Rollin' and Tumblin': The Story of a Song
| last = Obrecht
| last = Obrecht
| first = Jas
| first = Jas
| website = Jas Obrecht Music Archive
| website = Jas Obrecht Music Archive
| accessdate = August 19, 2013
| access-date = August 19, 2013
}}</ref> Newbern's "Roll and Tumble Blues" is a solo piece with his vocal and slide-guitar accompaniment.
}}</ref> Newbern's "Roll and Tumble Blues" is a solo piece with his vocal and slide-guitar accompaniment.


The song is performed in the key of A using an open tuning and an irregular number of bars.
The song is performed in the key of A using an open tuning and an irregular number of bars
<ref name=Titon>
<ref name=Titon>
{{cite book
{{Cite book
| last = Titon
| last = Titon
| first = Jeff Todd
| first = Jeff Todd
| authorlink = Jeff Todd Titon
| author-link = Jeff Todd Titon
| title = Early Downhome Blues: A Musical and Cultural Analysis
| title = Early Downhome Blues: A Musical and Cultural Analysis
| url = https://archive.org/details/earlydownhomeblu00tito
| year = 1978
| url-access = registration
| publisher = [[University of Illinois]] Press
| year = 1978
| isbn =
| publisher = [[University of Illinois Press]]
| pages = 121–122
| pages = [https://archive.org/details/earlydownhomeblu00tito/page/121 121]–122
}}</ref> The tempo varies from an initial 140 beats per minute to a final 158 bpm.<ref name="Titon"/> A key feature of the song is that the first verse begins on the IV chord, rather than on the more usual I chord (e.g., in the key of A this would be the D chord rather than the A chord). After the first two measures the IV chord resolves to the I chord. Often the IV chord moves to IV♭7 on the second measure or the last two beats of the second measure.<ref name="Obrecht"/>
| isbn = 9780252007781
}}</ref> with an additional bar and a half at the end of each phrase. The tempo varies from an initial 140 beats per minute to a final 158 bpm.<ref name="Titon"/> A key feature of the song is that the first verse begins on the IV chord, rather than on the more usual I chord (e.g., in the key of A this would be the D chord rather than the A chord).<ref name="Komara"/> After the first two measures the IV chord resolves to the I chord. Often the IV chord moves to IV♭7 on the second measure or the last two beats of the second measure.<ref name="Obrecht"/>


The lyrics follow a standard blues AAB pattern and relate a failed relationship:
The lyrics follow a standard blues AAB pattern and relate a failed relationship:
{{poemquote|And I rolled and I tumbled and I cried the whole night long (2×)

And I rose this mornin' mama and I didn't know right from wrong{{nbsp}}...
<blockquote><poem>And I rolled and I tumbled and I cried the whole night long (2×)
And I rose this mornin' mama and I didn't know right from wrong...
And I fold my arms lord and I walked away (2×)
And I fold my arms lord and I walked away (2×)
Said "that's all right sweet mama your trouble gon' come some day"{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}</poem></blockquote>
Said "that's all right sweet mama your trouble gon' come some day"}}


"Roll and Tumble Blues" is one of six songs Newbern recorded during his only recording session. It was released before the advent of [[race record]]s charts, however, it soon became "an oft-covered standard"<ref>
"Roll and Tumble Blues" is one of six songs Newbern recorded during his only recording session. It was released before the advent of [[race record]]s charts, however, it soon became "an oft-covered standard"<ref>
{{cite web
{{Cite web
| url = http://www.allmusic.com/artist/hambone-willie-newbern-mn0000661827/biography
| last = Ankeny
| last = Ankeny
| first = Jason
| first = Jason
| title = Hambone Willie Newbern—Artist Biography
| title = Hambone Willie Newbern: Artist Biography
| work = [[Allmusic]]
| website = [[AllMusic]]
| publisher = Rovi Corp.
| access-date = August 19, 2013
| url = http://www.allmusic.com/artist/hambone-willie-newbern-mn0000661827/biography
}}</ref> and Newbern's best-known song. In 1929, [[Okeh Records]] issued the song on a [[78 rpm record]], backed with "Nobody Knows What the Good Deacon Says".
| accessdate = August 19, 2013
}}</ref> and Newbern's best-known song.


==Renditions==
==Blues renditions==
===Robert Johnson===
Other bluesmen recorded their own versions—such as "If I Had Possession over Judgment Day" by [[Robert Johnson]] in 1936,<ref>
[[Robert Johnson]] adapted "Rollin' and Tumblin'" with the title "If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day" during his third recording session in San Antonio, Texas, in 1936.<ref>
{{cite book
{{Cite book
| last = Wald
| last = Wald
| first = Elijah
| authorlink = Elijah Wald
| first = Elijah
| author-link = Elijah Wald
| title = Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues
| title = Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues
| year = 2006
| year = 2004
| publisher = [[HarperCollins]]
| edition = 1st.
| isbn = 0-06-052423-5
| location = New York City
}}</ref> "Brownsville Blues" and "The Girl I Love, She Got Long Curly Hair" by [[Sleepy John Estes]], "Goin' Back to Memphis" by [[Sunnyland Slim]], "Banty Blues" by [[Charley Patton]], "Dough Roller Blues" by [[Garfield Akers]] and "Rollin' Blues" by [[John Lee Hooker]].
| publisher = [[HarperCollins]]
| isbn = 978-0060524272
}}</ref> Musically, his version is based on the original, but added new lyrics: "where Newbern sang about love, Robert sang about sex and power, combining his own fears of them with the fantasy of controlling them", according to biographers.<ref name="Conforth">
{{Cite book
| last1 = Conforth
| first1 = Bruce
| author-link1 = Bruce Conforth
| last2 = Wardlow
| first2 = Gayle Dean
| author-link2 = Gayle Dean Wardlow
| year = 2019
| title = Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson
| publisher = [[Chicago Review Press]]
| isbn = 978-1-64160-094-1
| pages = 181, 214
}}</ref> The song was not released until 1961, when it was included on the first Johnson compilation album, ''[[King of the Delta Blues Singers]]''. He also based his "[[Traveling Riverside Blues]]" on Newbern's song.<ref name="Conforth"/>


===Chicago blues===
The best-known version is Muddy Waters' "Rollin' and Tumblin'", with Ernest "Big" Crawford on bass, for the Chess brothers' [[Aristocrat Records|Aristocrat]] label in 1950. [[Leonard Chess]] insisted that Waters record the song less than a month after Waters had recorded a version for the rival Parkway label, featuring his bandmates [[Little Walter]] and [["Baby Face" Leroy Foster|Baby Face Leroy Foster]].<ref>
In 1950, Muddy Waters recorded two early versions of "Rollin' and Tumblin'". On a session for the Parkway label, he provided the guitar with [[Little Walter]] on vocal and harmonica and [["Baby Face" Leroy Foster|Baby Face Leroy Foster]] on drums.<ref name="Komara">
{{cite book
{{Cite encyclopedia
| last = Gordon
| last = Komara
| first = Robert G.
| first = Edward
| title = Can't Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters
| year = 2002
| year = 2006
| title = Roll and Tumble Blues
| publisher = [[Little, Brown]]
| editor-last = Komara
| isbn = 0-316-32849-9
| editor-first = Edward
| page = 100
| encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of the Blues
}}</ref> The Parkway label credits the Baby Face Leroy Trio, with vocals by Leroy, and Muddy Waters as the songwriter. [[Elmore James]] recorded a different arrangement of the song in 1960, with himself credited as author.
| location = New York City
| publisher = [[Routledge]]
| isbn = 978-0-415-92699-7
| page = 846
}}</ref> Biographer [[Robert Gordon (writer and filmmaker)|Robert Gordon]] described the performance as a "standout track [which] could have easily have disintegrated into an overenthused party record".<ref name="Gordon">
{{Cite book
| last = Gordon
| first = Robert G.
| title = Can't Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters
| url = https://archive.org/details/cantbesatisfied00robe_0
| url-access = registration
| year = 2002
| publisher = [[Little, Brown]]
| isbn = 0-316-32849-9
| page = [https://archive.org/details/cantbesatisfied00robe_0/page/100 100]
}}</ref> Parkway Records released the song as a two-part single (Part 1 backed with Part 2) and listed the artist as the Baby Face Leroy Trio.<ref name="Hall"/> In 2022, this recording was inducted into the [[Blues Hall of Fame]] in the "Classics of Blues Recording{{snd}}Singles" category.<ref name="Hall">{{Cite web|url=https://blues.org/2022-blues-hall-of-fame-inductees/|title=2022 Blues Hall of Fame Inductees|website=Blues.org|date=14 March 2022 |access-date=March 20, 2022}}</ref>


For [[Aristocrat Records]], Waters sang as well as played guitar with bass accompaniment by [[Ernest "Big" Crawford]].<ref name="Gordon"/> Gordon called their version "exciting", but felt that it did not have the power or passion of the one with Walter and Foster.<ref name="Gordon" /> In 1960, [[Elmore James]] recorded a different arrangement of the song<ref>
In 1961, [[Howlin' Wolf]] recorded "[[Hey Lawdy Mama (blues song)#Meet Me in the Bottom|Down in the Bottom]]", which employed a new set of lyrics and is credited to [[Willie Dixon]]. Delta bluesman [[Johnny Shines]] recorded a version called "Red Sun" (1975), with the traditional music but different, prison-themed lyrics. [[R. L. Burnside]] recorded what he titled "Rollin' Tumblin'" on several occasions, first on August 1967 for [[George Mitchell (music historian)|George Mitchell]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.wirz.de/music/bursdfrm.htm | title=Illustrated R.L. Burnside discography | accessdate=22 August 2013 | author=Wirz, Stefan | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110808084624/http://www.wirz.de/music/bursdfrm.htm | archivedate = 2011-08-08}}</ref>
{{Cite AV media notes
| title = Elmore James: King of the Slide Guitar
| others = [[Elmore James]]
| first1 = Chris
| last1 = Morris
| author-link1 = Chris Morris (author)
| first2 = Diana
| last2 = Haig
| type = Box set booklet
| year = 1992
| location = Nashville, Tennessee
| publisher = [[Capricorn Records]]
| id = 9 42006-2
| page =
}}</ref> and a year later, [[Howlin' Wolf]] recorded "[[Hey Lawdy Mama (blues song)#Meet Me in the Bottom|Down in the Bottom]]", which employed a new set of lyrics and is credited to [[Willie Dixon]].<ref>
{{Cite AV media notes
| first1 = Les
| last1 = Fancourt
| first2 = Chris
| last2 = Morris
| author-link2 = Chris Morris (author)
| first3 = Dick
| last3 = Shurman
| title = Howlin' Wolf: The Chess Box
| others = [[Howlin' Wolf]]
| type = Box set booklet
| year = 1991
| location = Universal City, California
| publisher = [[MCA Records]]/[[Chess Records]]
| id = CHD3-9332
| page = 29
}}</ref>


===Rock adaptations===
In 2010, [[Cyndi Lauper]] recorded "Rollin' and Tumblin" with [[Ann Peebles]] for her blues album ''[[Memphis Blues (album)|Memphis Blues]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metroweekly.com/arts_entertainment/music.php?ak=5367 |title=True Blues |publisher=Metro Weekly |date=2010-06-24 |accessdate=2014-04-17}}</ref>
{{Listen

| filename = Fresh Cream - Rollin' and Tumblin' Cream clip.ogg
[[HowellDevine]] recorded a version for their second album, ''Jumps, Boogies, and Wobbles'' (2014).
| title = Cream's "Rollin' and Tumblin'"

| description = Studio version sample from ''[[Fresh Cream]]''
==Rock recordings==
| pos = right
{{Listen | filename = Fresh Cream - Rollin' and Tumblin' Cream clip.ogg | title = "Rollin' and Tumblin'" | description = [[Cream (band)|Cream's]] version from their 1966 debut album, ''[[Fresh Cream]]''.}}
| type = music
Since the 1960s the song has been played and recorded by numerous blues-rock bands, including [[Cream (band)|Cream]] on their 1966 debut, ''[[Fresh Cream]]''; [[Johnny Winter]] on his 1968 album ''[[The Progressive Blues Experiment]]''; [[Canned Heat]] on their 1967 [[Canned Heat (album)|eponymous debut]] and two versions of the song (with and without harmonica) on their sixth album [[Vintage (Canned Heat album)|Vintage]]; [[Blues Creation (band)|Blues Creation]] on their 1969 debut album; [[Fleetwood Mac]] on their 1971 album ''[[The Original Fleetwood Mac]]''; [[Blackfoot]] on their 1982 album ''Highway Song Live''; [[Eric Clapton]] for his 1992 ''[[Unplugged (Eric Clapton album)|Unplugged album]]'' and 2004's ''[[Me and Mr. Johnson]]''; by [[Jeff Beck]] in 2000 on ''[[You Had It Coming]]''; and [[Gov't Mule]] on 2000s ''[[Life Before Insanity]]''.
}}

Blues historian Edward Komara notes that subsequent versions by rock groups are based on the Muddy Waters versions, with the one recorded by [[Cream (band)|Cream]] for their debut album, ''[[Fresh Cream]]'' (1966) as "perhaps the best known".<ref name="Komara"/> A recording from May 1968 is included on ''[[Live Cream]]'' (1970), which is described in an album review as a "searing, rollicking high energy rendition".<ref>
The song was recorded by [[Bob Dylan]] for his 2006 album ''[[Modern Times (Bob Dylan album)|Modern Times]]''. Dylan claims authorship of the song on most versions of his record. While musically the arrangement is very similar to the Muddy Waters version, Dylan's introduces all new verses, though retaining the two opening lines.
{{Cite web

| url = https://www.allmusic.com/album/live-cream-vol-1-mw0000189526
A version of the song can be seen on [[Dr. Feelgood (band)|Dr. Feelgood]]'s "Going Back Home" show from 1975 which was released on DVD back in 2005. Dr. Feelgood also covered the song on their second album Malpractise from 1975. The [[Grateful Dead]] covered the song<ref>{{Gilliland |url=http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19801/m1/ |title=Show 42 - The Acid Test: Psychedelics and a sub-culture emerge in San Francisco. [Part 2] }}</ref> live in concert many times under many different names, including "Minglewood Blues," "The New Minglewood Blues," "The All-New Minglewood Blues," and "The New New Minglewood Blues." Despite the similarity in title "New Minglewood Blues" was a different song, originally recorded on November 26, 1930 by [[Noah Lewis]] (who had played on Cannon's original "Minglewood Blues").
| last = Bowman

| first = Rob
[[The Yardbirds]] recorded the song for their 1967 album ''[[Little Games]]'' with different lyrics under the name "Drinking Muddy Water," which may be a reference either to [[Muddy Waters]] or to the lyrics of the song "[[Blue Yodel|Blue Yodel No. 1]]" (AKA "T for Texas") by [[Jimmie Rodgers (country singer)|Jimmie Rodgers]]. The album credits [[Chris Dreja]], [[Jim McCarty]], [[Jimmy Page]] and [[Keith Relf]] as the songwriters.
| title = ''Live Cream, Vol. 1''{{snd}}Review

| website = [[AllMusic]]
The same year, [[Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band]] recorded "Sure 'Nuff n' Yes I Do" as the opening song on their debut album, ''[[Safe As Milk]]'', using the tune with different lyrics (with the first line adapted from the original lyrics of "New Minglewood Blues"). This song was credited to [[Captain Beefheart]] with lyrics by Herb Bermann. Half Man Half Biscuit's "If I Had Possession over Pancake Day" on their 2002 album ''[[Cammell Laird Social Club]]'' parodies Robert Johnson's version of the song.
| access-date = March 14, 2021
}}</ref> As another noteworthy rendition, Komara includes [[the Yardbirds]]' tribute "Drinking Muddy Water" and notes singer [[Keith Relf]]'s harmonica playing on the ''[[Little Games]]'' studio version and [[Jimmy Page]]'s [[slide guitar]] solos on the live version that first appeared on ''[[Live Yardbirds: Featuring Jimmy Page]]'' (1971) (released by Page in 2017 as ''[[Yardbirds '68]]'').<ref name="Komara"/> Versions of "Rollin' and Tumblin'" by [[Canned Heat]] and [[Johnny Winter]] reached the extended singles charts and were included on their debut albums, ''[[Canned Heat (album)|Canned Heat]]'' (1967) and ''[[The Progressive Blues Experiment]]'' (1968).<ref>
{{Cite AV media notes
| title = [[Uncanned! The Best of Canned Heat]]
| others = [[Canned Heat]]
| first = Greg
| last = Russo
| year = 1994
| type = Compilation booklet
| location = New York City
| publisher = [[EMI Records]]
| id = E2 29165
| pages = 7, 21
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine| date = May 10, 1969| title = Bubbling Under the Hot 100| magazine = [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]| volume = 81| issue = 19| issn = 0006-2510| page = 96}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://hylblog.edu.hel.fi/wpmu/mrahikka/rollin-and-tumblin/ "Rollin' and Tumblin'"—List of Renditions]
* {{MetroLyrics song|cream|rollin-and-tumblin|version=a 2005 live version by [[Cream (band)|Cream]]}}<!-- Licensed lyrics provider -->


{{Robert Johnson}}
{{Robert Johnson}}
{{Muddy Waters}}
{{Elmore James}}
{{Elmore James}}
{{Cream}}
{{Cream}}
{{The Yardbirds}}
{{Canned Heat}}
{{Canned Heat}}
{{Johnny Winter}}
{{Johnny Winter}}

{{Authority control}}


[[Category:1929 songs]]
[[Category:1929 songs]]
[[Category:Blues songs]]
[[Category:Blues songs]]
[[Category:Delta blues songs]]
[[Category:1950 singles]]
[[Category:1950 singles]]
[[Category:Muddy Waters songs]]
[[Category:Muddy Waters songs]]
[[Category:Elmore James songs]]
[[Category:Elmore James songs]]
[[Category:Cream (band) songs]]
[[Category:Songs with unknown songwriters]]
[[Category:1967 singles]]
[[Category:Okeh Records singles]]
[[Category:Canned Heat songs]]
[[Category:Robert Johnson songs]]
[[Category:Bob Dylan songs]]

Latest revision as of 08:28, 8 December 2024

"Roll and Tumble Blues"
Single by Hambone Willie Newbern
Released1929 (1929)
RecordedMarch 14, 1929, Atlanta, Georgia
GenreBlues
Length3:03
LabelOkeh
Songwriter(s)Unknown (Newbern credited on single)

"Rollin' and Tumblin'" (or "Roll and Tumble Blues") is a blues standard first recorded by American singer-guitarist Hambone Willie Newbern in 1929.[1] Called a "great Delta blues classic", it has been interpreted by hundreds of Delta and Chicago blues artists, including well-known recordings by Muddy Waters.[2] Rock musicians usually follow Waters' versions, with the 1960s group Cream's rendition being perhaps the best known.

Original song

[edit]

Hambone Willie Newbern recorded "Roll and Tumble Blues" on March 14, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia for Okeh Records. It shares several elements of "Minglewood Blues", first recorded in 1928 by Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers.[3] Newbern's "Roll and Tumble Blues" is a solo piece with his vocal and slide-guitar accompaniment.

The song is performed in the key of A using an open tuning and an irregular number of bars [4] with an additional bar and a half at the end of each phrase. The tempo varies from an initial 140 beats per minute to a final 158 bpm.[4] A key feature of the song is that the first verse begins on the IV chord, rather than on the more usual I chord (e.g., in the key of A this would be the D chord rather than the A chord).[5] After the first two measures the IV chord resolves to the I chord. Often the IV chord moves to IV♭7 on the second measure or the last two beats of the second measure.[3]

The lyrics follow a standard blues AAB pattern and relate a failed relationship:

And I rolled and I tumbled and I cried the whole night long (2×)
And I rose this mornin' mama and I didn't know right from wrong ...
And I fold my arms lord and I walked away (2×)
Said "that's all right sweet mama your trouble gon' come some day"

"Roll and Tumble Blues" is one of six songs Newbern recorded during his only recording session. It was released before the advent of race records charts, however, it soon became "an oft-covered standard"[6] and Newbern's best-known song. In 1929, Okeh Records issued the song on a 78 rpm record, backed with "Nobody Knows What the Good Deacon Says".

Renditions

[edit]

Robert Johnson

[edit]

Robert Johnson adapted "Rollin' and Tumblin'" with the title "If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day" during his third recording session in San Antonio, Texas, in 1936.[7] Musically, his version is based on the original, but added new lyrics: "where Newbern sang about love, Robert sang about sex and power, combining his own fears of them with the fantasy of controlling them", according to biographers.[8] The song was not released until 1961, when it was included on the first Johnson compilation album, King of the Delta Blues Singers. He also based his "Traveling Riverside Blues" on Newbern's song.[8]

Chicago blues

[edit]

In 1950, Muddy Waters recorded two early versions of "Rollin' and Tumblin'". On a session for the Parkway label, he provided the guitar with Little Walter on vocal and harmonica and Baby Face Leroy Foster on drums.[5] Biographer Robert Gordon described the performance as a "standout track [which] could have easily have disintegrated into an overenthused party record".[9] Parkway Records released the song as a two-part single (Part 1 backed with Part 2) and listed the artist as the Baby Face Leroy Trio.[10] In 2022, this recording was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in the "Classics of Blues Recording – Singles" category.[10]

For Aristocrat Records, Waters sang as well as played guitar with bass accompaniment by Ernest "Big" Crawford.[9] Gordon called their version "exciting", but felt that it did not have the power or passion of the one with Walter and Foster.[9] In 1960, Elmore James recorded a different arrangement of the song[11] and a year later, Howlin' Wolf recorded "Down in the Bottom", which employed a new set of lyrics and is credited to Willie Dixon.[12]

Rock adaptations

[edit]
Cream's "Rollin' and Tumblin'"
Studio version sample from Fresh Cream
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Blues historian Edward Komara notes that subsequent versions by rock groups are based on the Muddy Waters versions, with the one recorded by Cream for their debut album, Fresh Cream (1966) as "perhaps the best known".[5] A recording from May 1968 is included on Live Cream (1970), which is described in an album review as a "searing, rollicking high energy rendition".[13] As another noteworthy rendition, Komara includes the Yardbirds' tribute "Drinking Muddy Water" and notes singer Keith Relf's harmonica playing on the Little Games studio version and Jimmy Page's slide guitar solos on the live version that first appeared on Live Yardbirds: Featuring Jimmy Page (1971) (released by Page in 2017 as Yardbirds '68).[5] Versions of "Rollin' and Tumblin'" by Canned Heat and Johnny Winter reached the extended singles charts and were included on their debut albums, Canned Heat (1967) and The Progressive Blues Experiment (1968).[14][15]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Palmer, Robert (1981). Deep Blues. Penguin Books. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-14-006223-6.
  2. ^ Herzhaft, Gerard (1992). "Rollin' and Tumblin'". Encyclopedia of the Blues. Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas Press. p. 468. ISBN 1-55728-252-8.
  3. ^ a b Obrecht, Jas. "Rollin' and Tumblin': The Story of a Song". Jas Obrecht Music Archive. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
  4. ^ a b Titon, Jeff Todd (1978). Early Downhome Blues: A Musical and Cultural Analysis. University of Illinois Press. pp. 121–122. ISBN 9780252007781.
  5. ^ a b c d Komara, Edward (2006). "Roll and Tumble Blues". In Komara, Edward (ed.). Encyclopedia of the Blues. New York City: Routledge. p. 846. ISBN 978-0-415-92699-7.
  6. ^ Ankeny, Jason. "Hambone Willie Newbern: Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
  7. ^ Wald, Elijah (2004). Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues (1st. ed.). New York City: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0060524272.
  8. ^ a b Conforth, Bruce; Wardlow, Gayle Dean (2019). Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson. Chicago Review Press. pp. 181, 214. ISBN 978-1-64160-094-1.
  9. ^ a b c Gordon, Robert G. (2002). Can't Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters. Little, Brown. p. 100. ISBN 0-316-32849-9.
  10. ^ a b "2022 Blues Hall of Fame Inductees". Blues.org. 14 March 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  11. ^ Morris, Chris; Haig, Diana (1992). Elmore James: King of the Slide Guitar (Box set booklet). Elmore James. Nashville, Tennessee: Capricorn Records. 9 42006-2.
  12. ^ Fancourt, Les; Morris, Chris; Shurman, Dick (1991). Howlin' Wolf: The Chess Box (Box set booklet). Howlin' Wolf. Universal City, California: MCA Records/Chess Records. p. 29. CHD3-9332.
  13. ^ Bowman, Rob. "Live Cream, Vol. 1 – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  14. ^ Russo, Greg (1994). Uncanned! The Best of Canned Heat (Compilation booklet). Canned Heat. New York City: EMI Records. pp. 7, 21. E2 29165.
  15. ^ "Bubbling Under the Hot 100". Billboard. Vol. 81, no. 19. May 10, 1969. p. 96. ISSN 0006-2510.
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