Lyrics: Noah Lewis/Grateful Dead
Music: Noah Lewis/Grateful Dead
A song written in the 1920's and played by the Dead right from 1966 through to 1995. Bob Weir has also played it with
most of his solo bands. Also played by the New Riders of the Purple Sage - see below
The original LP credited it to "McGannahan Skjellyfetti", the pseudonym used for group
Later releases of the album credited it to "Garcia/Weir/McKernan/Lesh/Kreutzmann". But it is clearly derived from the song
by Noah Lewis - see below
This is the version the Dead sang most of their career, though not all verses were sung each time (note e). It has variously been
listed as "New Minglewood Blues", "All New Minglewood Blues" and "New, New Minglewood Blues":
I was born in a desert, raised in a lion's denThe version on the Dead's first LP (called "New New Minglewood Blues") was rather different:
I was born in a desert, raised in a lion's den
And my number one occupation is stealing women from their men
Well I'm a wanted man in Texas, busted jail and I'm gone for good
Well I'm a wanted man in Texas, busted jail and I'm gone for good
Well the sheriff couldn't catch me
But his little girl sure wished she would
Yes and the doctor call me crazy, some says I am some says I ain't (note a)
Yes and the doctor call me crazy, some says I am some says I ain't
The preacher man call me a sinner, but his little girl call me a saint
Well a couple of shots of whiskey, women round here start lookin' good
Well a couple of shots of whiskey, women round here start lookin' good (note b)
Couple more shots of whiskey, I'm goin' back to Minglewood
It's T for Texas, yes and it's T for Timbuctoo (note c)
It's T for Texas, yes and it's T for Timbuctoo
Yes and it's T for [San Francisco - or wherever!]
Where the little girls know what to do
I was born in a desert, raised in a lion's denNotes
I was born in a desert, raised in a lion's den
And my number one occupation is stealing women from their men
If you're ever in Memphis, better stop by Minglewood
If you're ever in Memphis, better stop by Minglewood
Well take a walk down town, the women sure look good
If you can't believe me, don't make it hard to believe in you (note d)
If you can't believe me, don't make it hard to believe in you
'Cause we all need each other, well you know it's true
I was born in a desert, raised in a lion's den"New Minglewood Blues" was itself a complete rewrite of the song "Minglewood Blues" that Noah Lewis had previously recorded with Canon's Jug Stompers in 1928:
I was born in a desert, raised in a lion's den
And my regular occupation is seeking women from other men
When you come to Memphis, please stop by Minglewood
When you come to Memphis, please stop by Minglewood
The women in the camp don't mean no man no good
Don't you never let one woman rule your mindThe New Riders' version, also played by the David Nelson Band, is based on this original version, but with a couple of verses added from Charley Patton's "Screamin' And Hollerin' The Blues."
Don't you never let one woman rule your mind
Then she keep you worried, troubled all the time
Don't you wish your [Sarah] was little and cute like mine
Don't you wish your [Sarah] was little and cute like mine
She's a married woman, but she comes to me sometime
Don't you never let no woman rule your mind
Don't you never let no woman rule your mind
Then she keep you troubled, worried all the time
Well I got a letter Lord, and you oughta heard it read
Well I got a letter Lord, and you oughta heard it read
Baby I'm coming back baby, and I'll be all in red
Don't you never let one woman rule your mindFor more background, see the pages on Minglewood Blues and In Search Of Minglewood on the Roots Of The Grateful Dead site.
I said, don't you never let one woman rule your mind
Because she give you trouble, worries all the time
I got a letter and you oughta heard it read
I got me a letter and you oughta heard it read
She said, me coming home darling, and I'll be all in red
Jackson on a high hill, mama, Natchez just below
Jackson on a high hill, mama, Natchez just below
If I ever get back home, I won't be here no more
My mama's getting old, and her hair is turning grey
My mama's getting old, and her hair is turning grey
Don't you know it'll break her heart, my leaving this a-way
When you come to Memphis, stop by Minglewood
When you come to Memphis, stop by Minglewood
Just 'cause those women in the camp, don't do no man no good
You ever go down to Memphis, stop by MinglewoodJohn L Yarbro, Jr. sent me an email with additional background:
You ever go down to Memphis, stop by Minglewood
You Memphis women don' mean no man no good
"New Minglewood Blues was originally written about a company mill village, Menglewood, Tennessee (built by the Menglewood Box Company) which my grandfather purchased along with the former woodlands in the 1920's, cleared and farmed. The property is still in my family. My father grew up in Menglewood, but it was a lot tamer after my grandfather moved his people there. Local history about Menglewood as a company town paint it as wild and wide open with whiskley, women and gambling. Menglewood is located about 78 miles north of Memphis, Tennessee, alongside the Obion River which is in the Mississippi River floodplain."
"This image is from 1938 I think, as it shows my father holding a horse in front of the old office building, which my grandparents used as a home from 1921 till 1939, when they moved permanently to Dyersburg. That would put my father at about age 17. There is someone sitting up on the porch, holding a child with a dog standng in front of them too. I imagine that would be my grandmother, but I haven't been able to zoom in well enough to know for sure. Note how high the structure is off the ground. This allowed it to be occupied during the yearly floods. I remember my father showing this building to me as a child in the 1960's as well as another structure. He also explained how the village was laid out,which by that time was mostly gone. I remember him talking about the ark(?) a road where gambling houses and such had been, which after my grandfather took over had been razed and ploughed over. My father told me they would often find coins out there when plowing or after a rain. All that now remains are a concrete vault that was inside the office building and the old millworks which consist of concrete boiling vats and brick furnaces."