Rollin' and Tumblin'

Lyrics: Traditional
Music: Traditional

The Grateful Dead broke this out twice in 1995 but it never had time to establish itself in the repertoire. Garcia only managed repetions of something like the following verse:

I've been rolling and tumbling
Rolling all night long
I've been rolling and tumbling
Rolling all night long
Well baby, baby, baby
[Baby, baby come back home?]

More recently (2008) introduced by Phil Lesh and Friends. Jackie Greene sang the following verses, sandwiched in New Minglewood Blues.

Well I roll and I tumble
Crying the whole night long
I said I roll and I tumble
Crying the whole night long
I got up this morning
All I had was gone

Well if the river was whiskey
I'd be a diving duck
Well if the river was whiskey
I'd be a diving duck
I would dive down to the bottom
I would never come up

I want you to love me
Else [?] let be
I said I want you to love me
Else [?] let be
I want you to all like my peaches
Don't shake my tree

Jackie Greene sang a rather different version (lyrically) in 2012 with Phil Lesh & Friends:

Well I roll and I tumble
Crying the whole night long
I said I roll and I tumble
Crying the whole night long
I woke up this morning
All I had was gone

I'm so mad today
[I won't put a word wrong]
I'm so mad today
Letting my baby go
I'm gonna keep searching everywhere
Next stop Tokyo

Well I went up on the mountain
Where my eyes could see
Well I went up on the mountain
Far as my eyes could see
Well the [?] got my woman
Lonesome blues got me

Well I'm missing my baby
Got to jump and shout
Well I want my woman
Make me jump and shout
Well I got to show my baby
[Chiller road] is all about

When that train rolls up, boys
You know I'm coming home
When that train rolls up, boys
You know I'm coming home
I can't find my baby
Well she's long gone

Well I roll and I tumble
Crying the whole night through
I said I roll and I tumble
Crying the whole night through
I woke up this morning
All I had was gone

Luther Dickinson sang a version with Phil Lesh and Friends in April 2013, with the following two verses (repeated)

Well I rolled and I tumbled
I cried the whole night long
Well I roll and I tumble
I cry the whole night long
When I woke up this morning
Didn't know right from wrong

Well I've been drinking muddy water
Sleeping in a hollow log
Well I've been drinking muddy water
Sleeping in a hollow log
Well if I can't be your kinman
I ain't gonna be your dog

Origins
The best known version of this song is by Muddy Waters, but it goes back earlier than that. Hambone Willie Newbern did an early version and is sometimes credited as the author. But it seems likely that its origins predate that.

Fuller versions include some or all of the following lyrics (culled from versions by Newbern, Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton).

Well I'm rollin' and I'm tumblin'
Cried the whole night long
Well I'm rollin' and I'm tumblin'
Cried the whole night long
Well I woke up this morning
Couldn't tell right from wrong

Well I told my baby, before I left that town
Well I told my baby, before I left that town
Well don't you let nobody
Tear a [barrel] house down

Well if the river was whiskey
And I was a diving duck
Well if the river was whiskey
And I was a diving duck
Well I would dive to the bottom
Never would I come up

Well I could have had religion
[??]
Well I could have had religion
[??]
Well whiskey and women
Would not let me rest

If you ever wake up
And find your daughter gone (note 1)
If you ever wake up
And find your daughter gone
And you wring your hands
And you cry the whole day long

And I fold my arms
And I slowly walk away
And I fold my arms
And I slowly walk away
Said that's all right sweet moma
Your trouble gonna come some day

Well come here baby
Sit down on your daddy's knee
Well come here baby
Sit down on your daddy's knee
I want to tell you
'Bout the way they treated me

Notes
(1) some lyrics sites have "dough roller"

Recordings
None by the Dead. Hambone Willie Newbern's version is on "Roots Of Rock" (under the title "Roll And Tumble Blues") [Tazoo 1063]. Versions by Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton and many others are readily available.

Further Information
For more information on recordings see Matt Schofield's Grateful Dead Family Discography
For details of every time played, see Grateful Sets