Checkin' Up

Lyrics: Sonny Boy Williamson
Music: Sonny Boy Williamson

This was sung by Wayne Ceballos with the Grateful Dead on 6 June 1969. For some reason, Jerry Garcia missed the opening five songs that night, and Elvin Bishop sat in on lead guitar. Wayne Ceballos sang "Checkin' Up On My Baby" and "Beat It On Down The Line."

Checkin' up on my baby
Find out what she's putting down
Checkin' up on my baby
Find out what she's putting down
Checkin' up on my baby
All those nights spent out of town

Checkin' up on my baby
Find out what she's putting down
Checkin' up on my baby
Find out what she's putting down
So many nights and days
I have been out of this town

Checkin' up on my baby
Find out what she's putting down
Checkin' up on my baby
Find out what she's putting down
So many nights and days
I have been out of this town

Checkin' up on my baby
Find out what she's putting down
So many nights and days
I have been out of this town
I'm gonna come home to her
Show her where it's at
And after I do that
I'm gonna leave this place
And I'm not gonna ... don't blow it now, don't blow it now
Keep it right here
Easy

Oom bam bam
Oom bam bam
[etc]
Feels so good
I get the feeling baby
And let me take it on home

The original Sonny Boy Williamson version includes an additional verse:

I wouldn't call home
And I wouldn't even write
I wouldn't call home
And I wouldn't even write
I caught me a plane
Flew back the same night

Taj Mahal sang a rather different version with Bill Kreutzmann and Friends in Hawaii on New Year's Eve 2016:

Checking up on my
Find out what's going down
Checking up on my baby
Find out what's going down
So many nights and days
Blues man in your town

I have a job
Down the coastal way
Had a job
Down the coast
See what my baby say

I call my baby
On the telephone
Call my baby
On the telephone
Said I make tapioca for you daddy
Till I'm home all alone

Love you baby
Honey you the best
Honey you the best
In my heart to wonder
Like the wild geese in the west

Sun gonna shine
In my back door some day
Sun gonna shine
Back door some day
And the wind gonna rise up
Blow my blues away

Checking up on my baby
Find out what she's been putting down
Checking up on my baby
Find out what she's been putting down
So many nights

Checking up on my baby
Putting down
Checking up on my baby

I did not call
Honey I did not write
I didn't call
I didn't write
Find by baby
That's every night

Checking up on my
Find out what's going down
On my baby
Find out what's going down
So many nights and days
Got the blues man in your town

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