The Deep Elm Blues is an American traditional song. The title of the tune refers to the "Colored Red Light District" in Dallas, Texas

Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

, known as "Elm Street". Sometimes the song's title is also spelled "Deep Elem". The first known recording was made by the Cofer Brothers under the name of The Georgia Black Bottom on OKeh Records

Okeh Records

Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...

. The Shelton Brothers

Shelton Brothers

The Shelton Brothers, Bob, Joe and Merle, were pioneer country musicians and renowned recording artists based out of Texas from the mid 1930s through the 1960s...

 recorded various versions of this song, the first being cut in 1933 with Leon Chappelear under the pseudonym of Lone Star Rangers for Bluebird Records. They recorded it again in 1935 for Decca Records

Decca Records

Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....

 followed by Deep Elm No.2 and Deep Elm No.3. The Sheltons also recorded it in the 1940s as Deep Elm Boogie for King Records

King Records (USA)

King Records is an American record label, started in 1943 by Syd Nathan and originally headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.-History:At first it specialized in country music, at the time still known as "hillbilly music." King advertised, "If it's a King, It's a Hillbilly -- If it's a Hillbilly, it's a...

. Other versions of the song were made between 1957 and 1958 by Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...

 for Sun Records

Sun Records

Sun Records is a record label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27, 1952.Founded by Sam Phillips, Sun Records was known for giving notable musicians such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash...

, by Mary McCoy & the Cyclones for Jin Records and, later, by Jerry Garcia

Jerry Garcia

Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...

 and the Grateful Dead

Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...

.