Stealin'
Encyclopedia
Stealin' is an American folk song from the 1920s. The song is particularly identified with the jug band
tradition, but gained wider popularity after several folk and blues artists recorded it in the 1960s.
Although different artists have recorded different verses, the chorus has remained consistent:
Gus Cannon
claimed to have written the opening line, "Put your arms around me like a circle 'round the sun." On this basis, Cannon is sometimes credited with authorship of the song. However, this line doesn’t appear in any of his recorded songs. It does appear in the folk song “I Know You Rider
” and may actually predate Cannon.
Another lyric associated with Gus Cannon is “She's a married woman, but she comes to see me all the time,” which appeared in his “Minglewood Blues,” recorded January 30, 1928.
as "Stealin' Stealin'." This recording session took place on September 15, 1928 in Memphis, TN
and featured Will Shade
(harmonica
), Vol Stevens (acoustic guitar), Ben Ramey (kazoo
), and Jab Jones (vocals, jug
).
The label on this release named Will Shade as the composer, and the copyright is still administered by Shade’s publisher, Peermusic (formerly known as the Southern Music Publishing Company). By some standards, this is correct, as a compilation of earlier lyrics is often equated with authorship in the blues genre. On the other hand, most of the lyrics clearly predated the Memphis Jug Band recording. In any case, this recording provided the basis for modern remakes after it was re-released in 1959.
based psychedelic rock
band the Grateful Dead
, along with "Don't Ease Me In." The Scorpio Sessions, as the recording session was known, comprised several tracks which were released in limited supply by Scorpio Records in July 1966.
Years later, the sessions would appear of the bands twelve-CD
box set The Golden Road (1965-1973)
released on October 21, 2002 before released as part of the stand-alone album Birth of the Dead
in March 2003. Other Dead albums the song has appeared on including:
Jerry Garcia
also recorded the song with friend and collaborator David Grisman
. "Stealin'" appeared performed by them on the album Shady Grove
in 1996 and on the compilation album
Acoustic Disc 100% Handmade Music, Volume 3 in 1997.
Jug band
A Jug band is a band employing a jug player and a mix of traditional and home-made instruments. These home-made instruments are ordinary objects adapted to or modified for making of sound, like the washtub bass, washboard, spoons, stovepipe and comb & tissue paper...
tradition, but gained wider popularity after several folk and blues artists recorded it in the 1960s.
Although different artists have recorded different verses, the chorus has remained consistent:
-
- Stealin', stealin', pretty mama don't you tell on me
- I'm stealin' back to my same old used to be
Origins
The lines “If you don’t believe I love you, look what a fool I’ve been / If you don’t believe I’d fall for you, look what a hole I’m in” were recorded by the New Orleans jazz musician Clarence Williams in 1921 and again by Leona Williams in 1922 as “If You Don't Believe I Love You, Look What a Fool I've Been.”Gus Cannon
Gus Cannon
Gus Cannon was an American blues musician, who helped to popularize jug bands in the 1920s and 1930s. There is doubt about his birth year; his tombstone gives the date as 1874....
claimed to have written the opening line, "Put your arms around me like a circle 'round the sun." On this basis, Cannon is sometimes credited with authorship of the song. However, this line doesn’t appear in any of his recorded songs. It does appear in the folk song “I Know You Rider
I Know You Rider
"I Know You Rider" is a traditional woman's blues song that has been adapted by numerous artists. Modern versions can be traced back to the song's appearance in the 1934 book, American Ballads and Folk Songs, by the noted father and son musicologists and folklorists, John Lomax and Alan Lomax...
” and may actually predate Cannon.
Another lyric associated with Gus Cannon is “She's a married woman, but she comes to see me all the time,” which appeared in his “Minglewood Blues,” recorded January 30, 1928.
Memphis Jug Band
The song as we know it today was first recorded by the Memphis Jug BandMemphis Jug Band
The Memphis Jug Band was an American musical group in the late 1920s and early to mid 1930s. The band featured harmonicas, violins, mandolins, banjos, and guitars, backed by washboards, kazoo, and jugs blown to supply the bass; they played in a variety of musical styles...
as "Stealin' Stealin'." This recording session took place on September 15, 1928 in Memphis, TN
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
and featured Will Shade
Will Shade
Will Shade was an African American Memphis blues musician, best known for his membership in the Memphis Jug Band. Shade was commonly called Son Brimmer, a nickname from his grandmother Annie Brimmer, because "son" is short for "grandson"...
(harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
), Vol Stevens (acoustic guitar), Ben Ramey (kazoo
Kazoo
The kazoo is a wind instrument which adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. The kazoo is a type of mirliton, which is a membranophone, a device which modifies the sound of a person's voice by way of a vibrating membrane."Kazoo" was the name given by...
), and Jab Jones (vocals, jug
Jug (musical instrument)
The jug as a musical instrument reached its height of popularity in the 1920s, when jug bands, such as Cannon's Jug Stompers were popular. The jug is just that: an empty jug played with the mouth...
).
The label on this release named Will Shade as the composer, and the copyright is still administered by Shade’s publisher, Peermusic (formerly known as the Southern Music Publishing Company). By some standards, this is correct, as a compilation of earlier lyrics is often equated with authorship in the blues genre. On the other hand, most of the lyrics clearly predated the Memphis Jug Band recording. In any case, this recording provided the basis for modern remakes after it was re-released in 1959.
Grateful Dead
The song was part of the first ever release by the San Francisco, CASan Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
based psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
band 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...
, along with "Don't Ease Me In." The Scorpio Sessions, as the recording session was known, comprised several tracks which were released in limited supply by Scorpio Records in July 1966.
Years later, the sessions would appear of the bands twelve-CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
box set The Golden Road (1965-1973)
The Golden Road (1965-1973)
The Golden Road is a twelve-CD boxed set retrospect of the Grateful Dead's studio and live albums during their time with Warner Bros. Records from 1965 to 1973. After 1973, the band went on to create its own label, Grateful Dead Records....
released on October 21, 2002 before released as part of the stand-alone album Birth of the Dead
Birth of the Dead
Birth of the Dead is a two-CD compilation album chronicling the early years of the San Francisco psychedelic band the Grateful Dead. The set was originally part of the twelve-CD box set The Golden Road , released on October 16, 2001, but was released as a stand-alone album on March 25, 2003...
in March 2003. Other Dead albums the song has appeared on including:
- Historic DeadHistoric DeadHistoric Dead is a live album by the rock group the Grateful Dead. It was recorded at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, California in the autumn of 1966, and released in June 1971....
, 1971 - Rare Cuts and Oddities 1966, 2005
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...
also recorded the song with friend and collaborator David Grisman
David Grisman
David Grisman is an American bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist and composer of acoustic music. In the early 1990s, he started the Acoustic Disc record label in an effort to preserve and spread acoustic or instrumental music.-Biography:Grisman grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey...
. "Stealin'" appeared performed by them on the album Shady Grove
Shady Grove (Garcia/Grisman album)
Shady Grove is the name of an acoustic album by Jerry Garcia and David Grisman. It was released on the Acoustic Disc record label in 1996. The album was produced by Garcia and Grisman for Dawg Productions. Also appearing on the album: Joe Craven, Jim Kerwin, Matt Eakle, Bryan Bowers, and Will...
in 1996 and on the compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
Acoustic Disc 100% Handmade Music, Volume 3 in 1997.
Album appearances
- The Country Blues, Various Artists (Memphis Jug Band), 1959
- Folksinger's Choice, Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, 1962 - Stealin', Bob Dylan, 1969
- Great White Wonder IIGreat White WonderGreat White Wonder, or GWW, is the first notable rock bootleg album, released in July of 1969 and containing unofficially released recordings by Bob Dylan. It is also the first release of the famous bootleg record label Trademark of Quality...
, Bob Dylan, 1970 - San Francisco Bay Blues, Jesse FullerJesse FullerJesse Fuller was an American one-man band musician, best known for his song "San Francisco Bay Blues".-Early life:...
, 1963 - Johnny Young and His Chicago Blues Band, Johnny 'Man' YoungJohnny 'Man' YoungJohnny Young was an American blues singer, mandolin player and guitarist, significant as one of the first of the new generation of electric blues artists to record in Chicago after the Second World War, and as one of the few mandolin players to have been active in blues music in the post-war era...
, 1966 - Running Down the RoadRunning Down the RoadRunning Down the Road is a 1969 album by American folk singer Arlo Guthrie. Guthrie's version of the traditional folk tune "Stealin'" was featured in the film Two-Lane Blacktop.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Arlo Guthrie; except where noted...
, Arlo GuthrieArlo GuthrieArlo Davy Guthrie is an American folk singer. Like his father, Woody Guthrie, Arlo often sings songs of protest against social injustice...
, 1969 (his version appears in the film "Two-Lane BlacktopTwo-Lane BlacktopTwo-Lane Blacktop is a 1971 road movie directed by Monte Hellman, starring singer-songwriter James Taylor, Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, Warren Oates, and Laurie Bird. Esquire magazine declared the film its movie of the year for 1971, and even published the entire screenplay in its April, 1971...
") - Ragtime Jug Stompers, Dave Van RonkDave Van RonkDave Van Ronk was an American folk singer, born in Brooklyn, New York, who settled in Greenwich Village, New York, and was eventually nicknamed the "Mayor of MacDougal Street" ....
, 1969 - Clover, Clover, 1970
- Schlagers!, Various Artists (Arlo Guthrie), 1970
- Jim Kweskin's America, Jim Kweskin, 1971
- Happy Just to Be Like I Am, Taj MahalTaj Mahal (musician)Henry Saint Clair Fredericks , who uses the stage name Taj Mahal, is an American Grammy Award winning blues musician. He incorporates elements of world music into his music...
, 1971 - Music People, Various Artists (Taj Mahal), 1972
- Welcome The Rock People, Various Artists (Taj Mahal), 1972
- Together In Concert, Pete SeegerPete SeegerPeter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
, 1975 - Janis Soundtrack, Janis JoplinJanis JoplinJanis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
, 1975 - Reckless Abandon, David BrombergDavid BrombergDavid Bromberg is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Bromberg has an eclectic style, playing bluegrass, blues, folk, jazz, country and western, and rock and roll equally well. He is known for his quirky, humorous lyrics, and the ability to play rhythm and lead guitar at the...
, 1977 - The Clover Chronicle: The Best Of The Fantasy Years, Clover, 1979?
- Laughing At Life, (The Armpit Jug Band), 1985
- The Best Of The Chicago Blues, Various Artists (Johnny Young's South Side Band), 1987
- Complete Recorded Works, Vol 2 (1928-1929), Memphis Jug Band, 1990
- Charles et Les Lulus, Arno HintjensArno HintjensArno Hintjens , usually referred to as Arno, is a Belgian artist born in Ostend. He was the frontman of the group TC Matic. After the band split in 1986 he went solo....
, 1991 - Let No One Deceive You, Dave Van Ronk, 1992
- Out On The Rolling Sea, Various Artists (Ralph McTellRalph McTellRalph McTell is an English singer-songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s....
), 1995 - What Kind of Woman Is That, Texas Red, 1997
- Mandolin Blues, Various Artists (Johnny Young), 1997
- Reckless Abandon / Bandit in a Bathing Suit, David Bromberg, 1998
- Ruckus Juice & Chitlins, Vol. 2: The Great Jug Bands, Various Artists (Memphis Blues Band), 1998
- Chasin' Gus' Ghost, John SebastianJohn SebastianJohn Benson Sebastian Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and autoharpist. He is best known as a founder of The Lovin' Spoonful, a band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000...
, 1999 - Still Crazy Soundtrack, Various Artists (Billy ConnollyBilly ConnollyWilliam "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...
), 1999 - Wire Less, The Blues BandThe Blues BandThe Blues Band is a British blues band formed in 1979 by Paul Jones, former lead vocalist and harmonica player with Manfred Mann, and vocalist/slide guitarist Dave Kelly, who had previously played with the John Dummer Blues Band, Howlin' Wolf and John Lee Hooker...
, 2000 - Memphis Jug Band Story: 1927-1934, Memphis Jug Band, 2000
- As Good As It Gets: Country Blues, Various Artists (Memphis Blues Band), 2000
- Essential Memphis Jug Band, Memphis Jug Band, 2001
- Best of the Memphis Jug Band, Memphis Jug Band, 2001
- When the Sun Goes Down: The Secret History of Rock & Roll, Various Artists (Memphis Blues Band), 2002
- Back On Track, Bees Make Hone, 2003
- Hot Fingerpickin' Slide Guitar, Various Artists (Johnny Johnston), 2003
- Baby, Don't You Tear My Clothes, James CottonJames CottonJames Cotton is an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who has performed and recorded with many of the great blues artists of his time as well as with his own band.-Career:...
, 2004 - Live At Tonic EP, Wood BrothersThe Wood BrothersThe Wood Brothers are musician siblings Chris and Oliver Wood from Boulder, Colorado. Chris is a founding member of Medeski Martin & Wood, and Oliver played second guitar with Tinsley Ellis before forming King Johnson....
, 2006 - Old Town School of Folk MusicOld Town School of Folk MusicThe Old Town School of Folk Music is a Chicago teaching and performing institution that launched the careers of many notable folk music artists...
Songbook, Vol. 4, Various Artists (Devil in a WoodpileDevil in a WoodpileDevil in a Woodpile is a band from Chicago, Illinois. Although they routinely give a fresh sound to 80-year old songs, their repertoire and instrumentation categorizes them as a country blues or jug band.-History:...
), 2007 - Wrong Doings and Done Wrongs, Escape the Floodwater Jug Band, 2008
- Six Days on the Road, Dylan Charles and Karl Kerfoot, 2008