"Rollin' and Tumblin'" (or "Roll and Tumble Blues") is a

blues standard Blues standards are blues songs that have attained a high level of recognition due to having been widely performed and recorded. They represent the best known and most interpreted blues songs that are seen as standing the test of time. Blues s ...

first recorded by American singer-guitarist

Hambone Willie Newbern William "Hambone Willie" Newbern ( – 1947 or April 15, 1965) was an American country blues musician who was active from the 1920s to the 1940s. Biography Few details are known of Newbern's life. He is believed to have been born in Haywoo ...

in 1929. Called a "great

Delta blues Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of the s ...

classic", it has been interpreted by hundreds of Delta and Chicago blues artists, including well-known recordings by

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...

. Rock musicians usually follow Waters' versions, with the 1960s group

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

's rendition being perhaps the best known.

Original song

recorded "Roll and Tumble Blues" on March 14, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia for

Okeh Records OKeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name originally was spelled "OkeH" from the init ...

. It shares several elements of "Minglewood Blues", first recorded in 1928 by Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers. Newbern's "Roll and Tumble Blues" is a solo piece with his vocal and slide-guitar accompaniment. The song is performed in the key of A using an open tuning and an irregular number of bars with an additional bar and a half at the end of each phrase. The tempo varies from an initial 140 beats per minute to a final 158 bpm. A key feature of the song is that the first verse begins on the IV chord, rather than on the more usual I chord (e.g., in the key of A this would be the D chord rather than the A chord). After the first two measures the IV chord resolves to the I chord. Often the IV chord moves to IV♭7 on the second measure or the last two beats of the second measure. The lyrics follow a standard blues AAB pattern and relate a failed relationship: "Roll and Tumble Blues" is one of six songs Newbern recorded during his only recording session. It was released before the advent of

race record Race records is a term for 78-rpm phonograph records marketed to African Americans between the 1920s and 1940s.Oliver, Paul. "Race record". Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 13 Feb. 2015. They primarily contained race music, comprising v ...

s charts, however, it soon became "an oft-covered standard" and Newbern's best-known song. In 1929,

issued the song on a

78 rpm record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The gr ...

, backed with "Nobody Knows What the Good Deacon Says".

Renditions

Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His singing, guitar playing and songwriting on his landmark 1936 and 1937 recordings have influenced later generations of musicians. Although his r ...

adapted "Rollin' and Tumblin'" with the title "If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day" during his third recording session in San Antonio, Texas, in 1936. Musically, his version is based on the original, but added new lyrics: "where Newbern sang about love, Robert sang about sex and power, combining his own fears of them with the fantasy of controlling them", according to biographers. The song was not released until 1961, when it was included on the first Johnson compilation album, ''

King of the Delta Blues Singers ''King of the Delta Blues Singers'' is a compilation album by American Delta blues musician Robert Johnson, released in 1961 by Columbia Records. It is considered one of the most influential blues releases. In 2020, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it nu ...

''. He also based his " Traveling Riverside Blues" on Newbern's song.

Chicago blues

In 1950, Muddy Waters recorded two early versions of "Rollin' and Tumblin'". On a session for the Parkway label, he provided the guitar with

Little Walter Marion Walter Jacobs (May 1, 1930 – February 15, 1968), known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning him ...

on vocal and harmonica and Baby Face Leroy Foster on drums. Biographer Robert Gordon described the performance as a "standout track

hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...

could have easily have disintegrated into an overenthused party record". Parkway Records released the song as a two-part single (Part 1 backed with Part 2) and listed the artist as the Baby Face Leroy Trio. In 2022, this recording was inducted into the

Blues Hall of Fame The Blues Hall of Fame is a music museum operated by the Blues Foundation at 421 S. Main Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Initially, the "Blues Hall of Fame" was not a physical building, but a listing of people who have significantly contributed to b ...

in the "Classics of Blues RecordingSingles" category. For

Aristocrat Records Aristocrat Records, sometimes billed as the Aristocrat of Records, was founded in April 1947 by Charles and Evelyn Aron, together with their partners Fred and Mildred Brount and Art Spiegel. By September, Leonard Chess had invested in the young re ...

, Waters sang as well as played guitar with bass accompaniment by

Ernest "Big" Crawford Ernest "Big" Crawford (July 31, 1897 – March, 1956, Memphis, Tennessee) was an American blues double bassist. He played with Muddy Waters, Sunnyland Slim, Little Walter, Memphis Minnie, Jimmy Rogers, Big Maceo, Big Bill Broonzy, Washboard Sam, ...

. Gordon called their version "exciting", but felt that it did not have the power or passion of the one with Walter and Foster. In 1960,

Elmore James Elmore James ( Brooks; January 27, 1918 – May 24, 1963) was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and bandleader. Noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice, James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ...

recorded a different arrangement of the song and a year later,

Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. He was at the forefront of transforming acoustic Delta blues into electric Chica ...

recorded " Down in the Bottom", which employed a new set of lyrics and is credited to

Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...

Rock adaptations

Blues historian Edward Komara notes that subsequent versions by rock groups are based on the Muddy Waters versions, with the one recorded by

for their debut album, ''

Fresh Cream ''Fresh Cream'' is the debut studio album by the British rock band Cream, consisting of bassist Jack Bruce, guitarist Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker. A mix of blues covers and originals, the album was a pivotal release in the history o ...

'' (1966) as "perhaps the best known". A recording from May 1968 is included on '' Live Cream'' (1970), which is described in an album review as a "searing, rollicking high energy rendition". As another noteworthy rendition, Komara includes

the Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1963. The band started the careers of three of rock's most famous guitarists: Eric Clapton (1963–1965), Jeff Beck (1965–1966) and Jimmy Page (1966–1968), all of whom ...

' tribute "Drinking Muddy Water" and notes singer

Keith Relf William Keith Relf (22 March 194312 May 1976) was an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist and harmonica player for rock band the Yardbirds. He then formed the band Renaissance with his sister Jane Relf, the Yardbirds ex-drummer ...

's harmonica playing on the ''

Little Games ''Little Games'' is the fourth American album by the English rock band the Yardbirds. Recorded and released in 1967, it was their first album recorded after becoming a quartet with Jimmy Page as the sole guitarist and Chris Dreja switching to b ...

'' studio version and

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin. Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

solos on the live version that first appeared on '' Live Yardbirds: Featuring Jimmy Page'' (1971) (released by Page in 2017 as '' Yardbirds '68''). Versions of "Rollin' and Tumblin'" by

Canned Heat Canned Heat is an American blues rock band that was formed in Los Angeles in 1965. The group has been noted for its efforts to promote interest in blues music and its original artists. It was launched by two blues enthusiasts, Alan Wilson and ...

and

Johnny Winter John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums, live performances, and slide guitar playing from the late 1 ...

reached the extended singles charts and were included on their debut albums, ''

'' (1967) and ''

The Progressive Blues Experiment ''The Progressive Blues Experiment'' is the unauthorized debut album by American blues rock musician Johnny Winter. He recorded it in August 1968 at the Vulcan Gas Company, an Austin music club, with his original trio of Tommy Shannon on bass ...

'' (1968).

References

{{Authority control 1929 songs Blues songs Delta blues songs 1950 singles Muddy Waters songs Elmore James songs Songs with unknown songwriters Okeh Records singles Robert Johnson songs