"Stealin" (also called "Stealin', Stealin'") is an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

song from the 1920s. It originated with

jug band A jug band is a musical band, band employing a jug (instrument), jug player and a mix of conventional and homemade instruments. These homemade instruments are ordinary objects adapted to or modified for making sound, like the washtub bass, washbo ...

s, but gained wider popularity after several 1960s

contemporary folk music Contemporary folk music refers to a wide variety of genres that emerged in the mid-20th century and afterwards which were associated with traditional folk music. Starting in the mid-20th century, a new form of popular folk music evolved from trad ...

ians recorded it. Although various artists have recorded different verses, the chorus has remained consistent:

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 claimed to have written the opening line, "Put your arms around me like a circle 'round the sun". Consequently, Cannon is sometimes credited with authorship of the song. However, this line does not appear in any of his recorded songs, but does appear in the folk song "

I Know You Rider "I Know You Rider" (also "Woman Blues" and "I Know My Rider") is a traditional blues song that has been adapted by numerous artists. It has appeared in folk, country, and rock guises. Blues origins Modern versions can be traced back to Blind Lemo ...

" and may actually predate Cannon. "She's a married woman, but she comes to see me all the time" is another lyric associated with Gus Cannon, which appeared in his "Minglewood Blues" recorded January 30, 1928.

Memphis Jug Band

The song was first recorded by the Memphis Jug Band as "Stealin', Stealin'". The recording session took place on September 15, 1928, in Memphis, Tennessee, and featured Will Shade on harmonica, Charlie Burse lead vocal and guitar, Ben Ramey on harmony vocal and

kazoo The kazoo is a musical instrument that adds a ''buzzing'' timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. It is a type of '' mirliton'' (itself a membranophone), one of a class of instruments that modify the player's v ...

, and Jab Jones on

jug A jug is a type of container commonly used to hold and serve liquids, but not normally to drink from directly. It has an opening, sometimes narrow, from which to pour or drink, and has a handle, and usually a pouring lip. Jugs throughout histor ...

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer, incorporated in 1901. Victor was an independent enterprise until 1929 when it was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and became ...

released it as a single in 1929, with Shade listed as the songwriter. The song is included on several compilation albums.

Grateful Dead

"Stealin'" was recorded by the San Francisco, California-based

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

band the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

early in their career. Known as the "Scorpio Sessions", a limited release in July 1966 by Scorpio Records included

Henry Thomas Henry Jackson Thomas (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor and had the lead role of Elliott Taylor in the film '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), for which he won a Young Artist Award and rece ...

's "Don't Ease Me In". On October 21, 2002, the sessions appeared on the band's twelve-CD box set '' The Golden Road (1965-1973)''.

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician who was the lead guitarist and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence during the counterculture of the 196 ...

also recorded the song with friend and collaborator David Grisman, which appeared on the album '' Shady Grove'' in 1996, and on the compilation album, ''Acoustic Disc 100% Handmade Music, Volume 3'' in 1997.

Album appearances

*'' Dave Van Ronk and the Ragtime Jug Stompers'', Dave Van Ronk, 1960 *'' Great White Wonder II'',

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

, 1970 *''

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 ...

'',

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 ...

, 1967 *'' Running Down the Road'',

Arlo Guthrie Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk music, folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing protest song, songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his fa ...

, 1969 (also appears in the 1971 film ''

Two-Lane Blacktop ''Two-Lane Blacktop'' is a 1971 American road film directed and edited by Monte Hellman, from a screenplay by Rudy Wurlitzer and Will Corry. It stars musicians James Taylor and Dennis Wilson, Warren Oates, and Laurie Bird in the leading ro ...

'')

References

{{Authority control 1929 songs Blues songs 1966 singles American folk songs Grateful Dead songs