"Stealin" (also called "Stealin', Stealin'") is an American blues song from the 1920s. It originated with

jug band A jug band is a band employing a 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, washboard, spoons, bones, stovep ...

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 tradi ...

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 Gustavus "Gus" Cannon (September 12, 1883 or 1884 – October 15, 1979) was an American blues musician who helped to popularize jug bands (such as his own Cannon's Jug Stompers) in the 1920s and 1930s. There is uncertainty about his birth year; ...

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. Modern versions can be traced back to Blind Lemon Jefferson's "Deceitful Brownskin Blues", which was released as ...

" 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 The Memphis Jug Band was an American musical group active from the mid-1920s to the late-1950s. The band featured harmonica, kazoo, fiddle and mandolin or banjolin, backed by guitar, piano, washboard, washtub bass and jug. They played slow b ...

as "Stealin', Stealin'". The recording session took place on September 15, 1928, in Memphis, Tennessee, and featured

Will Shade William Shade Jr. (February 5, 1898 – September 18, 1966), known as Will Shade, was a Memphis blues musician, best known for his leadership of the Memphis Jug Band. He was commonly called Son Brimmer, a nickname from his grandmother Annie Bri ...

on harmonica, Charlie Burse lead vocal and guitar, Ben Ramey on harmony vocal and

kazoo The kazoo is an American 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'' (which itself is a membranophone), one of a class of instruments which modif ...

, and Jab Jones on

jug A jug is a type of container commonly used to hold liquids. It has an opening, sometimes narrow, from which to pour or drink, and has a handle, and often a pouring lip. Jugs throughout history have been made of metal, and ceramic, or glass, and ...

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsid ...

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 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

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

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

'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 best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence ...

also recorded the song with friend and collaborator

David Grisman David Grisman (born March 23, 1945) is an American mandolinist. His music combines bluegrass, folk, and jazz in a genre he calls "Dawg music". He founded the record label Acoustic Disc, which issues his recordings and those of other acoustic mu ...

, 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 David Kenneth Ritz Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 – February 10, 2002) was an American folk singer. An important figure in the American folk music revival and New York City's Greenwich Village scene in the 1960s, he was nicknamed the "Mayor of Mac ...

, 1960 *'' Great White Wonder II'',

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, 1970 *''

Little Games ''Little Games'' is the fourth American album by 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 bas ...

'',

the Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samw ...

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

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

, 1969 (also appears in the 1971 film ''

Two-Lane Blacktop ''Two-Lane Blacktop'' is a 1971 American road movie directed by Monte Hellman, written by Rudy Wurlitzer and starring songwriter James Taylor, the Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, Warren Oates, and Laurie Bird. Plot Two street racers, the Dr ...

'')

References

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