Well, I rolled and I tumbled, cried the whole night long →
“Rollin’ and Tumblin’” is a blues song that has been recorded hundreds of times by various artists. Considered as a traditional, it has been recorded with different lyrics and titles. Authorship is most often attributed to Hambone Willie Newbern or McKinley Morganfield (aka Muddy Waters).
The earliest recorded version is “Minglewood Blues” by Gus Cannon’s Jug Stompers (Victor, 1928), credited to Noah Lewis who played harmonica in the band. Hambone Willie Newbern recorded it as “Roll and Tumble Blues” (Okeh 8679, 1929). Other bluesmen recorded their own versions—such as “If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day” by Robert Johnson (1936)[3] and “Rollin’ Blues” by John Lee Hooker. The best known version became Muddy Waters’ “Rolling and Tumbling,” with Ernest “Big” Crawford on bass, for the Chess brothers’ Aristocrat label in 1950. Leonard Chess insisted that Waters record the song less than a month after Waters had recorded a version for the rival Parkway label, featuring his band mates Little Walter and Baby Face Leroy Foster.[4] The Parkway label credits the Baby Face Leroy Trio, with vocals by Leroy, and Muddy Waters as the songwriter. Elmore James recorded the song as “Rollin’ and Tumblin’” in 1960, with himself credited as author. In 1961, Howlin’ Wolf recorded “Down in the Bottom,” which employed a new set of lyrics and was credited to Willie Dixon.
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Selected versions and variations of “Rollin’ and Tumblin’” can be played here.
