Who wrote "Rollin' and Tumblin'"?

Cafe Society
1

Seems easy enough, but it ain’t.

Half of the stuff I see says Muddy.

A quarter says Elmore.

Another quarter says it’s traditional.

What gives?

Thanks.

2

I think it derives from Robert Johnson’s “Up Jumped the Devil,” but God (or the Devil) only knows where he got it. It was and is common for bluesmen to recycle lines and phrases in each other’s tunes.

3

Oops. I need to correct myself; I was thinking of Johnson’s “If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day.”

4

According to this book about the group Canned Heat, Rollin’ and Tumblin’ was a Muddy Waters tune.

http://www.drfeelgood.de/c_heat/ch_book.htm

5

Johnson’s song definitely came first and I think it was sometimes called “Rollin’ and Tumblin’” instead of the longer title. There are lots of blues songs like this. Take a song, change a few lines and the title and say you wrote it, and nobody is sure if you did or not. :stuck_out_tongue:

6

I figured it was something along those lines.

Thanks y’all.

7

What Marley23 said is basically true, but there was a pretty clear antecedent recorded in (I think) 1927 by “Hambone” Willie Newbern. It was called “Roll and Tumble Blues”.

And yes, nonesuch, Robert Johnson’s “If I Had Possesion Over Judgement Day” is his song most resembling ‘Roll and Tumble’, both the melody and the guitar part.

The melodies of several songs by Charlie Patton (“Down the Dirt Road Blues”, recorded in 1929, and “34 Blues”) also bear resemblance.

8

Sorry to misspell your name, nonsuch.