Beedle Um Bum

Lyrics: Traditional (note 1)
Music: Traditional

Sung by Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions in 1964

Down in Memphis Tennessee, there lives a girl named Cindy
With a meat shop on her block she's always got the gimme's
Now there's a meal called Southern eel that you can't resist from trying
Every time you pass the door you can hear Miss Cindy crying

Oh beedle um bum
Come and see me if you ain't had none
She make a dumb man speak, a lame man run
You sure miss plenty if you ain't had none
What a beedle um bum
What a beedle um bum
She got the best beedle bum down in Tennessee

Down in Memphis Tennessee, there lives a girl named Cindy
With a meat shop on her block she's always got the gimme's
Now there's a meal called Southern eel that you can't resist from trying
Every time you pass the door you can hear Miss Cindy crying

Oh beedle um bum
Come and see me if you ain't had none
She make a dumb man speak, a lame man run
You sure miss plenty if you ain't had none
What a beedle um bum
What a beedle um bum
She got the best beedle bum down in Tennessee

Notes
(1) on the Mother McCree CD, the song is credited to "Booker Y Bradshaw" - and the title is registered under that name with BMI. But I haven't found any other references to him as the author, and Matt Schofield's research shows that it is more normally credited either as "Traditional" or to "Thomas Dorsey" (Georgia Tom).

Grateful Dead and Related Recordings
	Date	Album
	Jul 1964	Mother Mcree's Uptown Jug Champions

Steve Zolotow alerted me to the lyrics of the original Hokum Boys recording in 1928. The Hokum Boys were Tampa Red (Huson Woodbridge) and Georgia Tom (Thomas Dorsey).

Down in Memphis, Tennessee, lives a girl named Simmy
She runs a meat shop on the block, she's always got the gimme
She serves a meal with a tadpole's heel you can�t resist by trying
Every time you pass her door you can hear Miss Simmy crying

Oh, my beedle um bum
Come and see me if you ain�t had none
Make a dumb man speak make a lame man run
Sure miss somethin' if you don�t get some of my
Beedle um bum, oh, my beedle um bum
It's the best beedle um that�s made in Tennessee

Every day at ten o'clock, she'd go down to the station
To the folks that come to town she'd give a little invitation
Every day, from noon till night, she's always busy selling
Beedle um hot and beedle um cold, you can always hear her yelling

Oh, my beedle um bum
Come and see me if you ain't had none
Sure, it ain't made small and it ain't made wide
It's just made up in a medium size
My beedle um bum, oh, my beedle um bum
It's the best beedle um that's made in Tennessee

Oh, my beedle um bum
Come and see me if you ain't had none
Now you don't have to hurry, you don't have to go
You get a little taste, you'll want some more of my
My beedle um bum, oh, my beedle um bum
It's the best beedle um that�s made in Tennessee

Further Information
For more information on recordings see Matt Schofield's Grateful Dead Family Discography