"Up On Cripple Creek" Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley at Almost Famous 2024/08/18 20240818 211732

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"Up on Cripple Creek" The Band
Track 20 on A Musical History Producer John Simon
Up on Cripple Creek is The Band’s fifth song on their self-titled second album, which was released in 1969 on Capital Records. The song was written by lead guitarist Robbie… Read More
Sep. 22, 1969
Up on Cripple Creek Lyrics
[Verse 1]
When I get off of this mountain
You know where I want to go?
Straight down the Mississippi River
To the Gulf of Mexico
To Lake Charles, Louisiana
Little Bessie, girl that I once knew
She told me just to come on by
If there's anything she could do
[Chorus]
Up on Cripple Creek, she sends me
If I spring a leak, she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one
[Verse 2]
Good luck had just stung me
To the race track I did go
She bet on one horse to win
And I bet on another to show
The odds were in my favor
I had 'em five to one
When that nag to win came around the track
Sure enough, she had won
[Chorus]
Up on Cripple Creek, she sends me
If I spring a leak, she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one
[Verse 3]
I took up all of my winnings
And I gave my little Bessie half
She tore it up and threw it in my face
Just for a laugh
Now there's one thing in the whole wide world
I sure would like to see
That's when that little love of mine
Dips her doughnut in my tea
He-he!
[Chorus]
Up on Cripple Creek, she sends me
If I spring a leak, she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one
[Verse 4]
Now me and my mate were back at the shack
We had Spike Jones on the box
She said, "I can't take the way he sings
But I love to hear him talk"
Now that just gave my heart a throb
To the bottom of my feet
And I swore as I took another pull
My Bessie can't be beat
[Chorus]
Up on Cripple Creek, she sends me
If I spring a leak, she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one
[Interlude]
No-no, hu-hu
Lodl-lodl-lodl-uh-hu
No-no-hu
Lodl-lodl-lodl-uh-hu
[Verse 5]
Now there's a flood out in California
And up north it's freezing cold
And this living on the road is getting pretty old
So I guess I'll call up my big mama
Tell her I'll be rolling in
But you know deep down, I'm kind of tempted
To go and see my Bessie again
[Chorus]
Up on Cripple Creek, she sends me
If I spring a leak, she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one
[Outro]
No-no, hu-hu
Lodl-lodl-lodl-uh-hu
No-no-hu
Lodl-lodl-lodl-uh-hu
No-no-hu
Lodl-lodl-lodl-uh-hu
No-no-hu
Lodl-lodl-lodl-uh-hu
Up on Cripple Creek is The Band’s fifth song on their self-titled second album, which was released in 1969 on Capital Records. The song was written by lead guitarist Robbie Robertson and sung by drummer Levon Helm.
When asked about the song, Robertson said:
We’re not dealing with people at the top of the ladder, we’re saying what about that house out there in the middle of that field? What does this guy think, with that one light on upstairs, and that truck parked out there? That’s who I’m curious about. What is going on in there? And just following the story of this person, and he just drives these trucks across the whole country, and he knows these characters that he drops in on, on his travels. Just following him with a camera is really what this song’s all about.