When I was just a little young boy,
Papa said “Son, you’ll never get far,
I’ll tell you the reason if you want to know,
’cause, child of mine, there isn’t really very far to go”
Well, baby, baby wants a gold diamond ring
Wants it more than most any old thing
Well when I get those jelly roll blues1
Why, I’d go and get anything in this world for you.
Down to the jewelry store packing a gun,
says, “Wrap it up. I think I’ll take this one.”
“A thousand dollars, please,” the jewelry man said
Dupree, he said, “I’ll pay this one off to you in lead”
Chorus:
Well, you know, son, you just can’t figure,
First thing you know you’re gonna pull that
trigger
and it’s no wonder your reason goes
bad—
jelly roll will drive you stone mad
Judge said, “Son, this gonna cost you some time”
Dupree said, “Judge, you know that crossed my mind”
Judge said, “Fact, it’s gonna cost you your life”
Dupree said, “Judge, you know that seems to me to be about right”
Well, baby, baby’s gonna lose her sweet man
Dupree come out with a losing hand
Baby’s gonna weep it up for a while
then go on out
and find another sweet man’s gonna treat her with style
Judge said, “Son, I know your baby well
but that’s a secret I can’t never tell”
Dupree said, “Judge, well it’s well understood,
and you got to admit that that sweet, sweet jelly’s so good”
(Chorus)
Same old story and I know it’s been told,
some like jelly-jelly—some like gold
Many a man’s done a terrible thing
just to get baby that shiny diamond ring
Words by Robert Hunter
Music by Jerry Garcia
Jelly roll is African American slang for the female genitals.
“Jelly Roll Blues” was written by Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton, the great jazz composer-pianist of the 1920s, and recorded by an all-star roster of jazz musicians over the years, from Louis Armstrong to Sidney Bechet and Bunny Berrigan.
Studio recording: Aoxomoxoa (June 20, 1969).
First documented performance: February 11, 1969, at the Fillmore East in New York. After 1969, dropped from the repertoire until the late seventies, when it made a brief reappearance; then brought back in 1982 for the duration of the decade.
The text of the song is a reworking of the song “Betty and Dupree,” with many incarnations in American folk tradition. It was based on a true incident:
The biography of the man and his crimes may be summarized as follows: Frank Dupree grew up in Abbeville, South Carolina. He came on the scene in December 1921 in Atlanta, Georgia, where he had a gal Betty. In trying to appropriate a diamond for her in a jewelry store, he shot a policeman down. Fleeing to Memphis and later to Chicago, where he was cornered, he killed a policeman and wounded several more. He was caught while getting his mail and sent to Atlanta for trial. He was executed for murder on September 1, 1922. (Roberts)
Here are two versions of the song:
BETTY AND DUPREE
Dupree was settin’ in a hotel,
Wasn’t thinkin’ ‘bout a doggone thing,
Settin’ in a hotel,
Wasn’t thinkin’ ‘bout a doggone thing.
Betty said to Dupree,
I want a diamond ring.
Dupree went to town
With a .45 in his hand.
He went to town with a .45 in his hand.
He went after jewelry—
But he got the jewelry man.
Dupree went to Betty cryin’,
Betty, here is your diamond ring.
He went to Betty cryin’
Here is your diamond ring.
Take it and wear it, Betty,
’Cause I’m bound for cold old cold Sing Sing.
Then he called a taxi
Cryin’, drive me to Tennessee.
Taxi, taxi, taxi,
Drive me to Tennessee.
He said, drive me, bubber,
’Cause the dicks is after me.
He went to the post office
To get his evenin’ mail.
Went to the general delivery
To get his evenin’ mail.
They caught poor Dupree, lordy,
Put him in Nashville Jail.
Dupree said to the judge, Lord,
I ain’t been here before.
Lord, Lord, Lord, Judge,
Judge said, I’m gonna break your neck, Dupree,
So you can’t come here no more.
Betty weeped, Betty moaned
Till she broke out with sweat.
Betty weeped and she moaned
Till she broke out with sweat.
Said she moaned and she weeped
Till her clothes got soppin’ wet.
Betty brought him coffee,
Betty brought him tea.
Betty brought him coffee,
Also brought him tea.
She brought him all he needed
‘Cept that big old jailhouse key.
[Note relationship to “Don’t Ease Me In”]
Dupree said, it’s whiskey I crave,
Bring me flowers to my grave.
It’s whiskey I crave.
Bring flowers to my grave.
That little ole Betty’s
Done made me her doggone slave.
It was early one mornin’
Just about the break o’ day,
Early, early one morning’
Just about break o’ day,
They had him testifyin’
And this is what folks heard him say:
Give my pappy my clothes,
Oh, give poor Betty my shoes.
Give pappy my clothes,
And give poor Betty my shoes.
And if anybody asks you,
Tell ’em I died with the heartbreakin’ blues.
They lead him to the scaffold
With a black cap over his face.
Lead him up to the scaffold,
Black cap over his face.
Some ole lonesome graveyard’s
Poor Dupree’s restin’ place.
The choir followed him
Singin’ “Nearer My God to Thee.”
The choir followed him,
“Nearer My God to Thee.”
Poor Betty, she was cryin’
Have mercy on Dupree!
[Note relationship to “Stagger Lee”]
Sail on! Sail on!
Sail on, Dupree, sail on!
Sail on! Sail on!
Sail on, sail on, sail on!
I don’t mind you sailin’
But you’ll be gone so doggone long!
(Courlander)
DUPREE
Dupree was a bandit,
He was so brave and bol’,
He stoled a diamond ring
For some of Betty’s jelly roll.
Betty tol’ Dupree,
“I want a diamond ring.”
Dupree tol’ Betty,
“I’ll give you anything.”
“Michigan water
Taste like cherry wine,
The reason I know:
Betty drink it all the time.
“I’m going away
To the end of the railroad track.
Nothing but sweet Betty
Can bring me back.”
Dupree tol’ the lawyer,
“Clear me if you can,
For I have money to back me,
Sure as I’m a man.”
The lawyer tol’ Dupree,
But I think you will
Go to jail and hang.”
Dupree tol’ the judge,
“I am not so brave and bol’,
But all I wanted
Was Betty’s jelly roll.”
The judge tol’ Dupree,
“Jelly roll’s gonna be your ruin.”
“No, no judge, for that is
What I’ve done quit doin’.”
The judge tol’ Dupree,
“I believe you quit too late,
Because it is
Already your fate.”
(Odum)
Jazz Anecdotes by Bill Crow mentions a swing-band era jazz musician named Reese Dupree who penned a tune called “Dupree’s Blues” (he also wrote the song “Shortnin’ Bread”). As an added bonus, the anecdote in Crow’s book also mentions Dupree in connection with Jelly Roll Morton, the great jazz composer-pianist of the 1920s. Morton, of course, penned the classic jazz instrumental “Jelly Roll Blues.”