"Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms" is an American traditional song. It seems to have developed from lyrics in the cowboy song "My Lula Gal",Logsdon, Guy. The Whorehouse Bells Are Ringing and Other Songs Cowboys Sing, pp. 154 ff. 1995 reprint of UIP (Champaign), 1989. Accessed 13 Jan 2014. itself a development of bawdy British and Appalachian songs generally known as "Bang Bang Rosie" or "Bang Away Lulu."Cray, Ed. The Erotic Muse: American Bawdy Songs 2nd ed., p. 173 ff. UIP (Champaign), 1999. Accessed 13 Jan 2014.A separate development produced the children's rhymes "Miss Lucy had a baby" and "Miss Susie had a steamboat".
The Flatt & Scruggs version was first released as a single by Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys, on December 14, 1951. Buck Owens released his cover version "Rollin' in My Sweet Baby's Arms" in August 1971 as the second single from his album Ruby. The song peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. It also reached number 1 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada.
Versions The earliest recorded version is that of Buster Carter and Preston Young, 1931, with Posey Rorer on fiddle. Maury Finney's 1976 version peaked at No. 76 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.
Chart performance Buck Owens Chart (1971)PeakpositionU.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles2Canadian RPM Country Tracks1
Leon Russell (as Hank Wilson) Chart (1973)PeakpositionAustralia (Kent Music Report)74U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles57U.S. Billboard Hot 10078Canadian RPM Country Tracks30
Maury Finney Chart (1976)PeakpositionU.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles76
References