Up on Cripple Creek - wikipedia Up on Cripple Creek For the Bluegrass tune, see Cripple Creek ( folk song ). `` Up on Cripple Creek '' Single by The Band from the album The Band B - side `` The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down '' Released November 29, 1969 Format 45 - rpm record Recorded 1969 Genre Roots rock, Americana Length 4 : 34 Label Capitol Songwriter ( s ) Robbie Robertson Producer ( s ) John Simon The Band singles chronology `` The Weight '' ( 1968 ) `` Up on Cripple Creek '' ( 1969 ) `` The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down '' ( 1969 ) `` The Weight '' ( 1968 ) `` Up on Cripple Creek '' ( 1969 ) `` The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down '' ( 1969 ) `` Up on Cripple Creek '' is the fifth song on The Band 's eponymous second album, The Band. It was released as an ( edited ) single on Capitol 2635 in November 1969 and reached # 25 on the Billboard Hot 100. `` Up on Cripple Creek '' was written by Band guitarist and principal songwriter Robbie Robertson, with drummer Levon Helm singing lead vocal. A 1976 live performance of `` Up on Cripple Creek '' appears in the Band 's concert film The Last Waltz, as well as on the accompanying soundtrack album. In addition, live performances of the song appear on Before the Flood, which records the Band 's 1974 tour with Bob Dylan, as well as on the 2001 expanded edition of Rock of Ages, originally released in 1972. `` Up on Cripple Creek '' is notable as it is one of the first instances of a Hohner clavinet being played with a wah - wah pedal. The riff can be heard after each chorus of the song. The clavinet, especially in tandem with a wah - wah pedal was a sound that became famous in the early to mid-1970s, especially in funk music. The Band performed the song on the Ed Sullivan Show in November 1969. Contents 1 Lyrics and music 2 Chart performance 3 Personnel 4 In popular culture 5 Recorded covers 6 References 7 External links Lyrics and music Drawing upon the Band 's musical roots -- the American South, American rock and roll, and bluegrass / country -- the song is sung from the point of view of a truck driver who goes to Lake Charles, Louisiana, to stay with a local girl, Bessie, with whom he has a history. In the song, he gambles, drinks, listens to music, and spends time with `` little Bessie, '' who takes an active role in the goings - on, while expressing her opinions, further endearing herself to the narrator. At the end of the song, after exhausting himself on the road, he talks about going home to his woman, `` big mama, '' but is tempted to return to Bessie again. Or he may not be cheating. Truckers also use the term `` Big Mama '' to refer to their dispatcher over the CB radio. Concerns about the weather in other parts of the country and the line `` this life of living on the road '' suggest over-the - road trucking. At the start of the song he 's hauling logs off a mountain and at the end he may be weighing options : `` rolling in '' to home base for a new cargo or seeing his Bessie again. Robertson has said of the song : 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. AllMusic critic Bill Janovitz describes the melody as `` light and catchy, '' also stating that the song has a `` New Orleans groove. '' Janovitz also regards the `` non-traditional, funky style '' of Garth Hudson 's clavinet playing a precursor of Stevie Wonder 's similar keyboard playing on `` Superstition. '' The hip hop duo Gang Starr sampled the rhythm track on their own song `` Beyond Comprehension. '' Chart performance Chart ( 1969 - 70 ) Peak position Canadian RPM Singles Chart 10 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 25 Personnel Levon Helm -- lead vocals, drums Rick Danko -- bass guitar, backing vocals Garth Hudson -- clavinet with wah - wah pedal, Lowrey organ Richard Manuel -- piano, backing vocals Robbie Robertson -- electric guitar In popular culture The song played into the credits of episode 11 of the second season of The Last Man on Earth. Recorded covers The Oak Ridge Boys, on their 1982 album Bobbie Sue Tom Wopat, on the 1979 The Dukes of Hazzard TV show soundtrack Gomez, on the 2007 Band tribute album Endless Highway : The Music of The Band Farmboy, on the 2003 album Farmboy Apollo Sunshine, on the 2005 album Live at the Paradise Chadwick Stokes Urmston, on the 2011 album Live at the Armory Blackberry Smoke with Bob Weir, on the 2017 DVD An Evening At TRI References Jump up ^ Billboard chart positions from AllMusicGuide ^ Jump up to : Janovitz, B. `` Up on Cripple Creek ''. Allmusic. Retrieved 2014 - 02 - 26. Jump up ^ `` Mike Miller returns to Earth on a solid The Last Man On Earth ''. www.avclub.com. Retrieved 2016 - 03 - 08. External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics The Band Rick Danko Levon Helm Garth Hudson Richard Manuel Robbie Robertson Richard Bell Randy Ciarlante Stan Szelest Jim Weider Studio albums Music from Big Pink The Band Stage Fright Cahoots Moondog Matinee Northern Lights -- Southern Cross Islands Jericho High On The Hog Jubilation with Bob Dylan Planet Waves The Basement Tapes Live albums Rock of Ages Before the Flood The Last Waltz ( 1978 album ) Live at Watkins Glen The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 : Bob Dylan Live 1966 The Last Waltz ( 2002 album ) Live at the Academy of Music 1971 Compilations The Best of The Band Anthology To Kingdom Come Across The Great Divide The Best of The Band, Vol. II Greatest Hits A Musical History The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 : The Basement Tapes Complete Films The Last Waltz Festival Express Singles `` Uh - Uh - Uh '' `` The Stones I Throw '' `` Go Go Liza Jane '' `` The Weight '' / `` I Shall Be Released '' `` Rag Mama Rag '' / `` The Unfaithful Servant '' `` Up on Cripple Creek '' / `` The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down '' `` Time to Kill '' / `` The Shape I 'm In '' `` Life Is a Carnival '' `` On a Night Like This '' ( with Bob Dylan ) `` Most Likely You Go Your Way ( And I 'll Go Mine ) '' ( with Bob Dylan ) `` Ophelia '' `` Atlantic City '' Other songs `` Tears of Rage '' `` We Can Talk '' `` Long Black Veil '' `` Chest Fever '' `` Lonesome Suzie `` This Wheel 's on Fire '' `` Across the Great Divide '' `` When You Awake '' `` Whispering Pines '' `` Jemima Surrender '' `` Look Out Cleveland '' `` King Harvest ( Has Surely Come ) '' `` Sleeping '' `` The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show '' `` Daniel and the Sacred Harp '' `` Stage Fright '' `` When I Paint My Masterpiece '' `` Do n't Do It '' `` Mystery Train '' `` Acadian Driftwood '' `` It Makes No Difference '' `` Georgia on My Mind '' `` Blind Willie McTell '' Related Discography Bob Dylan Bob Dylan World Tour 1966 Bob Dylan and The Band 1974 Tour Cate Brothers Ronnie Hawkins Big Pink List of Basement Tapes songs List of Basement Tapes songs ( 1975 ) No Reason to Cry John Simon This Wheel 's on Fire : Levon Helm and the Story of The Band Allen Toussaint Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Up_on_Cripple_Creek&oldid=804421905 '' Categories : The Band songs 1969 songs Songs written by Robbie Robertson Song recordings produced by John Simon ( record producer ) 1969 singles Capitol Records singles Hidden categories : Articles with hAudio microformats Talk Contents About Wikipedia Español Italiano Norsk Norsk nynorsk Português Edit links This page was last edited on 8 October 2017, at 22 : 21. 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Question: who wrote the song up on cripple creek
Answer: Robbie Robertson