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Mississippi Half‐Step Uptown Toodleloo

At a glance: Mississippi Half‐Step Uptown Toodleloo and The Grateful Dead

Written automatically from setlist data

Fans have heard The Grateful Dead play Mississippi Half‐Step Uptown Toodleloo live 234 times, from 1972 to 1995. It turns up about once every 6.7 shows. It appeared in 3 of The Grateful Dead's last 25 shows. That is up from 2 in the 25 shows before. Its longest break was 2 years, 5 months, between October 1982 and March 1985. The song is in its longest break yet right now.

It has been played at 130 different venues in 101 cities across 3 countries. Its most frequent stop is Winterland Arena (13 times). It turned up on 34 tours, most often on Summer Tour 1974 (7 shows).

It has opened the show 115 times. Across the 207 performances with a recorded time, it averages 8:55. The longest known version ran 13:35 (Sep 3, 1977), and the shortest 5:01 (Jun 22, 1985). It most often follows Promised Land (10 times) and leads into Franklin’s Tower (38 times).

Fans heard it live 1 year, 4 months before it was released on Wake of the Flood (1973). It is also known as “Mississippi Half‐Step Uptown Toodeloo” and “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo”.

At a glance: Mississippi Half‐Step Uptown Toodleloo and all bands

Written automatically from setlist data

Across all 12 bands on the site, Mississippi Half‐Step Uptown Toodleloo has been played live 512 times, from 1972 to 2026. It turns up about once every 15 shows. Other bands account for 278 plays beyond The Grateful Dead, led by Ratdog with 59. It appeared in 1 of the last 25 shows across all bands. That is down from 2 in the 25 shows before.

It has been played at 312 different venues in 202 cities across 7 countries. Its most frequent stop is Terrapin Crossroads (32 times).

Across the 209 performances with a recorded time, it averages 8:57. The longest known version ran 13:35 (Sep 3, 1977), and the shortest 5:01 (Jun 22, 1985).

Latest performances

Lyrics

On the day when I was born daddy sat down and cried
I had the mark just as plain as day, it could not be denied
They say that Cain caught Abel rollin' loaded dice
Ace of spades behind his ear and him not thinkin' twice

Half-step, Mississippi uptown toodeloo
Hello, baby, I'm gone, goodbye
Half a cup of rock and rye
Farewell to you old southern skies
I'm on my way, on my way

If all you've got to live for is what you left behind
Get yourself a powder charge and seal that silver mine
Lost my boots in transit, baby, pile of smokin' leather
An ill retread to my feet and prayed for better weather

Half-step, Mississippi uptown toodeloo
Hello, baby, I'm gone, goodbye
Half a cup of rock and rye
Farewell to you old southern skies
I'm on my way, on my way

They say that when your ship comes in the first man takes the sails
Second takes the afterdeck, the third, the planks and rails
What's the point of callin' shots, this cue ain't straight in line
Cue ball's made of styrofoam and no one's got the time

Half-step, Mississippi uptown toodeloo
Hello, baby, I'm gone, goodbye
Half a cup of rock and rye
Farewell to you old southern skies
I'm on my way, on my way
On my way

Across the Rio Grandeeo, across the lazy river
Across the Rio Grandeeo, across the lazy river
Across the Rio Grandeeo, across the lazy river
Across the Rio Grandeeo, across the lazy river
Across the Rio Grandeeo, across the lazy river

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Appears on

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Dave’s Picks, Volume 50: The Palladium, New York, NY · 5/3/77 Dave’s Picks, Volume 49: Frost Amphitheatre, Palo Alto, CA · 4/27/85 & 4/28/85 Dave’s Picks, Volume 37: College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA · 4/15/78 Dave’s Picks, Volume 34: Jai-Alai Fronton, Miami, FL · 6/23/74 Dave’s Picks, Volume 25: Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena, Binghamton, NY · 11/6/77 Dave’s Picks, Volume 21: Boston Garden, Boston, MA · 4/2/73 Dave’s Picks, Volume 18: Orpheum Theater, San Francisco · CA, 7/17/76 Dave’s Picks, Volume 16: Springfield Civic Center, Springfield, MA · 3/28/73 Dave’s Picks, Volume 2: Dillon Stadium, Hartford, CT · 7/31/74 Dave’s Picks, Volume 1: The Mosque, Richmond, VA · 5/25/77 Dick’s Picks, Volume 36: The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA 9/21/72 Dick’s Picks, Volume 34: Community War Memorial, Rochester, NY 11/5/77 Dick’s Picks, Volume 33: Oakland Coliseum Stadium, Oakland, CA 10/9 & 10/76 Dick’s Picks, Volume 31: Philadelphia Civic Center, Philadelphia, PA 8/4–5/74, Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ 8/6/74 Dick’s Picks, Volume 28: Salt Palace, Salt Lake City, UT 2/28/73, Pershing Municipal Auditorium, Lincoln, NE 2/26/73 Dick’s Picks, Volume 23: Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, MD 9/17/72 Dick’s Picks, Volume 20: Capital Centre, Landover, MD 9/25/76, Onondaga County War Memorial, Syracuse, NY 9/28/76 Dick’s Picks, Volume 19: Fairgrounds Arena, Oklahoma City, OK 10/19/73 Dick’s Picks, Volume 15: Englishtown, NJ 9/3/77 Dick’s Picks, Volume 14: Boston Music Hall 11/30/73 & 12/2/73 Dick’s Picks, Volume 7: Alexandra Palace, London, England, September 1974

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