Beat It On Down the Line explained

"Beat It Down the Line" is a country-blues song written by Jesse Fuller and first recorded in 1961.^[1] The lyrics mention "Joe Brown's Coal Mine", which refer to Joseph E. Brown, four times governor of Georgia and president of the Dale Coal Company who ran numerous coal mines in the state.^[2]

The song was covered by the Grateful Dead and was one of the first songs the band played live, even being performed in their pre-Dead jug band incarnation as Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions in 1964^{[3] [4]} and appeared on their first album. It remained in the band's sets throughout their career, being performed at least 323 times between 3/12/66 and 10/3/94, every year except 1976 and 1995.^{[5] [6]}

Notes and References

1. Book: The Grateful Dead in Concert: Essays on Live Improvisation. Jim Tuedio . Stan Spector. 83. McFarland. 2010. 978-0-78645828-8.
2. Book: The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics. David G. Dodd . Alan Trist. 13. Simon and Schuster. 2015. 978-1-501-12332-0.
3. Web site: Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions - Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic. AllMusic.
4. Book: Living with the Dead: Twenty Years on the Bus with Garcia and the Grateful Dead. Rock Scully. 27. Cooper Square Press. 2001. 978-1-461-66113-9.
5. Book: Dead Base 50. John W. Scott, Stu Nixon, Mike Dolgushkin . 578. Watermark Press. 2015. 978-0-692-47093-0.
6. Book: Icons of Rock. Scott Schinder, Andy Schwartz. 344. Greenwood Publishing Group. 2008. 978-0-313-33847-2.