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Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie was performed by the Grateful Dead in acoustic sets in 1980 and 1981. It was also performed in acoustic settings by various Jerry Garcia groups.
This song is sometimes credited as traditional and sometimes to Elizabeth Cotten. In interviews Elizabeth Cotten said that she learned the song from country blues singers around Chapel Hill, NC. On other occasions whilst introducing the song on stage she said that she wrote the song.
Some recordings of the song use the title This Life I'm Living.
The notes that accompany the 1989 reissue, Freight Train and Other North Carolina Folk Songs and Tunes, simply state that it is "An unusual blues sung around the Chapel Hill area." and quotes the verses and chorus used by Cotten; One old woman Lord in this town
Keeps a-telling her lies on me
Wish to my soul that old woman would die
Keep a-telling her lies on me Oh babe it ain't no lie
Oh babe it ain't no lie
Oh babe it ain't no lie
Know this life I'm living is very high Been all around this whole round world
Lord I just got back today
Work all the week, hon, and I give it all to you
Honey baby what more can I do Oh babe it ain't no lie
Oh babe it ain't no lie
Oh babe it ain't no lie
Know this life I'm living is very high
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Grateful Dead recordings
 Reckoning, Grateful Dead, 1981
Beyond Description, Grateful Dead, 2004
Reckoning, Grateful Dead, 2006 (bonus on exp. CD)
Live Albums Collection, Grateful Dead, 2013
Complete Live Rarities Collection, Grateful Dead, 2013
The Warfield, 10/9/80 & 10/10/80, Grateful Dead, 2019
The Story Of The Grateful Dead, Grateful Dead, 2020
Garcia / Weir / Kahn / Kreutzmann / Hart
Sing Out!: BCT, April 25, 1981, Various Artists, 2024
Jerry Garcia
Almost Acoustic, Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band, 1988
All Good Things: Jerry Garcia Studio Sessions, 2004
Pure Jerry: Lunt-Fontanne, NYC, 10/31/87, JGAB/JGB, 2004
Reflections, Jerry Garcia, 2005 (bonus on exp. CD)
Pure Jerry: Marin Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Feb 28, 1986, Jerry Garcia & John Kahn, 2009
On Broadway: Act One: Oct 28, 1987, JGAB/JGB, 2015
Acoustic on the Eel, Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band, 2019
Garcia Live: Volume 14: Jan 27, 1986, Garcia / Kahn, 2020
Garcia Live 14 Bonus CD: Jan 28, 1986, Garcia / Kahn, 2020
Pure Jerry: Marin Vets Mem Aud, Feb 28, 1986 (2 LP), Garcia / Kahn, 2023
Other recordings
As Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie or similar
Folk Songs and Instrumentals With Guitar, Elizabeth Cotten, 1958
Jackie Washington, Jackie Washington, 1962
Allen-Ward Trio, Allen-Ward Trio, 1965
Jackie Washington At Club 47, Jackie Washington, 1965
How to Play Blues Guitar, Stefan Grossman, 1966
Large As Life and Twice As Natural, Davy Graham, 1968
Live!, Elizabeth Cotten, 1984
Freight Train and Other North Carolina Folk Songs and Tunes, Elizabeth Cotten, 1989
Anakin, Various Artists (His Name Is Alive), 1998
Ragtime Millionaire, Lightnin' Wells, 1998
Fire in the Soul, Davy Graham, 1999
There Is No Eye: Music For Photographs, Various Artists (Elizabeth Cotten), 2001
Ad Astra Per Aspera, Bingo, 2001
3 and 4, OCS, 2005
 Plays the Music of Newport, Rosebud, 2009
As This Life I'm Living
This Life I'm Living, Carolyn Hester, 1963
Folk Songs. Sweet and Bittersweet, Len & Judy, 1964
Anita and Helen Carter, Anita and Helen Carter, 1964
Ring of Fire, Anita Carter, 1989
Prestige/Folklore Years, Vol. 1, Various Artists (Len & Judy), 1994
Dear Companion, Carolyn Hester, 1995
Appalachian Angel: Her Recordings 1950-1972, Anita Carter, 2004
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