"Just Bummin' Around" was a hit song for

Jimmy Dean Jimmy Ray Dean (August 10, 1928 – June 13, 2010) was an American country music singer, television host, actor and businessman. He was the creator of the Jimmy Dean (brand), Jimmy Dean sausage brand as well as the spokesman for its TV comm ...

as "Bumming Around" in 1952 reached No. 5 in the Billboard Country charts. Another version by T. Texas Tyler also reached the No. 5 spot in the same charts in 1953. The song was written by Pete Graves. Graves, who also recorded the tune, is quoted as saying that he took lyrics from a rodeo song he had written when he was a rodeo rider, including the lines free as a breeze, I do as I please, nothing to lose and not even the blues, and added them into "Just Bummin' Around." Graves also said he pulled the line "I got an old slouch hat" from an

Ernest Tubb Ernest Dale Tubb (February 9, 1914 – September 6, 1984), nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" (1941), marked ...

song, "Blue Eyed Elaine." He said he waited on Tubb to sue him but he didn't.

Other recordings

The song was later recorded by American singer

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor, and comedian. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Cool", he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of ...

in 1965 and included as the B side of his single ''

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

''. He included it on his 1965 album '' (Remember Me) I'm the One Who Loves You'' and it was reprised by him in the 1967 television special, '' Movin' With Nancy'', starring Nancy Sinatra. The television special was released to home video in 2000.

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an American singer, actor, and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, from 1943 until 1987 ...

recorded the song in 1965 but it was not released until it was included in the compilation CD set ''Yesterday and Today'' in 1993.

Bobby Darin Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor who performed Pop music, pop, Swing music, swing, Folk music, folk, rock and roll, and country music. Darin started ...

was another who recorded the song in 1965 and this remained unreleased until it turned up on the album ''Bobby Darin - The Unreleased Capitol Sides'' in 1999.

References

{{authority control 1966 songs 1968 singles Dean Martin songs Song recordings produced by Bob Gaudio