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Big Ball’s in Cowtown
Old-Time, Song Tune. Traditional;
ARTIST: Bob Wills; Written by Hoyle Nix based on folk material; Recording is Folk Masters concert and radio series, recorded live at the Wolf Trap in 1992
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
Listen: Big Ball's In Cowtown- Texas Playboys
Listen: J. E. Mainer- Big Ball In Town
Listen: Skillet Lickers- Big Ball In Town
Listen: Roll on De Ground- Billy Golden
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes; DATE: 1800’s- recorded by Billy Golden in the 1890s (Meade)
RECORDING INFO: Del McCoury- High on a Mountain Rounder; J.E. Mainer- Good Old Mountain Music; Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers, "Big Ball In Town" (Columbia 15204-D, 1927); Thaddeus C. Willingham, "Roll on the Ground" (AFS, 1939; on LC02, LCTreas); Cooper, Wilma Lee. Songs to Remember, Cooper, Fol (19??), p 4 (Big Ball's in Boston); Mainer's Mountaineers (J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers). Good Ole Mountain Music, King 666, LP (196?), cut# 12; Mountain Ramblers. Sounds of the South, Atlantic 7-82496-2, CD( (1993), cut#1.23 (Big Ball's in Boston); New Lost City Ramblers. There Ain't No Way Out, Smithsonian/Folkways 40098, CD (1997), cut#15; Nix, Hoyle; and his West Texas Cowboys. Operators' Special, String STR 807, LP (1979), cut#B.02 (Big Ball's in CowTown); Poston, Mutt; and the Farm Hands. Hoe Down! Vol. 6. Country Blues Instrumentals, Rural Rhythm RR 156, LP (197?), cut# 8 (Big Ball's in Memphis); Skillet Lickers. Skillet Lickers, Vol. 1, County 506, LP (196?), cut# 3; Texas Playboys. Texas Music, Heritage (Galax) 066, LP (1986), cut#A.04d (Big Ball's in CowTown); Mysterious Redbirds. Mysterious Redbirds, Copper Creek CCCD 0188, CD (2000), cut# 7 (Roll on the Ground); Paley, Tom. Hard Luck Papa. Old Time Picking Styles & Techniques, Kicking Mule KM 201, LP (1976), cut# 13 (Roll on the Ground); Paley, Tom. Shivaree!, Esoteric ES-538, LP (1955), cut# 10 (Roll on the Ground); Skillet Lickers. Corn Licker Still in Georgia, Voyager VRLP 303, LP (197?), cut#A.15 (Roll on the Ground); Smith, Ralph Lee. Allan Block & Ralph Lee Smith, Meadowlands MS 1, LP (1971), cut#B.09; Willingham, Thaddeus. Anglo-American Shanties, Lyric Songs, Dance Tunes & Spirituals, Library of Congress AAFS L 2, LP (195?), cut# 9
RELATED TO: "Roll On the Ground"
OTHER NAMES: “Big Ball Up Town,” ”Big Ball's in Boston.” "Hook Nose In Brooklyn," “Big Ball's in CowTown” Many versions include “Big Ball in Bristol” etc.
SOURCES: Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 200, (Big Ball's In Town); Silber-FSWB, p. 199, (Roll On The Ground) New Lost City Ramblers. Old-Time String Band Songbook, Oak, Sof (1964/1976), p200; Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc;
Traditional Ballad Index: Roll on the Ground (Big Ball's in Town)
DESCRIPTION: Floating verses: "Let's have a party, let's have a time/Let's have a party, I've only a dime"; "Work on the railroad, sleep on the ground/Eat soda crackers, ten cents a pound." Chorus: "Roll on the ground, boys, roll on the ground (x2)."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1899 (recording, Billy Golden)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Floating verses, mostly concerning high life: "Get on your big shoes, get on your gown/Shake off those sad blues, Big Ball's in town"; "Let's have a party, let's have a time/Let's have a party, I've only a dime"; "My love's in jail, boys, my love's in jail/My love's in jail, boys, who's going her bail?" And "Work on the railroad, sleep on the ground/Eat soda crackers, ten cents a pound." Chorus: "Big Ball's in Boston [Nashville], Big Ball's in town/Big Ball's in Boston, we'll dance around." Or, in the other common version, "Roll on the ground, boys, roll on the ground (x2)."
KEYWORDS: prison dancing drink humorous nonballad floatingverses dancetune
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
BrownIII 234, "Working on the Railroad" (1 text plus two unrelated fragments, the "B" and "C" fragments probably belong here; the "A" text is a jumble starting with "Working on the Railroad" but followed up by what is probably a "Song of All Songs" fragment)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 200, "Big Ball's In Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 199, "Roll On The Ground" (1 text)
DT, ROLLGRND*
Roud #12114 (and probably others)
RECORDINGS:
Warren Caplinger's Cumberland Mountain Entertainers, "Big Ball in Town" (Brunswick 241, 1928)
Georgia Yellow Hammers, "Big Ball in Memphis" (Victor V-40138, 1929)
Billy Golden, "Roll on the Ground" (Berliner 0539, c. 1900; Victor A-616, c. 1901; rec. 1899) (CYL Albany 1131 [as "Roll On de Ground"], n.d.) (CYL: Lambert 5077 [as "Roll on de Ground"], n.d. but c. 1900)
Al Hopkins & his Buckle Busters, "Roll on the Ground" (Brunswick 186, 1927)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers, "Big Ball's in Town" (King 622, 1947)
Fate Norris & his Playboys, "Roll 'em on the Ground" (Columbia 15435-D, 1929)
Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers, "Big Ball In Town" (Columbia 15204-D, 1927)
Taylor-Griggs Louisiana Melody Makers, "Big Ball Up Town" (Victor 21768, 1928)
Thaddeus C. Willingham, "Roll on the Ground" (AFS, 1939; on LC02, LCTreas)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Big Ball's in Boston
Notes: Harry Oster has reported an anti-Semitic variant from Louisiana, "Hook Nose In Brooklyn." - PJS
Cohen/Seeger/Wood report "This tune is the sort that exists only for itself and its suitability on the banjo, the words being only very freely attached and often with reference to a drunken state." This seems to be true of most variants, except perhaps for the prejudiced version mentioned by Paul. - RBW
Maybe so; the piece, however, seems to have begun life as a "coon song" -- a popular minstrel piece. - PJS
NOTES: This is Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys version which was written/arranged by Hoyle Nix based on folk material. The recording is the Texas Playboys in the Folk Masters concert and radio series, recorded live at the Wolf Trap in 1992.
HISTORY "Big Ball in Town"
Recording artist and stage entertainer Billy Golden adapted a traditional minstrel song "Roll on de Ground" recording it by this title in 1896. In the 1890s another version titled "Big Ball Up Town" was recorded by Golden. "Big Ball Up Town" is fairly rare and I've not been able to locate a copy.
A probable cover of the song was done by Taylor-Griggs Louisiana Melody Makers, "Big Ball Up Town" (Victor 21768, 1928). Taylor who played played the fiddle, was a friend of Ed Conger, the owner of the local furniture store-cum-funeral parlor in Arcadia. Conger, a often listened to the group during practice sessions. Conger liked music, but he also sold Victrolas and the 78 r.p.m. records that played on them, so the group had access to Golden's song.
The first old-time country recording of “Big Ball In Town” was the result of Gid Tanner & Riley Puckett using the tune and some lyrics of the established "Big Ball Up Town/Roll on the Ground" songs in 1924. In 1928 Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers recorded another version.
Golden subsequently recorded several version of the song. Here's my transcription of Bill Golden's recording "Roll on de Ground".
Roll on de Ground (1911) With orchestra- Collected Works of Billy Golden
Listen: Roll on De Ground- Billy Golden
(orchestral intro)
spoken: Roll you webfoot, you webfoot roll
Well, When you've got lots of money,
Roll in my arms.
And when all your money's gone
Roll on the ground.
I went down to New Orleans,
Didn't go to stay.
And I throwed myself in a yellow gal's lap
And the yellow gal fainted away.
Roll on the ground boys,
Roll on the ground, well-
Roll on the ground boys
Roll on the ground, keep a rollin'
Roll on the ground boys,
Roll on the ground, well, well
Roll on the ground boys
Roll on the ground.
I went to see Miss Suzy
A-standing at the door
Shoes and stockings in her hand
Her feet all over the floor
Raccoon's got a bushy tail
Possum's tail is bare
Rabbit got no tail at all
Just a little bunch of hair
Roll on the ground boys,
Roll on the ground, well-
Roll on the ground boys
Roll on the ground, keep a rollin'
Roll on the ground boys,
Roll on the ground, well, well
Roll on the ground boys
Roll on the ground.
Many old-time groups adapted Golden's arrangement; Hill Billies "Roll on the Ground":
Chorus: Roll on the ground boys
Roll on the ground keep rollin
Roll on the ground boys
Roll on the ground
Also included in this collection is "Big Ball's in Cowtown" by Bob Wills.
According to Kuntz: (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc). The tune was recorded by J.E. Mainer's Mountaineers, and by West Virginia string band duo the Cumberland Mountain Entertainers (Sam Caplinger & fiddler Andy Patterson {1893-1950}) in 1928 for Brunswick-Vocalation (Later the duo moved to Akron, Ohio, and formed the Dixie Harmonizers, who recorded for Gennett). Heritage 048, "Georgia Fiddle Bands" {Brandywine, 1982} (1983). Cohen/Seeger/Wood report "This tune is the sort that exists only for itself and its suitability on the banjo, the words being only very freely attached and often with reference to a drunken state." The same melody is used for versions of “Don't Get Troubled in Mind”.
Big Balls in Cowtown-Hoyle Nix
Bob Wills' Version Listen: Big Ball's In Cowtown- Texas Playboys
Workin' on the railroad
Sleepin' on the ground
Eatin' saltine crackers
Ten cents a pound
CHORUS: Big ball's in cowtown
We'll all go down
Big ball's in cowtown
We'll dance around
(heeeeeeyyyyyyy!! Come're mamma the hog's done got me)
Everybody's smilin'
You can't find a frown
The girls all are happy
cause the big ball's in town
chorus
Put on your new shoes
Put on your gown
Shake off them sad blues
The big ball's in town
chorus
I'll go to cowtown
I'll stick around
Board up your windows
the big ball's in town
NIX, HOYLE (1918–1985). Hoyle Nix, West Texas fiddler, bandleader, and exponent of the Bob Willsqv sound, was born to Jonah Lafayette Nix and Myrtle May (Brooks) Nix on March 22, 1918, in Azel, Texas. The family moved to Big Spring when Hoyle was one year old. His father was a fiddler and his mother a guitarist, and the couple often performed together at community gatherings. Nix was six years old when he learned his first fiddle tune. In addition to his parents' influence, the music of Bob Wills was also very important to his style. According to Nix, Wills was the finest fiddler he ever heard. Nix and his brother Ben formed the West Texas Cowboys in 1946 and patterned the band after Wills's Texas Playboys. In 1954 the Nix brothers built a small dance hall on the Snyder highway just outside of Big Spring and named it the Stampede. Nix had already established a dance circuit in the area and was making regular appearances in other towns, including Abilene, Lubbock, Midland, Odessa, and San Angelo. The West Texas Cowboys cut their first recordings in 1949 for the Dallas-based Star Talent label. The initial Star Talent release, Nix's "Big Ball's in Cowtown," a folk-derived re-write, proved to be an enduring standard. He continued to record for small Texas record companies—Queen, Caprock, Bo-Kay, and Winston—in the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1968 Nix started his own label, Stampede, named after the dancehall. During the late 1950s, the West Texas Cowboys grew to its largest size with nine members. The band at this time included former Texas Playboys Eldon Shamblin, Millard Kelso, and Louis Tierney. Nix had first shared a stage with Bob Wills in 1952 in Colorado City, Texas, and their two bands soon began touring together, splitting the playing time at each dance. After Wills disbanded the Texas Playboys in the early 1960s, he continued to appear with Nix on a fairly regular basis until his first stroke in 1969. The respect that Wills had for Nix was evidenced when he invited Nix and his son Jody to participate in what turned out to be Wills's final recording session, For the Last Time, in 1973. Nix's last recordings were made in 1977 and released on Oil Patch. He was inducted into the Nebraska Country Music Hall of Fame in 1984, the Colorado Country Music Hall of Fame in 1985, the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame in 1991, and the Western Swing Hall of Fame in 1991. He died after a short illness on August 21, 1985, in Big Spring, Texas. Nix married five times and had four children, Larry (1940), Jody (1952), Hoylene (1957), and Robin (1959). Larry joined his father's band in 1957 and played bass. When Jody signed on in 1960 as drummer and fiddler, the two siblings became the rhythm section of the West Texas Cowboys, a position they held for the next twenty-five years. Jody Nix took over leadership of the band as his father wanted, and with the younger Nix carrying on the show, Texans were assured of dancing to the music of a Nix fiddle well into the twenty-first century. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Joe W. Specht, "An Interview with Hoyle Nix, the West Texas Cowboy," Old Time Music, nos. 34–36 (1980–81). Paul Kingsbury, ed., The Encyclopedia of Country Music: The Ultimate Guide to the Music (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998). Joe W. Specht
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