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Big Ball In Town/Big Ball’s in Cowtown/Roll On The Ground
Note: “Big Ball in Memphis” by the Georgia Yellow Hammers is a different unrelated song.
Old-Time, Song Tune. Traditional;
ARTIST: Skillet Lickers- 1928;
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: The Skillet Lickers recording is the 1928 version.
HISTORY
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”.
Bill Ball in Town- Skillet Lickers
Listen: Skillet Lickers- Big Ball In Town
[Fiddle]
CHORUS: Big ball's in Brooklyn,
Big balls in town.
Bill ball's in Brooklyn,
We'll dance around.
[Fiddle]
My love's in jail boys
My love's in jail
My love's in jail boys
Keeps all my bail.
[Fiddle]
CHORUS: Big ball's in Brooklyn,
Big balls in town.
Bill ball's in Brooklyn,
We'll dance around.
[Fiddle]
Work on the railroad
Sleep on the ground
Eat *sody crackers
Ten cents a pound.
[Fiddle]
CHORUS: Big ball's in Brooklyn,
Big balls in town.
Bill ball's in Brooklyn,
We'll dance around.
[Fiddle]
Roll on the ground boys,
Roll on the ground.
Roll on the ground boys,
Roll on the ground.
[Fiddle]
CHORUS: Big ball's in Brooklyn,
Big balls in town.
Bill ball's in Brooklyn,
We'll dance around.
[Fiddle]
Work on the railroad
Sleep on the ground
Eat *sody crackers
Ten cents a pound.
[Fiddle- outro]
*soda crackers
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