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Silly Bill/ Common Bill/ Altogether Green
Traditional Old-time Song by Frank Spear 1861; Dated 1856 in the Levy Collection as "Altogether Green" Words By Mary F.T. Tucker. Music By T. M. Higgins.
ARTIST: Hill Billies/Al Hopkins
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes; DATE: Early 1900’s;
RECORDING INFO: Silly Bill
Silly Bill [Me II-B13]
Rt - Common Bill
1. Brady, Rafe. Cherokee Rose, Heritage (Galax) 032, LP (1981), trk# 2
2. Burcham, Terry. 49th Annual Galax Old Fiddlers Convention, Heritage (Galax) 700, LP (1985), trk# 7
3. Cahan, Andy;, Laura Fishleder and Lisa Ornstein. Ship in the Clouds, Folkways FTS 31062, LP (1978), trk# 18
4. Hellman, Neal. Hellman, Neal / Dulcimer Songbook, Oak, Sof (1977), p37
5. Hopkins, Al; and his Buckle Busters. Hill Billies, County 405, LP (1973), trk# A.05 [1926/04/30]
6. Kimble Family. Carroll County Pioneers, Marimac 9036, Cas (1992), trk# 13 [1973-77] (Going Down To Raleigh)
7. Krassen, Miles. Krassen, Miles / Appalachian Fiddle, Oak, sof (1973), p59
8. Marion, Carlie. Going Across the River to Hear my Banjo Ring, Marimac 9018, Cas (1988), trk# 18
9. Mountain Ramblers. Sounds of the South, Atlantic 7-82496-2, CD( (1993), trk# 1.22 [1959/07ca]
10. New Lost City Ramblers. Cohen, John, Mike Seeger & Hally Wood / Old Time String Band Songbook, Oak, Sof (1976/1964), p 76
11. Paisley, Bob; and the Southern Grass. Bob Paisley & the Southern Grass, Rounder 0142, LP (1981), trk# 9
12. Russell Family. Old Time Dulcimer Sounds from the Mountains, County 734, LP (1972), trk# 4
13. Stoneman, Ernest; and the Blue Ridge Corn Shuckers. Day in the Mountains, County 512, LP (196?), trk# 7b [1928/02/22] (Possum Trot School Exhibition)
Common Bill [Me II-B13] -Rt - Silly Bill
Sm - Solomon Levi
14. Pound, Louise (ed.) / American Ballads and Songs, Scribner's, Sof (1972), p214/#104 [1914] (I Will Tell You of a Fellow)
15. Lomax, John A. & Alan Lomax / American Ballads and Folk Songs, MacMillan, Bk (1934), p.325 (Hardly Think I Will)
16. Shekerjian, Haig and Regina / Book of Ballads, Songs and Snatches, Harper, sof (1966), p144
17. Brown, Ida. Scarborough, Dorothy / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p308,437 [1930]
18. Eddy, Mary O.. Sandburg, Carl / American Songbag, Harcourt Brace Jovan..., Sof (1955/1928), p 62
19. Hastings, Dr. George E.. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, University of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p427/#119A [1938/11/14]
20. Keene, Mrs. M.. Morris, Alton C. / Folksongs of Florida, Univ. Florida, Bk (1950), p372/#199 [1934-39]
21. Kinnaird, Cinderella. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, University of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p428/#119B [1939/08/16]
22. Linscott, Jennie Hardy. Linscott, Eloise Hubbard / Folk Songs of Old New England, Dover, Bk (1993/1939), p187 [1920-30s]
23. O'Bryant, Joan. Folksongs and Ballads of Kansas, Folkways FA 2134, LP (1957), trk# A.03
24. O'Bryant, Joan. Asch, Moses (ed.) / 124 Folk Songs as Sung and Recorded on Folkways Reco, Robbins Music, Fol (1965), p 30
25. Rasnake, Mary Elizabeth. Scarborough, Dorothy / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p309 [1930]
26. Weavers. Weavers Almanac, Vanguard VRS 9100, LP (196?), trk# B.02 (Bill)
Solomon Levi
Mf - Common Bill ; Pork, Beans, and Hard-Tack
27. Robison, Carson; and his Pleasant Valley Boys. Square Dances, RCA (Victor) LPM-1238, LP (1956), trk# A.03
I. G. Greer w. Mrs. I. G. Greer, "Common Bill" (AFS; on LC14)
Hill Billies, "Silly Bill" (OKeh 40294, 1925)
McGee Brothers, "Charming Bill" (Vocalion 5166, 1927)
McGee Brothers & Todd, "Common Bill" (on CrowTold02)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Common Bill" (on NLCR10)
OTHER NAMES: Common Bill; Bill Green; Charming Bill; Hardly Think I Will
SOURCES: 1893 (Broadwood & Maitland)
Randolph 119, "Common Bill" (2 texts)
Eddy 57, "Common Bill" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 178, "Common Bill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 187-188, "Common Bill" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 195, "Common Bill" (1 text plus 1 excerpt and mention of 3 more)
Hudson 57, pp. 173-174, "Common Bill" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 308-310, "Common Bill" (2 texts, 1 tune on pp. 437-438)
Sandburg, pp. 62-63, "Common Bill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 325-326, "Hardly Think I Will" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 76, "Silly Bill" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 104, pp. 214-215, "I Will Tell You of a Fellow" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 172, "Common Bill" (1 text)
Kuntz: Charlie Higgins and Wade Ward (Galax, Va.) [Krassen]. Johnson, No. 2, 1982/1988; pg. 13. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; pg. 59. Kuntz, Private Collection. Recorded by Galax area musicians Al Hopkins and the Bucklebusters. Document 8039, “The Hill Billies/Al Hopkins and His Buckle Busters: Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, vol. 1” (reissue). Folkways FTS 31062, "Ship in the Clouds: Old Time Instrumental Music" (1978. Learned from the Mountain Ramblers, Galax, Va.). OKeh 40294 (78 RPM), The Hill Billies (1925).
RELATED TO: "Solomon Levi" (melody); "Barney O'Hea" (theme)
NOTES: The singer says Bill "isn't charming," and is "altogether green." He courts her relentlessly, to her scorn. At last he says that he will kill himself if she does not wed him. Citing the Bible's injunction against killing, she consents.
Accordign to Meade, the song was written in 1861 by Frank Spear. He also mentions Lyman Heath, and A. J. Higgins.
The song with 1856 sheet music can be found in the Levy Collection as "Altogether Green, or, I Rather Think I Will," Words By Mary F.T. Tucker; Music By T. M. Higgins.
Silly Bill/ COMMON BILL-Hill Billies
Kuntz: Old‑Time, Breakdown and Song. USA, southwestern Va. G Major. Standard. AA'BB'. A popular comic stage song appearing under the title “Altogether Green (or ‘I Rather Think I Will’)” from the year 1856. The tune appears to be a Galax, Va., regional favorite.
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Old Bill, poor Bill, poor old Silly Bill.
He wishes me to marry him, but I hardly think I will.
***
Silliest fellow, fellow I've ever seen;
He's neither black or yellow, but he's altogether green.
His name is not prince charming, he's only simple Bill;
He wishes me to marry him, but I hardly think I will.
***
He thinks it would be very nice to go strolling down the hill;
Hand in hand together, but I hardly think I will.
Last night he came to see me, he made to longer stay;
And I thought to myself the blockhead will never go away.
***
He told me of his cottage, his cottage among the trees;
And don't you know that fellow got down upon his knees
The tears that fellow wasted would probably turn a mill;
He wishes me to marry him, but I hardly think I will.
***
“Silly Bill” (backed with “Old Time Cinda”) was recorded in New York for Okeh Records on January 15, 1925 by an un-named string band of musicians from the upper South led by fiddler Al Hopkins. According to Mark Green, when Ralph Peer (OKeh’s man running the recording session) asked for the groups’ name, Hopkins is said to have replied something like, ‘We’re nothing but a bunch of hillbillies from North Carolina and Virginia. Call us anything.” The record was issued as “Vocal chorus by Al Hopkins/The Hill Billies,” the first use of the term in association with old-time music [see Wayne Daniel, Pickin’ on Peachtree, 1990, pg. 56).
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