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Wild Bill Jones [Laws E10]
Old-Time, Song and Breakdown. Known as a banjo piece.
ARTIST: Collected by Randolph; With music, sung by Mrs. Isabel Spradley, Van Buren, Arkansas, 1929. She learned the song from neighbors in the hills north of Van Buren.
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
DATE: Collected in 1916 from Mrs. Viney Norton, (Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk p 74/# 99) First recordings: Samantha Bumgarner and Eva Davis (Asheville, N.C.). Columbia 129-D (78 RPM) 1924; George Reneau 1925; Kelly Harrell 1925; Earnest Stoneman 1926;
RECORDING INFO: Clarence Ashley & Tex Isley, "Wild Bill Jones" (on Ashley01); Frank Bode, "Wild Bill Jones" (on FBode1); Dock Boggs, "Wild Bill Jones" (on Boggs1, BoggsCD1); Granville Bowlin, "Wild Bill Jones" (on MMOKCD); Samantha Bumgarner & Eva Davis, "Wild Bill Jones" (Columbia 129-D, 1924; on RoughWays2); Logan English, "Wild Bill Jones" (on LEnglish01); Kelly Harrell, "Wild Bill Jones" (OKeh 40486, 1925; on KHarrell01); Wade Mainer & his Little Smilin' Rangers, "Wild Bill Jones" (Bluebird B-7249, 1937) George Reneau, "Wild Bill Jones" (Vocalion 14998, 1925); Ernest V. Stoneman "Wild Bill Jones" (Edison 51869, 1926); Tobacco Tags, "Wild Bill Jones" (Bluebird B-8365, 1940); Welby Toomey [also as John Ferguson], "Wild Bill Jones" (Challenge 324, c. 1927); Anderson, Virgil. On The Tennessee Line, County 777, LP (1980), trk# 1 [1978ca?]; Bledsoe, Tom; & Rich Kirby. Hits From Home, June Appal JA 0042, LP (1982), trk# 9; Boggs, Dock. Legendary Dock Boggs, Verve/Folkways FV 9025, LP (197?), trk# 6; Bowlin, Granville. Mountain Music of Kentucky, Smithsonian/Folkways SF 40077, CD (1996), trk# 2.43 [1959]; Clements, Vassar. Crossing the Catskills, Rounder 0016, LP (1972), trk# A.04; Cunningham, John. Border Bandit, Cunningham, CD (200?), trk# 3 Cutler, Marty. Brody, David (ed.) / Banjo Picker's Fakebook, Oak, Fol (1985), p179a; Double Decker String Band. Giddyap Napoleon, Fretless FR 144, LP (1980), trk# B.06; Floyd County Boys. Hard Times in the County, Sonyatone ST-1003, LP (1977), trk# A.07; Hart and Blech. Build Me a Boat, Voyager VRCD 354, CD (2001), trk# 19; Highwoods String Band. Dance All Night, Rounder 0045, LP (1975), trk# 9; Hooven, Greg. Tribute to Fred Cockerham, Heritage (Galax) 079C, Cas (1993), trk# B.03; Hutton, Bruce. Old-Time Music - It's All Around, Folkways FA 2402, LP (1978), trk# 2; Juggernaut String Band. Greasy Coat, Wildbeest WB 004, LP (198?), trk# 10 Kentucky Colonels. Kentucky Colonels, United Artists UAS 29514, LP (1973/1964), trk# A.04 ; Ledford, Lilly May. Banjo Pickin' Girl, Greenhays GR 712, LP (1983), trk# A.05; Ledford, Lilly May. Brandywine '83. The 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Brand..., Heritage (Galax) 054, LP (1984), trk# 14; Mainer's Mountaineers (J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers). J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers, Arhoolie 5002, LP (1973), trk# 11; Mainer, Wade. Wade Mainer, County 404, LP (1973), trk# B.04 [1937/08/02] ; Mainer, Wade; and Mainers Mountaineers. Wade Mainer and the Mainers Mountaineers, Old Homestead 90002, Cas (1971), trk# B.05 [1937/08/02]; Molsky, Bruce. Lost Boy, Rounder 0361, CD (1996), trk# 3; Paley, Tom. Folk Banjo Styles, Elektra EKL-217, LP (1963), trk# 6 Powell, Dirk. Hand Me Down, Rounder 0444, CD (1999), trk# 1; Proffitt, Frank. Frank Proffitt of Reese, North Carolina, Folk Legacy FSA-001, Cas (1962), trk# B.04; Ramsey, Obray. Obray Ramsey Sings Folksongs from the Three Laurels, Prestige International INT 13020, LP (196?), trk# A.01; Seeger, Mike. Mike Seeger, Vanguard VRS-9150, LP (1964), trk# B.07; Simmons, Matt; and John Lewis. Kirkland Recordings, Tennessee Folklore Soc. TFS-106, LP (1984), trk# 11 [1937/09]; Spradley, Isabel. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume II, Songs of the South and ..., University of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p105/#151 [1929/06/17]; Spradlin, Retta. Gettin' Up the Stairs: Traditional Music from the Cumbe... Vol.1, County 786, LP (1986), trk# 13; Stecher, Jody. Going Up on the Mountain, Bay 210, LP (1977), trk# A.04; Sutphin, Kirk. Old Roots and New Branches, County CD 2711, CD (1994), trk# 17; Wagers, Dora Mae. Kentucky Old-Time Banjo, Rounder 0394, CD (1999), trk# 11 [1997/04/03]; County CD-CD-2711, Kirk Sutphin - "Old Roots and New Branches" (1994); Rounder CD 7018, Clyde Troxell - "The Marimac Anthology: Deep in Old-Time Music."
RELATED TO: "William Cook;" "Careless Love;" "Pretty Little Foot"
OTHER NAMES: "Squire Bill Jones;" “Bill Jones"
SOURCES: Laws E10, "Wild Bill Jones"; Randolph 151, Wild Bill Jones" (1 text, 1 tune) Warner 139, "Wild Bill Jones" (1 text, 1 tune); Chappell-FSRA 114, "Wild Bill Jones" (1 text); Hudson 102, pp. 239-240, "Wild Bill Jones" (1 text); cf. #13, pp. 91-93, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (1 fragments, of which "A" is the "Pretty Little Foot" with a chorus from "Careless Love" and "B" is two "Pretty Little Foot" stanzas artificially and wrongly extracted from the text of "Wild Bill Jones" cited above); Lomax-FSNA 140, "Wild Bill Jones" (1 text, 1 tune); Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 146, "Wild Bill Jones" (1 text, 1 tune); Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 134-135, "Wild Bill Jones" (1 text, 1 tune); DT 622, WILDBILL; Roud #2246; Laws, G. Malcolm / Native American Balladry, Amer. Folklore Society, Bk (1964/1950), p180; Lomax, Alan / Folksongs of North America, Doubleday Dolphin, Sof (1975/1960), p270/#140; Erbsen, Wayne. Erbsen, Wayne / Manual on How to Play the 5-String Banjo for the com...., Erbsen, sof (1974), p34; New Lost City Ramblers. Cohen, John, Mike Seeger & Hally Wood / Old Time String Band Songbook, Oak, Sof (1976/1964), p146; Norton, Viney (Mrs.). Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 74/# 99 [1916/08/16]
NOTES: The singer meets his sweetheart, (Lula), walking with Wild Bill Jones. Since Bill will not leave Lula alone (or vice versa), the singer shoots him. Lula will not bail him out of prison, so the singer spends his last days “on a spree.”
This song according to D.K. Wilgus AAFSS cannot be traced at all, let alone to broadsides, and has not the characteristics of the vulgar ballad but is in a newer folk song style. The currently popular melody is mixolydian and is similar to Wade Mariner’s 1937 recording and Ralph Stanley’s recording. Doc Boggs and Roscoe Holcomb use a different melody with banjo in G with Em fingering.
The song is frequently associated with the banjo, as a banjo song and was first recorded with banjo accompaniment by Samantha Bumgarner and Eva Davis in Asheville, N.C. on Columbia 129-D (78 RPM) in 1924. It is listed by Kuntz (Fiddler’s Companion) as a fiddle piece by Kirk Sutphin on "Old Roots and New Branches."
"Wild Bill Jones" sometimes shares a verse or two with "William Cook" but that is a different song. A verse from Wild Bill Jones is found in Dan Tate’s version of “Old Virginia.” Sharp collected a version in 1917 and published it in "English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians." The song is widespread in the South, from Virginia to Arkansas.
Here are the lyrics to Wild Bill Jones collected by Randolph:
WILD BILL JONES- Collected by Randolph
With music, sung by Mrs. Isabel Spradley, Van Buren, Arkansas, 1929.
She learned the song from neighbors in the hills north of Van Buren.
As I went walkin' down the road,
I met up with Wild Bill Jones,
He was walkin' an' talkin' to the gal I love,
An' I bid him to leave her alone.
He says my age it is of twenty-one,
Too old to be controlled,
I drawed my revolver from my side
An' I shattered that pore boy's soul.
He reeled, he rocked, he staggered,
He gave one dyin' groan,
He throwed his arms round my woman's neck
Sayin' baby, you're left all alone.
One dollar in my pocket,
My six-shooter in my hand,
With friends and relations all around me
We'll make old Wild Bill stand.
One dollar in my pocket,
A-layin' in this here jail,
I sure am sad an' lonesome,
Nobody to go my bail.
I wrote my mother a letter
To tell her I was in jail,
She wrote me back a answer
Sayin' son, I'll go your bail.
I got a letter from Luly,
An' this is the way it read:
Daddy, if you ever git in trouble,
Don't never hang down your head.
Come on all you wild cowboys,
Let's all get on a spree,
Today was the last of Wild Bill Jones,
An' tomorrow 'll be the last of me.
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