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Philip Kazee, vocal and banjo - Wild Bill Jones

from Survey of Traditional Music, Vol. 5: Grown on American Soil by Field Recorders' Collective

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For an in-depth discussion of this track, see the album notes: tinyurl[dot]com/V5NATnotes

lyrics

I was walking down the street one day
I met that Wild Bill Jones.
He was walking and a-talking with that girl of mine.
I bid him to leave her alone.

He said his age was twenty-two
Too old to be controlled.
I drew my revolver from my side
I killed that poor gambler’s soul.

He staggered and he reeled, and he fell to the ground,
And he gave a dying groan.
I threw my arms around my Lula girl’s neck,
I said, “Honey, you’re left alone.”

If I had a-learned what my mama said
I’d have been at home tonight,
Instead of being here in this old jail,
Still wearing my life away.

I wrote me a letter to my Lula girl’s house
And she answered the very next mail.
She sent to me a ten dollar bill
Saying, “Honey, I’ll go your bail.”

Won’t you pass around that jug of mine
Let’s all get on a spree.
Today was the last of Wild Bill Jones
Tomorrow’ll be the last of me.

credits

from Survey of Traditional Music, Vol. 5: Grown on American Soil, released August 7, 2023
Recorded by Mark Wilson, Oneida, TN, 7/23/07. Previously unissued.

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Field Recorders' Collective

The Field Recorders’ Collective is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and distribution of noncommercial recordings of traditional American music, material that is unavailable to the general public.

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