The Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys
Wild Bill Jones
Sing the Songs They Like Best (1961) Bluegrass Discography
Source Recording: Alison Krauss and Union Station (1989)
“Wild Bill Jones” is a traditional Anglo-American outlaw-and-murder ballad of the older mountain repertoire. The lyric narrates a confrontation between the narrator and Wild Bill Jones, ending with the narrator shooting Bill down over a woman; the song belongs to the broader Western-and-mountain murder-ballad family that includes “Banks of the Ohio,” “Little Sadie,” and “Knoxville Girl.”
The song’s earliest commercial recordings are from the 1920s old-time-music era; subsequent recordings by the Carter Family, the Country Gentlemen, and a long list of bluegrass acts have kept the song in active circulation. The historical Wild Bill Jones — if he existed at all — is murky enough that no firm identification has been made; the song probably draws on multiple frontier-era folk-history sources.
The recording associated with this entry is Alison Krauss and Union Station’s 1989 reading. Krauss was still in her teens at the time of recording; the album marked her early emergence as a major force in bluegrass. Her lead vocal, paired with Union Station’s tight contemporary-traditional arrangement, brought the song to a younger bluegrass audience. It works as a moderate-tempo vocal feature in G or A with a clear chorus harmony slot.
Wild Bill Jones
Sing the Songs They Like Best (1961) Bluegrass Discography
Wild Bill Jones
Radio Boogie (1981)
Bluegrass Discography
Wild Bill Jones
Lost Boy (1996)
Discogs
Wild Bill Jones
Going Up On the Mountain (2000)
Bluegrass Discography
Wild Bill Jones
Rooster (2005)
Discogs
Wild Bill Jones
Rock of Ages (2013)
Bluegrass Discography
Loading lyrics…
Loading chord chart…