Annotation:Old Billy Hell

Find traditional instrumental music

Back to Old Billy Hell


OLD BILLY HELL. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Kentucky. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Bingham is the sole source for this (slightly crooked) tune, says Titon (2001). 'Old Billy Hell' was a euphemism for the Devil, or hell itself, as in "we're goin' to raise Old Billy Hell," or "got drunker'n old billy hell."

Estill Bingham

Source for notated version: Estill Bingham (1899-1990, Pineville, Bell County, Ky., c. 1986) [Titon].

Printed sources: Titon (Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes), 2001; No. 112, p. 140.

Recorded sources: Clare Milliner & Walt Koken - "Just Tunes." Sheesham and Lotus - "Everytime" (2011).

See also listing at:
Hear Estill Bingham fiddle the tune in a 1989 field recording by Bruce Greene at Berea Digital Archives [1] and the Digital Library of Appalachia [2]
Hear the tune played on banjo at youtube.com [3]
Hear/see the tune played by David Margolin and Yigal Zan on youtube.com [4]




Back to Old Billy Hell