Steamboat Bill

DESCRIPTION: The Whippoorwill, steered by Steamboat Bill, is ordered "to try to beat the record of the Robert E. Lee." Provoked by a gambler, Bill drives the boat so hard that the boiler explodes. Bill's wife says that her next husband will be a railroad man.
AUTHOR: Words: Ren Shields / Music: Leighton Brothers see NOTES
EARLIEST DATE: 1910
LONG DESCRIPTION: The Whippoorwill, steered by Steamboat Bill, is ordered "to try to beat the record of the Robert E. Lee." Provoked by a gambler, Bill drives the boat so hard that the boiler explodes, with Bill betting he will fly higher than the gambler. People all along the river mourn. Bill's wife says that her next husband will be a railroad man.
KEYWORDS: ship technology disaster death gambling
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Henry-SongsSungInTheSouthernAppalachians, pp. 100-101, "Steamboat Bill" (1 text)
Fife/Fife-CowboyAndWesternSongs 16, "Steamboat Bill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 206, "Steamboat Bill" (1 text)
Fuld-BookOfWorldFamousMusic, pp. 535-536, "Steamboat Bill"
Roud #11218
RECORDINGS:
Al Bernard, "Steamboat Bill" (Grey Gull 4177/Radiex 4177/Van Dyke 74177, 1928)
Smiley Burnett, "Steamboat Bill" (Decca 5685, 1939; rec. 1938)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "Steamboat Bill" (OKeh 40306, 1925; rec. 1924)
Arthur Collins, "Steamboat Bill" (Columbia A1005, 1911) (Victor 16867, 1911) (CYL: Everlasting 379-1 (1911), on Protobilly)
Dixon's Clod Hoppers, "Steamboat Bill" (Vocalion 15862, 1931; rec. 1930)
Jack Kaufman, "Steamboat Bill" (Columbia A2809, 1919; Diva 2480-G [as Jack Wilson], 1927)
Beatrice Kay, "Steamboat Bill" (Columbia 36941, 1946; rec. 1945)
Kessinger Brothers, "Steamboat Bill" (Brunswick 563, rec. 1930)
Edward Meeker, "Steamboat Bill" (Edison 50886, 1921)
Riley Puckett, "Steamboat Bill" (Columbia 113-D [as George Riley Puckett], 1924)
Bob Roberts, "Steamboat Bill" (Phono-Cut 5112, c. 1914)
Ernest Rogers, "Steamboat Bill" (Victor 20798, 1927)
Paul Tremaine & his Orch. "Steamboat Bill" (Columbia 2229-D, 1930)
Varsity Eight, "Steamboat Bill" (Cameo 1266/Romeo 500, 1927)
Fred Wilson [probably a pseud. for Jack Kaufman, but I don't know for sure], "Steamboat Bill" (Harmony 5118-H, 1930)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Casey Jones (I)" [Laws G1] (tune)
SAME TUNE:
Scissor Bill (by Joe Hill) (File: LDC547)
Earl McDonald's Original Louisville Jug Band, "Casey Bill" (Columbia 14371-D, 1928; rec. 1927; on GoodForWhatAilsYou, Protobilly)
Delmore Brothers, "Steamboat Bill Boogie" (King 1023,1951; on Protobilly)
NOTES [145 words]: "Steamboat Bill" is usually considered a parody of "Casey Jones." Earl McDonald's "Casey Bill," in turn, is a parody of "Steamboat Bill," in which Steamboat Bill has a race down the Mississippi -- against Casey Jones. - PJS
There is some dispute about the authorship of this. Everyone seems to agree that Ren Shields wrote the words. Someone (I'm not sure who) claimed that F. A. Mills wrote the music. What Mills actually did was publish it. Fuld, Gardner, and others say that Bert Leighton & Frank Leighton wrote it. I am (almost) sure this is correct.
Edward Foote Gardner, Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century: Volume I -- Chart Detail & Encyclopedia 1900-1949, Paragon House, 2000, p. 295, estimates that this was the tenth most popular song in America in 1911, peaking at #3 in July 1911 (#1 for the year being Irving Berlin's "Alexander's Ragtime Band"). - RBW
Last updated in version 6.5
File: FCW016

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography