Annotation:Roscoe Trillion

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X:1 T: No Score C: The Traditional Tune Archive M: K: x

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ROSCOE TRILLION. Old-Time, Breakdown. G Major (‘A’ part) & D Major (‘B’ part). A Georgia title for (AKA and see) "Flop Eared Mule (1)," "Karo." The melody was recorded in Atlanta, Georgia, for Victor Records by fiddler Bill Helms (b. 1902) of Thomastown, a village south of the city. Helms was backed on the recordings by Grady Owens (fiddle), John Hogan (banjo, guitar) and Ty Cobb Hogan (guitar), the group being billed on their 1928 recording as Bill Helms and His Upson County Band. Later, “in 1931, Helms recorded for Columbia with Riley Puckett and Gid Tanner as the Home Town Boys” (Wayne W. Daniel, Pickin’ on Peachtree, 1990, p. 81). In a 1963 interview with collector Bob Pinson, Helms said his source for "Roscoe Trillion" was Vaughan Green, who hummed the tune for Helms, "and they worked it up for dances" (see "Tapescripts: Interview with Bill Helms, JEMF Newsletter Feb., 1967, pp. 54-58 [1]). Pinson, transcribing the interview, records: "Most of the dances Helms played at were with a fellow named Vaughn Green, guitar player — this was in the early '20's before he [ed.- Helms] started with the conventions and working with Riley [ed.- Puckett, guitarist and singer]. He [ed.- Helms] and Vaughn used to play six nights a week for months and months."