Annotation:Massa Bill
Back to Massa Bill
MASSA BILL. AKA and see "Never Get Your Money Back," "Mossy Bill." Old-Time, Breakdown. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABBCCDD. The tune is cognate with "Kansas City Rag." The "Massa Bill" title is from one of the cuts in the recording "I'm Old But I'm Awfully Tough" (1977), played by fiddler Frank Reed (1904-c. 1985) of Randolph County, north-central Missiouri. Reed also played the tune on his own album, "Old Tyme Fiddling" (1976), but there the title was given as "Mossy Bill."
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 150.
Recorded sources: MFFA 1001, Frank Reed (f) & Alva Lee Hendren (bj) - "I'm Old But I'm Awfully Tough" (1977. Various artists),