(Chess-Arleta-Archia/Publisher unknown).
Recorded 1947.
Andrew Tibbs (vocals).
With Dave Young's Orchestra:
Pee Wee Jackson (trumpet),
Andrew "Goon" Gardner (alto sax),
Dave Young (tenor sax),
Rudy Martin (piano),
Bill Settles (bass),
Curtis Walker (drums).
Originally Aristocrat single 1101. Previously unreleased on album.
But it was Andrew Tibbs with this record who really got the label noticed. Issued as by Dave Young's Orchestra with Andrew Tibbs, both "Bilbo" and its flip side, "Union Man Blues," were controversial for different reasons. "Bilbo Is Dead," a song about the recently-deceased U.S. Senator from Mississippi, was banned in quite a few places in the South; despite its seemingly innocent lyrics, the references to Senator Bilbo contained some not-too-thinly disguised criticism. "Union Man Blues," meanwhile, managed to offend the local Teamsters' unions in Chicago – the very people needed to deliver the records to the distributors! Nevertheless, the pairing was Aristocrat's first hit.
Well I've been down to Dallas Texas, even went to San Antone
But I when I got to Mississippi, my best friend was dead and gone
Yes Bilbo is gone, whoa he had to put it down
Well I feel like a lonesome stranger, yes a stranger in my own home town
I was a playboy and a devil, I had time that was really wild
Since mister Bilbo is dead, it makes me feel like a fatherless child
yes Bilbo is gone, yes he had to put it down
I feel like a lonesome stranger in my own home town
Well you've been livin' in the big city, broke and had to get along
But you can hurry back to Mississippi, cause Bilbo is dead and gone
Yes he's gone, whoa he had put it down
I feel like a lonesome stranger in my own home town.
Recorded 1947.
Andrew Tibbs (vocals).
With Dave Young's Orchestra:
Pee Wee Jackson (trumpet),
Andrew "Goon" Gardner (alto sax),
Dave Young (tenor sax),
Rudy Martin (piano),
Bill Settles (bass),
Curtis Walker (drums).
Originally Aristocrat single 1101. Previously unreleased on album.
But it was Andrew Tibbs with this record who really got the label noticed. Issued as by Dave Young's Orchestra with Andrew Tibbs, both "Bilbo" and its flip side, "Union Man Blues," were controversial for different reasons. "Bilbo Is Dead," a song about the recently-deceased U.S. Senator from Mississippi, was banned in quite a few places in the South; despite its seemingly innocent lyrics, the references to Senator Bilbo contained some not-too-thinly disguised criticism. "Union Man Blues," meanwhile, managed to offend the local Teamsters' unions in Chicago – the very people needed to deliver the records to the distributors! Nevertheless, the pairing was Aristocrat's first hit.
Well I've been down to Dallas Texas, even went to San Antone
But I when I got to Mississippi, my best friend was dead and gone
Yes Bilbo is gone, whoa he had to put it down
Well I feel like a lonesome stranger, yes a stranger in my own home town
I was a playboy and a devil, I had time that was really wild
Since mister Bilbo is dead, it makes me feel like a fatherless child
yes Bilbo is gone, yes he had to put it down
I feel like a lonesome stranger in my own home town
Well you've been livin' in the big city, broke and had to get along
But you can hurry back to Mississippi, cause Bilbo is dead and gone
Yes he's gone, whoa he had put it down
I feel like a lonesome stranger in my own home town.