Level: 2
Tuning: Standard

"Railroad Bill" is a blues ballad that dates to the 19th century and has been performed and recorded by many folk artists throughout the 20th century. People have conjectured that the subject of the song is an African American outlaw named Morris Slater who robbed freight trains in the 1890s. Slater's nickname was Railroad Bill. Only a few of the song's dozens of stanzas seem to refer specifically to Slater's activities. The majority of the stanzas are quite general.

The first recording of "Railroad Bill" was made by Riley Puckett and Gid Tanner on September 11, 1924. Will Bennett, a Black musician, recorded it in 1929. My version is played in the key of C. It was influenced by the Will Bennett recording and the playing of Ramblin' Jack Elliot.

It is a great introduction to playing an alternating bass technique using first position C, E, F and G chords.