BILLIE BOY - Free Jazz Leadsheet

"Billie Boy" is a traditional folk-blues song with uncertain authorship, first recorded by various field artists in the 1920s and 1930s. One early commercial recording was by Lead Belly in the early 1930s.

The song has been interpreted by blues and jazz musicians over the years, often emphasizing storytelling through expressive vocal delivery.

The lyrics tell the tragic tale of a young man caught in a forbidden romance, conveying emotion through narrative. Musically, it is structured around a repeating blues pattern, allowing flexibility for melodic variations and rhythmic interpretation.