Allen Rex - Windy Bill guitar tab

WINDY BILL (aka The Old Black Steer)

Recorded by: Rex Allen

[1=A] Bill was a Texas lad

And [5=E] he could rope, you [1=A] bet

He swore the Steer he [5=E] couldn't tie

Well, he'd [4=D] never met (h)'im [1=A] yet

Now all the boys knew an [5=E] old Black Steer

Who's a [4=D] kind of an old Out-[1=A] law

Who'd run down in the Malpais

At the [5=E] foot of Rocky [1] Draw

This old Black Steer had stood his ground

With Punchers from ev'rywhere

So they bet old Bill at two-to-one

That he couldn't quite get there

Then Bill brought out his old Gray Hoss

His Withers 'n' Back were raw

Prepared to tackle that big Black Brute

That run down in the Draw

Verse 3:

With his Brazos Bit and his [Sam Stack Tree*]

His Chaps and Spurs to boot

His old [Maguey*] tied hard and fast

Bill swore he'd get that Brute

Now, first Bill sort-a sauntered 'round

Old Blackie began to paw

Then he throwed his tail straight up in the air

And went driftin' down the Draw

[Note. Extra verse not on this recording]

The old Gray Plug flew after him

For he'd been eatin' Corn

And Bill, he piled his old [Maguey*]

Right 'round old Blackie's Horns

The old Gray Hoss, he stopped right still

The Cinches broke like Straw

And the old [Maguey*] and the [Sam Stack Tree*]

Went driftin' down the Draw

Bill, he lit in a Flint Rock Pile

His face and hands were scratched

He said he thought he could rope a [Snake*]

But he guessed he'd met his match

He paid his bets like a little man

Without a bit of Jaw

And 'llowed old Blackie was the best

Of anything in the Draw

There's a moral to my story, boys

And that you all must see

Whenever you go to tie a [Snake*]

Don't tie it to your [Tree"]

But take your [Dally Welters*]

'Cordin' to California law

You'll never see your old [Rim-fire*]

Go driftin' down the Draw

Legend:

Sam Stack Tree: the frame, or "Tree" of a saddle was

made of wood, with a leather covering.

"Sam Stack Tree" was a famous brand of saddle

Maguey: pronounced McGee, a rope made of Mexican Maguey fiber

Snake: bad steer

Dally Welter: from the Spanish "dar le vuelta", a turn or two

of the rope around the saddle horn

Rim-fire: a saddle with two girths