Lyr Req: Ozark Bill (Jimmy Driftwood)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ozark Bill-Jimmy Driftwood opening line
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Jan 20 - 05:19 PM

Excellent! I really can't thank you enough, Dixon. It was my most listened to song in 2019, according to Spotify, and it annoyed me immensely that I simply could not find the lyrics anywhere! So, thank you again.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ozark Bill-Jimmy Driftwood opening line
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 02 Jan 20 - 08:53 AM

Refreshing because Mr Dixon put work into the transliteration and I'd hate for it to get lost in the sometimes yes, sometimes no Mudcat.

Subject: Lyr Add: OZARK BILL (Jimmy Driftwood)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 31 Dec 19 - 02:50 PM

I found this song on Spotify, and I had fun transcribing it. Jimmy Driftwood certainly has a way with words. I had to listen several times to understand the first line, but I think I got it:


OZARK BILL
As recorded by Jimmy Driftwood on "Down in the Arkansas" (1965)

1. Ozark Bill was a rounder, boys, and courtin' was his trade.
The thing he loved the best of all was to be with a mountain maid.
If he couldn't find a mountain maid to tell his troubles to,
He'd take some dark swamp angel and he'd teach her how to woo.

CHORUS: He courted in the valley and he courted on the hill.
The courtin'est man in all this world was handsome Ozark Billy Boy,
Handsome Ozark hillbilly Bill.

2. Six foot two with eyes of blue and he weighed three hundred pound
With muscles stacked on muscle from his jawbone to the ground.
When he saw a country girl dressed in the latest style,
His smile lit up the mountains for a many a country mile. CHORUS

3. When he kissed a pretty girl, he kissed her with a thud,
And when he hugged, he hugged so hard it'd almost draw the blood.
When he kissed her a second time, the romance got so sweet
The honey ran right out of her mouth and dripped down on her feet. CHORUS

4. He courted in Missouri where he smacked a many a jaw,
But when he craved to marry, he went down in the Arkansas.
He raised a pack of children and he never did regret
That ev'ry one was a Romeo or lovely Juliet. CHORUS

Subject: Lyr Req: Ozark Bill-Jimmy Driftwood opening line
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Dec 19 - 10:18 PM

This is a rather specific question, but I was hoping someone would be able to supply me with the lyrics of the first verse (or, if possible, the entire song) of Jimmy Driftwood's 'Ozark Bill'. I've tried transcribing it myself but found some of the lyrics somewhat hard to parse- the opening line in particular: "Ozark Bill was a..."- well, what was he? Good guesses and intelligent interpretations welcome.
The song in question