"Jesse James" is a 19th-century American folk song about the outlaw of the same name, first recorded by Bentley Ball in 1919[1] and subsequently by many others, including Bascom Lamar Lunsford, Vernon Dalhart, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, The Kingston Trio, The Pogues, The Ramblin' Riversiders, The Country Gentlemen, Willy DeVille, Van Morrison, Harry McClintock, Grandpa Jones, Bob Seger, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Carl Sandburg, Sons of the Pioneers, Johnny Cash, Liam Clancy, Mungo Jerry and Bruce Springsteen. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.[2]
The lyrics are largely biographical containing a number of details from Jesse James' life, portraying him as an American version of Robin Hood, though there is no evidence to indicate that he actually "stole from the rich and gave to the poor". The song is the starting point of the Jesse James panel of a mural on American folk songs by Thomas Hart Benton.[3]
But that dirty little cowardThat shot Mr. HowardHas laid poor Jesse in his grave.[4] [5]
Robert Ford, who killed Jesse, was a James' gang member. Mr. Howard was the alias that James lived under in Saint Joseph, Missouri at the time of his killing.
The song was recorded in 1924 by Bascom Lamar Lunsford and subsequently by many artists, including Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Eddy Arnold, Jackson C. Frank, The Country Gentlemen, The Pogues, The Kingston Trio, Van Morrison, Bob Seger, Willy DeVille, Mungo Jerry and Bruce Springsteen. It is the most famous song about James. Part of the song is heard at the end of the 1939 movie, Jesse James. The song was used in a 1958 episode of the TV western series Lawman, in which the marshal tries to get Robert Ford (played by Martin Landau) out of town safely. Ry Cooder's arrangement of the song plays over the end credits of Walter Hill's 1980 movie The Long Riders and a portion of the song is performed on-screen by Nick Cave, who plays a strolling balladeer in a bar patronized by Robert Ford in the 2007 movie The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
Woody Guthrie also wrote the song Jesus Christ based on the same melody and lyrical structure. The song "Ballad of October 16" from the album Songs for John Doe by the Almanac Singers is based on the same melody and has lyrical similarities.
The folksinger Almeda Riddle, born Almeda James, was a first cousin twice removed of Frank and Jesse James. On a recording of the song she noted, "I'm sure you've read of Frank and Jesse James. Well, my father's grandfather and their father (Robert S. James) was brothers. I never was ashamed of the James boys was my cousins, but neither was I proud of it."
The composer of the song is unknown, but it is attributed in the lyrics of some versions to "Billy Gashade" or ""Billy LaShade", though no historical record exists for anyone under either name.[1] [6]
This song is popular in the bluegrass repertoire; it is usually played as an instrumental, most often in the key of B.
Although the lyrics and structure of the song vary among versions, the following arrangement is typical:
A somewhat different version, alternately titled "I Wonder Where My Poor Old Jesse's Gone", is as follows:Jesse James was a lad that killed many a man,He robbed the Glendale train,He stole from the rich and he gave to the poor,He'd a hand and a heart and a brain. Well it was Robert Ford, that dirty little coward,I wonder how he feels,For he ate of Jesse's bread and he slept in Jesse's bed,And he laid poor Jesse in his grave.
(chorus)
Well Jesse had a wife to mourn for his life,Three children, [now] they were brave,Well that dirty little coward that shot Mr. [Mister] Howard,He laid poor Jesse [Has laid Jesse James] in his grave.
Jesse James was a man that was knowed through all the landFor Jesse he was bold and bad and braveBut that dirty little coward that shot down Mr. HowardHas went and laid poor Jesse in his grave Oh I wonder where my poor old Jesse's goneOh I wonder where my poor old Jesse's goneI will meet him in that land where I've never been beforeAnd I wonder where my poor old Jesse's gone
Jesse and his brother, Frank, they robbed the Gallatin bankAnd carried the money from the townIt was in that very place that they had a little raceAnd they shot Captain Sheets to the ground
It was on a Wednesday night and the moon was shining brightThey robbed the Glendale trainAnd the agent on his knees, delivered up the keysTo the outlaws, Frank and Jesse James
It was on a Friday night and the moon was shining brightBob Ford had been hiding in a caveHe had ate of Jesse's bread, he had slept in Jesse's bedBut he went and laid poor Jesse in his grave
(chorus)
Jesse James was alone a-straightening up his homeStood on a chair to dust a picture frameWhen Bob Ford fired the ball that pulled Jesse from the wallAnd he went and laid poor Jesse in his grave
Jesse James has gone to rest with his hands upon his breastThere's many a man that never knowed his faceHe was born one day in the county of ClayAnd he came from a solitary race[7]