The Song of Jesse
Jesse James passed into folk song almost immediately. The Ballad of Jesse James, supposedly written by a minstrel named
(or called) Billy Gashade, was current with amazing speed. A rather good 1997
novel by Loren E Estleman, Billy Gashade, tells the story of Billy.
Rapidly
the ballad became a staple of bars and shows and parlors. Several Jesse movies
show the ballad singers plying their trade. Think of the blind ballad singer at
the end of the 1957 film (he managed to write it in full approximately 20
seconds after Jesse was shot) or Nick Cave in the 2007 one. Nick had the
misfortune to find Bob Ford among the clientele at the bar in the saloon where
he sang it.
Of
course all these songs make him out to be a Robin Hood and/or a dime-novel
shootist. They have no interest in true or factual history. Why should they?
A common
version of the lyrics will give you the idea:
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
Well Jesse had a wife to mourn for his life
Three children, they were brave
Well that dirty little coward that shot Mister Howard
He laid poor Jesse in his grave
Jesse was a man, a friend to the poor
He'd never rob a mother or a child
There never was a man with the law in his hand
That could take Jesse James alive
Jesse was a man, a friend to the poor,
He'd never see a man suffer pain
And with his brother Frank he robbed the Chicago bank
And stopped the Glendale train
It was on a Saturday night and the moon was shining bright
They robbed the Glendale train
And people they did say o'er many miles away
It was those outlaws, they're Frank and Jesse James
Now the people held their breath when they heard of Jesse's death
And wondered how he ever came to fall
Robert Ford, it was a fact, he shot Jesse in the back
While Jesse hung a picture on the wall
Now Jesse went to rest with his hand on his breast
The devil will be upon his knee
He was born one day in the County Clay
And he came from a solitary race
Jesse James continues to influence song. Rap singer Scarface has a song
titled Jesse James (apparently).
Prefab Sprout (I remember them) had a Jesse
James Symphony (the mind boggles). Clubland did a ska Jesse. Terry Allen
recorded a song which begins "Some people think that I must be crazy / But my real name is just
Jesse James", and is narrated by the outlaw.
There was a
concept album The Legend of Jesse
James in 1980, with various artists singing songs by English
songwriter Paul Kennerley. Johnny Cash was Jesse and Rosanne was his mother
(“Ma Samuel”). There’s Emmylou Harris as Zee, Charlie Daniels as Cole Younger
and Donivan Cowart as Bob Ford, among others.
In his song Outlaw Blues Bob Dylan defends his
decision to go electric with the line "Ain't gonna hang no picture, ain't
gonna hang no picture frame/Well, I might look like Robert Ford, but I feel
just like a Jesse James."
Singer after
singer has performed songs about Jesse James or referring to him in some way
(there’s a nigh-on exhaustive list on Wikipedia if you want to trawl through
them all). In the 1970s there was even a band called The James Gang.
Given the
place of Jesse James in American folk mythology, it’s not surprising that he
has been so widely sung about. Still,
singers do seem to have a particularly soft spot for him. There are far more
songs about Jesse than there are about other famous outlaws like Billy the Kid
or Butch Cassidy, for instance, or indeed about Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde,
Pretty Boy Floyd or any number of ‘Robin Hood’ bandits since.
I guess that’s
the power of the Western for you.
Well, it’s
time to turn to other subjects and lay poor Jesse in his grave. Thanks for
reading!
So long,
pards.
No comments:
Post a Comment