Jesse James: the songs

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.

Like all true folk song, countless musicians have performed it since, often adapting the words and tune slightly no doubt, and they’ve recorded it too. Others have written their own songs. Bascom Lamar Lunsford, lecturer on and performer of Appalachian folk music, recorded Jesse James in 1924 and Woody Guthrie too, which you can get on iTunes, as well as Pete Seeger’s version. The Ballad or other songs about Jesse were performed and recorded by a whole variety of artists such as Van Morrison. He did a nice version live in Belfast with British skiffle singer Lonnie Donegan and jazzman Chris Barber.   You can try The Pogues, Willy De Ville and the Boss too – Bruce Springsteen singing it live in Dublin and on his 2006 album We Shall Overcome.  Ry Cooder did a lovely instrumental version for the credits of The Long Riders (it’s the one I have on my iPod). There are many, many versions available. Take your pick.

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.