Jesse James in music
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Jesse James became a hero in folklore even before he died in 1882. A significant manifestation of this development was the emergence of a wide body of music that celebrates or simply alludes to Jesse James.
The most of all of the famous song about Jesse James is the popular American folk song "Jesse James" recorded in 1924 by Bascom Lamar Lunsford, and subsequently by many artists, including Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Van Morrison and Bruce Springsteen on his 2006 album We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. The song contains the lyric "But that dirty little coward / That shot Mr. Howard / Has laid poor Jesse in his grave."[1] The lyrics of the song include a claim of authorship by Billy Gashade.
The song is pro-James, as many, especially Confederates, were at the time. The song portrays James much in the way he was portrayed in Kansas City Times by editor John Newman Edwards, 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 lyrics are however largely biographical and contain a great number of details from Jesse James' life.
The killer of James mentioned in the lyrics, Robert Ford, was James' co-gang member, normally called Bob Ford, who lived with his brother, Charley Ford, in James' house towards his death, as James had grown severely paranoid and wanted them there for his protection. He was right to be paranoid, though, as the Fords had conspired with local law enforcement to bring in James.
In the chorus, there is a reference to a Mr. Howard ("That dirty little coward (Ford, ed.) who shot Mr. Howard..."). This was the assumed name that James lived under in Saint Joseph, Missouri at the time of his killing.
It is inaccurate, however, that it was Frank and Jesse James that robbed the Glendale train, as stated in the second verse. At the time of this robbery, Frank had settled down and James had assembled a new gang. On a much more minor note, James was shot dusting a picture, not hanging it up on the wall. He was on a ladder at the time, not wearing his guns and the Ford brothers went for it. Bob Ford got a shot off first, hitting James in the back of the head and killing him instantly.
The complete lyrics read:
- 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 feel,
- 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. 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
- 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
- (chorus)
- 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.
- (chorus)
[edit] Other appearances of Jesse James in music
- Cher had a hit with her song "Just Like Jesse James".
- Snap! in its hit "The Power" sings "I'm the lyrical Jesse James".
- Prefab Sprout's 1990 album, Jordan: The Comeback featured a song called "Jesse James Symphony", which segued into another named "Jesse James Bolero". (These songs are bracketed by a corresponding pair about Elvis Presley, to whom Jesse is implicitly compared.)
- On his self-titled, second album, Warren Zevon wrote and recorded a song called "Frank and Jesse James", and the song "Poor Poor Pitiful Me", which contains the lyric "I met a girl in West Hollywood, but I ain't namin' names/She really worked me over good/She was just like Jesse James."
- The Legend of Jesse James is a concept album documenting his life. It features Levon Helm, Johnny Cash, Charlie Daniels and Emmylou Harris, and Albert Lee among others. Written by Paul Kennerley, it was originally released in 1980.
- "A Train Robbery" by Paul Kennerley, (with the chorus, "We will burn this train to cinders, so throw that money on down,") appears on the 1999 re-release of The Legend of Jesse James. Levon Helm included a new version on his 2007 album Dirt Farmer.
- Bob Dylan, in his song "Outlaw Blues" from his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home, 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."
- The Hal Bynum/Dave Kirby song (made popular by Cash and Waylon Jennings) "There Ain't No Good Chain Gang" declares "I ain't cut out to be no Jesse James."
- John Lee Hooker wrote a song titled "I'm Bad like Jesse James".
- Elton John had a minor hit in 1976 with the single "I Feel Like a Bullet (in the Gun of Robert Ford)."
- Scarface released a song titled "Jesse James" on his seminal 1994 album The Diary
- The Cannonballs produced a song about the history of Jesse James called "Outlaw Jesse James" [2]
- Kate Bush wrote a track titled "James and the Cold Gun" for her 1978 debut album The Kick Inside. The track is about Jesse James.
- Irish folk-punk band The Pogues have a track (a version of the above mentioned traditional song) named "Jesse James", about him on their album Rum, Sodomy and the Lash.
- Synthpop band The Magnetic Fields mentions Jesse in the first verse of "Two Characters in Search of a Country Song," from their 1994 album The Charm of the Highway Strip ("You were Jesse James, I was William Tell/ You were Daniel Webster, I was the Devil Himself").
- In the 1970s there was a musical group named "The James Gang," featuring Joe Walsh (who later joined the Eagles).
- The Sugarhill Gang reference Jesse James in their song, "Apache" with the lyrics "My tribe went down in the Hall of Fame/'Cause I'm the one who shot Jesse James".
- A little known Jerry Reed song called "The Legend", found on the Smokey and the Bandit soundtrack, opens with the lyric "You heard about the Legend of Jesse James and John Henry just to mention some names/But there's a truck drivin' legend in the south today/a man called Bandit from Atlanta GA."
- Everlast, in their 1998 song "Ends," from the album Whitey Ford Sings the Blues, contains the lyrics "And all of a sudden he's like Jesse James, trying to stick up kids for their watches and chains."
- Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris, in the song "Belle Starr" from their 2006 album All the Roadrunning, have the line "I can be your Belle Starr and you can be my Jesse James" in the chorus.
- Clubland recorded a ska tune entitled "Jesse James", in which Jesse is referred to as "the rudest rude boy..."
- The Irish folk singer Christy Moore wrote a song called "Jesus Christ and Jesse James" about the two of them visiting Belfast, Northern Ireland, together during the Troubles.
- Johnny "Guitar" Watson wrote a song called Gangster of Love.
- Terry Allen's song "New Delhi Freight Train" begins "Some people think that I must be crazy / But my real name is just Jesse James", and is narrated by the outlaw. Originally recorded on Allen's 1979 album Lubbock (On Everything), the song has been covered by Rick Nelson, and by Little Feat.
- GWAR mentions Jesse James in their song "Bad Bad Men".
- The Lead Belly song, "Out on the Western Plains", contains the lyrics "When me and a bunch of cowboys run into Jesse James / The bullets was a-fallin' just like a shower rain". Rory Gallagher sings a version of the song on his 1975 album Against the Grain.
- Brazzaville have a song on 2006 album East L.A. Breeze called "Jesse James".
- Hank Williams, Jr.'s 1983 album "Strong Stuff" has the song "Whole Lot Of Hank," part of which indulges outlaw mythology with the lyrics, "Frank and Jesse James knowed how to rob them trains / They always took it from the rich and gave it to the poor, they might have had a bad name but they sure had a heart of gold."
- Desperados, with the song "Jumpin' Down The Running Train"
- Nazareth, from the album 'Loud'n'Proud' in the song 'Not faking it'
- Dan Fogelberg, the 1985 bluegrass/traditional acoustic music album "High Country Snows" features the song "The Outlaw" composed by Jay Bolotin
- Laurel Aitken recorded "JESSE JAMES" in 1969.
