I've been considering the similarity in storytelling and subject matter in a few songs: Lynyrd Skynyrd's "The Ballad of Curtis Loew" (1974) and Dolly Parton's "Apple Jack" are nearly identical in that the singers/narrators fondly recall a time in their youth spent with an older "mentor" who--in a good natured, not creepy way--teaches them about (or exposes them to) things like drinking and unbefitting styles of music. Other songs that follow this format (more loosely) are "Desperados Waiting for a Train" (Guy Clark, 1973) and the spoken word "Remembrance of Charlie Patton" by Bukka White (1963).
(I think of these as the opposite of "Silver Dagger" and related songs wherein the singer kind of celebrates the avoidance of a potentially bad influence, albeit in a romantic context, and accepts parental advice or protection.)
So I'm wondering: how old is this template? Are there songs like these in the folk tradition? The concept seems fairly timeless, so I'd think this might be a little genre, but I'm not coming up with examples.