The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #32737 Message #1861852
Posted By: Goose Gander
17-Oct-06 - 11:15 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Jesse James I
Subject: Lyr Add: JESSE JAMES (from Loye Pack)
Here's another version, this time from Loye Pack . . . .
JESSE JAMES
Last Saturday night The moon was shining bright He robbed the Otterville train He was a dirty little coward Who shot Mr. Howard And he laid Jesse James in his grave
Jesse had a wife Who mourned for his life His children they were brave He was a dirty little coward Who shot Mr. Howard And he laid Jesse James in his grave
'Twas Saturday night The moon was shining bright He robbed the Denver train He was a dirty little coward Who shot Mr. Howard And he laid Jesse James in his grave
They went to the depot It wasn't very far The agent for to see He fell upon his knees And delivered up the keys To Frank and Jesse James
This very song was made By Billy Mosha No sooner than the news arrived They say there was no man With the law in his hand Could take Jesse James alive
Little Robert Ford He was one of the gang How his heart did crave He ate of Jesse's bread And slept on Jesse's bed And he laid Jesse James in his grave
Jesse drew his belt You bet he never felt That his enemy was so nigh But little Robert Ford He did spy And Jesse came tumbling from the chair
The ladies held their breath When they heard of Jesse's death They wondered how he came to die He was shot upon the sly By little Robert Ford And they laid Jesse James in his grave
Source: Old Time Songs, Compiled by Loye Pack (n.d., probably mid-1930s), p. 52-53).
From Mountaineer Jamboree by Ivan Tribe (Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 1984):
"Born Loye Donald Pack in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 3, 1900, the Cowboy apparently wandered around somewhat in his early adulthood and spent several years working on a ranch in Nebraska. He entered radio in January 1929, played in Columbus, Ohio, for a time, and began his career at WWVA on November 11, 1933" (p. 45).
Cowboy Loye apparently never recorded, his career cut short by his early death in 1941 due to a kidney ailment (ibid., p. 46).