Sometimes, after Mudcat being around for almost 16 years, it seems we must have covered every song in the folk genre. Not so. This song has been mentioned here twice, but never posted until "folkpunch" posted it today. It's not listed in the Traditional Ballad Index or the Roud Folk Song Index. It's a great song. I can't recall hearing it ever before. Joe & Eddie have a recording, but it's only an instrumental and bears little resemblance to other recordings with this name. I found several versions on Spotify, and I'll post a few.
The Harry Fox Agency has a song titled "Willie Jean" attributed to Hoyt Axton, and recorded by Axton, by David Crosby, and by the Byrds. Based on what I can find, I'd attribute the song to Hoyt Axton.
WILLIE JEAN
(as recorded by David Crosby)
Sometimes I think about folks back home,
That twelve mile road now that I used to roam;
Sometimes I think about a girl named Willie Jean,
Did she ever get as far as New Orleans?
We used to watch a riverboat from a grassy bank,
Drink hard water from a railway fillin' tank;
Yes, sometimes I think about sweet Willie Jean,
Did she ever get as far as New Orleans?
People told me that I'd come to harm,
Here I am now on this hot old county farm;
Sometimes at night now I think about Willie Jean,
And I wonder did she ever get as far as New Orleans?
from a recording by David Crosby on an album titled Sixties Transformation
WILLIE JEAN
(as recorded by Hoyt Axton)
Sometimes I think about the folks back home
And the twelve mile road I used to roam;
Sometime I think about a girl named Willie Jean
Did she ever get as far as New Orleans?
We used to watch the riverboats from a grassy bank,
Yeah, drink hot water from a railway fillin' tank;
Sometimes at night I cry and think about a girl name Willie Jean,
Did she ever get as far as New Orleans?
Yes, sometimes I wonder about the people there,
And I wonder do they still have their county fair;
Sometime at night I cry and think about Willie Jean,
Did she ever get as far as New Orleans?
You know people told me, "Boy, you're gonna come to harm"
Yeah, look at me working on this knockdown county farm
Sometimes at night I cry and think about a girl name Willie Jean,
Did she ever get as far as New Orleans?
Hoyt Axton (Irving Music/BMI)
From the 1965 Hoyt Axton album Saturday's Child, which features a photo of a very young Hoyt Axton on the cover.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q1sm359Bz8
A lyrics website had the following verse, but I haven't yet found a recording with it:Sometimes I think about ol' Saturday's child
Yeah and all the times we were runnin' wild
Sometimes I think about a girl name Willie Jean
Did she ever get as far as New Orleans?
Byrds recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjeFPkAOSrk