Here's the entry on "IN THE JAILHOUSE NOW NO. 2" from Sing Your Heart Out, Country Boy. I'm confused. It seems to indicate that Jimmie Rodgers may have performed an earlier version which might have been traditional?

"Regarding Jimmie's revival of those old songs of American ballad fame, such as 'Frankie And Johnny,' 'He's In The Jailhouse Now' and others, reviewers the country over marveled because of his ability to take those old standbys and make engaging novelties out of them. He made them 'come into their own' . . . 'Jailhouse' was for Jimmie such a surprise hit everywhere—even though it had been done for years—that Mr. Ralph Peer urged him to work out an original song along the same lines for a 'Jailhouse Blues Number 2.' Jimmie did—in about twenty minutes; in fact, while we were waiting for breakfast to be sent up in a hotel in Hollywood. He had it ready for recording the next morning, using the portable equipment Mr. Peer had brought to California for him." —Mrs. Carrie Rodgers

So, what's the song that "had been done for years"?
By the way, Stewie posted most of this same quote on the previous thread - but he apprently got it from a biography of Rodgers.
-Joe Offer-