An important transitional form is "St. James Hospital," sung by "Iron Head" Baker in the Texas State Penitentiary where he'd been locked up for most of his life. The Lomaxes recorded it in the '30s, and Alan did a pretty good job of singing it himself on an old Tradition LP. The original recording of Baker may now be on a Rounder CD called "Black Texicans." (I haven't double checked.)

Words and music were first printed in "Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads," rev. ed., in 1938.