Regarding Josh White's version of "Jerry," I have two recordings.

One is a 78 on the Asch International/Stinson label (358-3B) called just "Jerry" and is a solo. No credit is given to any writer. I'm guessing this record came from the mid-to-late 1940's. Perhaps someone more knowledgable can precisely date this recording. (The "A" side is "Trouble.")

The other is on the 1956 LP "Josh At Midnight" and is called "Timber" on the record's label and "Timber (Jerry the Mule)" on the album cover. It's a duet with Sam Gary, and is sung at a faster tempo than the earlier 78. Here are the liner notes from the album:

Timber (Jerry the Mule)

When Josh and Sam Gary wrote this song over ten years ago, they had in mind the Negro convicts in country road gangs which they frequently saw in their travels. Wondering how men could take the kind of treatment at which any mule would have balked, this song was a natural expression of their feeling. It's the story of a mule who had the sense to say "Enough!".

Interesting... If the song was "written" or "adapted" over ten years before this 1956 album, then their version may date from the early 1940's.

My album is a reissue, and the only copyright information is on the label and says, "Copyright 1960 by the Elektra Corporation."

Jay