I also learned this song in the sixties from someone who learned it from someone. Always thought it was "traditional."

Here are the lyrics as I learned them:

Sometimes I think about the folks back home
That old twelve mile stretch of road I used to roam
I sit and I think about young Willie Jean
I wonder if she made it to New Orleans

I used to chase that girl down an old windy beach
Don't you know she was always runnin', just a little out of reach
And I sit and I think about young Willie Jean
I wonder if she made it to New Orleans

My folks always told me, someday you'll come to harm
And sure enough here I am . . . on a prison farm
Yeah I sit and I think about young Willie Jean
Wondering isf she made it to New Orleans