The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #109400   Message #4083837
Posted By: GUEST,I Signed Up for What?
16-Dec-20 - 09:41 PM
Thread Name: Songs about John Dillinger
Subject: RE: Songs about John Dillinger
Who were the Lone Star Cowboys? Were they the Shelton Brothers?

I've heard the Dwight Butcher song about Bonnie and Clyde, and it is dismal. However, it is said that most of the flamboyant incidents of the Bonnie and Clyde movie were actually perpetrated by Dillinger, who was a little more interesting than Bonnie and Clyde. Some stories about him that may or may not be true, but could be of use if trying to write a lively folksong:

1. He was an excellent high-performance driver and took the wheel from his getaway car driver during his greatest getaway, when sixteen police cars spun out on icy streets chasing him after a stickup.

2. He wrote a testimonial letter to Henry Ford praising Ford V8 as a getaway car.

3. He buried a bunch of loot near Beanblossom Indiana that has never been found.

4. He became a murderer by accident, firing his Tommy gun at a policeman as a warning, but the shots toppled the officer who fell into the stream of bullets.

5. One of his most successful heists was non-violent, with his gang posing as workmen and cleaning out the safe deposit boxes of a bank that had been closed as one of the many failed banks following the Great Crash.

Do any of the many songs portray him as anything but a violent and devoted felon?