Origins: Jesse James I

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Melissa
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 01:23 AM

I live in Jesse James country and the most interesting book I've read about him was written by a guy in Denmark--it was fascinating to read such a far-away telling of a local story.

In Jimmie Driftwood's version, JJ robs a 'Texas train'.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: banjoman
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 07:26 AM

I had the opportunity to visit the Missouri Caves at Hanibal (birth place of Mark Twain alias Sam Clements) and was shown what was purported to be the signature of Jesse James on one of the cavern walls where he is said to have hidden from the law.
Just a bit of trivia to add to the thread
Pete

Subject: Lyr Add: JESSE JAMES (from Charles Finger)
From: Goose Gander
Date: 28 Dec 08 - 08:05 PM

JESSE JAMES

How the people held their breath
When they heard of Jesse's death
And wondered how he came to die
For the big reward little Robert Ford
Shot Jesse James on the sly

Chorus:
Jesse leaves a wife to mourn all her life
The children that he left will pray
For the thief and the coward
Who shot Mr. Howard
And laid Jesse James in his grave

Jesse was a man - a friend to the poor -
Never did he suffer a man's pain
And with his brother Frank
They robbed the Chicago Bank
And stopped the Glendale train

Jesse goes to his rest with his hand on his breast
And the devil will be upon his knees
He was born one day in the County of Clay
And came from a great race

Men, when you go out to the west
Don't be afraid to die -
With the law in their hand
But they didn't have the sand
For to take Jesse James alive

Source:
Charles Finger, Sailor Chanties and Cowboy Songs (Little Blue Book no. 301)(Girard, Kansas: Haldeman-Julius Company, n.d.).

Finger writes that he got his version from "a sea cook named Wilson" and that he secured an identical version from a wandering singer in West Texas who had a printed broadside of the lyrics.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Richie
Date: 28 Dec 08 - 09:44 PM

Michael,

A "Jesse James" reference is found in Blind Lemon's "One Dime Blues":

You want your friend to be bad like Jesse James?
You want your friend to be bad like Jesse James ?
Just give'm a six shooter and highway some passenger train.

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Goose Gander
Date: 28 Dec 08 - 11:59 PM

The "bad like Jesse James" line certainly is established in the African-American folk tradition.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: kendall
Date: 29 Dec 08 - 05:03 PM

The James brothers rode with Quantrill in the "War to resist northern aggression". That tells you something about their character.

Why did they go to MN to rob a bank? Probably to deprive the Yankees of the gold that would otherwise be used against the South. Plus, the law would never expect them to strike that far north.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 29 Dec 08 - 05:33 PM

"Bleeding Kansas" vs. Missouri was a long standing fact of life before and during the Civil War. Incursions, especially from the Missouri side and aimed at those opposed to the "peculiar institution" of slavery, were often swift, brutal and merciless. The worst example, for many, was the ransacking and burning of Lawrence, Kansas, led by William Clark Quantrill.

Quantrill's raiders were perhaps the most notorious of several "bushwhacking" guerilla bands operating outside the military authority of the Confederacy, but with its unofficial blessing. Frank James was an unabashed admirer of Quantrill, as was his younger brother, Jesse. This young "Robin Hood" was more likely filled with hatred and rage than with any altruistic motives.

I always liked the melody of the song and, when much younger and more easily impressed, also liked the lyrics.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Goose Gander
Date: 24 Mar 09 - 02:04 PM

"The James brothers rode with Quantrill in the 'War to resist northern aggression'. That tells you something about their character."

The guerilla war in Missouri (as in Appalachia) was brutal with attrocities on both sides and deliberate targeting of civilians by pro-Union and pro-Confederate forces. See Michael Fellman, Inside War (Oxford University Press, 1989). Most guerillas went home in 1865, but Jessie chose to continue his career as an outlaw.

"A bit of trivia: Do any of you know the real reason Jesse decided to take the gang all the way to Northfield, MN on what proved to be their last robbery/raid?"

I believe that because General Benjamin Butler, hated by Southern partisans for his administration of occupied New Orleans, had a good deal of money invested in that bank.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 24 Mar 09 - 02:13 PM

Interesting idea!

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Goose Gander
Date: 24 Mar 09 - 02:23 PM

More about the creation of the Jesse James myth here . . .

Jesse James and Late-Nineteenth Century Missouri Newspapers paper presented by Cathy Jackson at the Association for Education in Journalism and
Mass Communication in San Antonio, Texas August 2005.

And a strong critique from the left of the James myth here . . .

Jesse James: The Myth And The Man by Louis Proyect.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: GUEST,dazbo
Date: 05 Apr 09 - 05:58 AM

Just got Bruce Springsteen's Seeger Sessions and it's got this song on. Who is Mr Howard? Was is James's alias or someone else? It's not clear (to me at any rate) from the lyrics in the booklet.

Great CD by the way - inspired to buy it by the BBC4 show of him and his gang doing it London.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: meself
Date: 05 Apr 09 - 07:32 AM

Yes, "Mr Howard" was the name Jesse was living under at the time of his murder.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: GUEST,Larry Saidman
Date: 13 May 10 - 11:22 AM

I made an interesting discovery about the Jesse James variant where the chorus goes "I Wonder Where My Poor (Old) Jesse's Gone". I first heard it by The Chad Mitchell Trio in the early 60's, and it was later recorded by The Golden Ring. THe Chad Mitchell Trio credited it to Paul Clayton. The only reference to it related to Paul Clayton is an LP by Clayton from 1957 entitled "Wanted For Murder". I can't find the record, but assume that it is that particular variant and that this is where the Chad Mitchell Trio got it. Hence, it wouldn't appear to be traditional.

However, on another Mudcat Post on "Most Embarrassing Moments", someone called Deckman refers to singing the better known version of Jesse James (Poor Jesse had a wife to mourn for his life) in a town in Missouri and getting a cool reception--then being told by an 81 year old resident that the version they sing there is ""I Wonder where my Poor Jesse's Gone", and singing it to Deckman to illustrate. This, interestingly enough, was in 1955--two years before the Paul Clayton recording.

Paul Clayton was a recorder of traditional music, so it's likely that he got his version from traditional sources. So, it's likely that this version has probably gone through some kind of oral tradition and nobody knows who wrote it. Making it a true folk song.

Deckman (Most Embarrassing Moments post)

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: meself
Date: 13 May 10 - 11:01 PM

I find that line "He came from a solitary race" quite striking. Any comments on its implications? Does the term "solitary race" appear in any other folk songs?

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Deckman
Date: 13 May 10 - 11:16 PM

The man that sang me the "real version" of Jesse James was my great uncle "Alan." We were on his front porch in Skidmore, MO. I think it was the summer of 1955.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Larry The Radio Guy
Date: 14 May 10 - 01:54 AM

Thanks for the clarification, Deckman. I wonder if anybody has traced that version of Jesse James (I wonder where my poor jesse's gone) any earlier than 1955?

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: GUEST,Lighter
Date: 14 May 10 - 09:43 AM

"Solitary race" sounds pretty literary. I've never seen it in any other song, folk or otherwise. The author may have picked it up from reading or remembered it from a sermon. (Biblical commentaries of the day described the Essenes as "a solitary race," for example.)

Clay Co., Missouri, was named for Henry Clay. Coincidentally or not, actually used the phrase (in a quite different sense)in a speech in 1829. So maybe the author of "Jesse James" was specially interested in Clay's career.

In the 19th C., "race" often included ideas like "family" from the viewpoint of presumed genetic inheritance. "He came from a solitary race" apparently means that his family had always been more or less loners.

Kind of anticlimactic, if you ask me.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 14 May 10 - 11:49 AM

We yanks love our mythology more than our reality; always have. Growing up in the forties, the "wild west" was still very much a part of our upbringing and game playing. Western heroes, wearing hats and attire designed by Hollywood tailors and never seen on the real range, were all the rage. I loved it all as much as any of my peers, living on a ranch and riding horses was all part of it. Men and women who had been there in the 1870's and 1880's were still around.

I have read accounts of any number of real "bad men" over the years. Most had only a passing resemblance to their characters as portrayed on screen. Jesse was an angry young man; a follower of Quantrill who took part in murder and mayhem disguised as warfare. The fact that he had adopted an alias, something common to many outlaws, didn't change who he was. His poor, grieving wife and children knew exactly what he was.

Johnny Ringo was a melancholy alcoholic whose reputation far exceeded his actual deeds. Romantics like to believe he was killed by Wyatt Earp or Doc Holliday. He likely committed suicide.

Wyatt Earp was an opportunistic, self-promoting sort. He was fortunate to have lived long enough to help create his own myth with the help of "biographer" Stuart Lake. His buddy, Doc Holliday, was an angry, embittered alcoholic, a victim of tuberculosis estranged from his well-connected Georgia roots. He was authentically deadly, with nothing to lose, but hardly admirable.

I always sort of liked the "Ballad of Jesse James." I just see it as a song about a mythical character. The myth is still more fun than the reality. It's more comforting.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: meself
Date: 14 May 10 - 12:08 PM

Lighter -

"Kind of anticlimactic"

I take your point - but to me, the line "He came from a solitary race" hints teasingly at some Faulkneresque 'back story' that might explain the genesis of a psychopath. You know, the weird, self-exiled Southern family that can't accept the defeat of the South, etc., ....

Thanks for the info.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: GUEST,Lighter
Date: 14 May 10 - 04:55 PM

There's really no telling. It's enigmatic.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Larry The Radio Guy
Date: 18 May 10 - 08:14 PM

I hope I'm posting this on the right board. Earlier I had posted an interest in finding out more about the origin of the Chad Mitchell Trio (and apparently later recorded by The Golden Ring) version of Jesse James with the chorus "I wonder where my poor Jesse's gone". Paul Clayton has it on a 1957 lp. Deckman claims he heard it in 1955.

I just noticed a previous post (don't know how I missed it the first time) From: GUEST,BILL LYONS [e-mail] - PM
Date: 06 Aug 05 - 04:16 PM

He writes:
Regarding the Jesse James version subtitled, "I Wonder Where My
Poor Old Jesse's Gone", Paul Clayton told me that he collected
this version from Bascom Lamar Lunsford. Paul taught Lunsford the
chorus that Clayton, himself, had written. I knew Paul Clayton
in the sixties and have sung many of his songs myself, including
his version of "Jesse James".

I'm confused. It seems really circular. Paul Clayton learned it from Bascom Lamar Lunsford and Lunsford learned it from Clayton.

Most of the verses aren't that different from other versions of Jesse James--just the chorus). So was the version that Deckman's great uncle sang him in Skidmore Missouri (the one they know around those parts)learned from Paul Clayton via Mr. Lunsford--or does it have an earlier origin?   Oral tradition is fascinating, isn't it?

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Deckman
Date: 18 May 10 - 09:41 PM

To: Larry Saidman ... You are indeed posting on the correct thread. And you raise the perfect questions ... who taught it to who, how and when. I've wondered about this for many years. This is what the "folk process" is all about ... it's a perfect example. All I can add to this discussion is to mention again, that my great Uncle "Alan" sang me that version on his front porch in Skidmore, MO, in the summer of 1955.

I don't suppose we'll ever really know the perfect answers to the background to this song. But what I would have everyone to notice is the strong feelings that this version reflects:

"I WONDER WHERE MY POOR JESSIE'S GONE,
I WONDER WHERE MY POOR JESSIE'S GONE,
WILL I MEET HIM IN THAT LAND, WHERE I'VE NEVER BEEN BEFORE,
I WONDER WHERE MY POOR JESSIE'S GONE."

bob(deckman)nelson

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Lighter
Date: 08 Aug 18 - 09:33 PM

The earliest dated reference to the familiar version I've seen is in a description of a "convict camp" at Tracy City, Tenn., published in Salt Lake Herald of March 8, 1889:


“As might be expected in a ["Negro"] convict camp, there are favorite songs about noted bandits, including one about Jesse James, beginning,

        Jesse James was a man
        Who from danger never ran.
        He robbed the railway train:
        But a dirty little coward,
        He shot Mr. Howard,
        And laid Jesse James in his grave.

Chorus – Oh, Jesse had a wife;
        She’s a mourner all her life;
        The children all were brave;
        But the dirty little coward
        That shot Mr. Howard,
        He laid Jesse James in his grave.”

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Thompson
Date: 09 Aug 18 - 05:06 AM

The James Brothers are mentioned in True Grit by Charles Portis - 'Rooster' Cogburn's backstory is that he rode with Quantrill's Raiders. In a scene in the novel where Cogburn re-educates a couple of boys who were torturing a mule, he tells them to mention to their father that (if memory serves) "Mr James, a bank adjuster" has called, and so on. Great book, by the way.

The James Brothers might have particularly despised Benjamin Butler because of his noted anti-Semitism. I see an online query from one of the Briscoe family (an Irish Jewish family) who says that they are reputed to be related.

Given the persistent legends of the James brothers, and other bank robbers, helping out poor farmers that the banks were screwing, it would be an interesting project for some sociologist to collect family stories of this.

People - at least, many poor people - saw the outlaws as heroes for taking on the avid, all-powerful banks.

The nearest thing to the hatred of the banks in rural America at that time is the modern feeling about vulture funds, which buy up house loans en bloc and then evict the mortgage-payers and sell off their homes for tiny amounts.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: SuperDave
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 11:37 AM

In reply to Sinsull's post above:
Jesse robbed from the poor
And gave to the rich
He never did a friendly thing
And when his best friend died
He was right there by her side
And he lifted off her golden wedding ring.

Wish I could remember the LP that came from.

I believe this was "Big Men Bold and Bad" by Ernie Sheldon. The album featured songs about Paul Bunyan, Pancho Villa, Billy the Kid, Casey Jones and several others. It seems to still be available on Amazon.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: GUEST,Lighter
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 08:06 PM

On Oscar Brand's WNYC radio show sometime in the late '60s I heard the complete version of which Deckman posted the chorus in 2010. ("I don't know where my poor old Jesse's gone.")

I'm pretty sure it was sung by Paul Clayton. Years later, I read somewhere that Clayton had written or adapted it. The words and tune were pretty close to the standard, however.

I can't find any available recording, or the complete text on line.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Mossback
Date: 09 Nov 18 - 09:49 AM

The Kingston Trio sang SuperDave's verse I believe on the album "Close Up".

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: GUEST,Lighter
Date: 09 Nov 18 - 12:32 PM

The only other thing I can remember about the "Clayton" version was that it began,

Jesse James was a lad who traveled in the land,
Stealing and robbing was his trade.

And when Robert Ford shot him,

It was on a Saturday night, Jesse was standing on high,
Trying to straighten out a picture frame.

It's been a long, long time, but I think those are the right words.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Lighter
Date: 06 Jan 19 - 06:41 PM

A little earlier:

The Bazine [Kans.] Leader (Nov. 3, 1887):

                                     JESSIE JAMES

Jesse James was the man
Who traveled through this land
He robbed the Danville train,
   But the dirty little coward
Who shot Mr. Howard,

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Lighter
Date: 06 Jan 19 - 07:06 PM

Two years earlier:

The Bazine [Kans.] Leader (Nov. 3, 1887):

                                     JESSIE JAMES.    [sic]

Jesse James was the man
   Who traveled through this land
He robbed the Danville train,
   But the dirty little coward
Who shot Mr. Howard,
   Laid Jesse James in his grave.

                                     CHORUS.

Jesse James had a wife,
    She lived a mourner all her life;
Her chilleren they were brave --
    But the dirty little coward
That shot Mr. Howard,
    He laid Jesse James in his grave.

I went down to the depot
    Not very long ago,
While two burglars followed on behind;
They said to the agent
    Get down upon your knees
And deliver up the keys
    To Frank and Jesse James.    CHO.

It was on a Saturday night
    When the moon was shining bright
They robbed the Aurtaville [sic] train,
    It was one of the Younger boys
That opened up the safe
    And carried the money away.   CHO.

It was on Wednesday night
    When Jesse was at home
Courting his family brave,
    When one of his partners,
Who turned as a thief,
    Laid Jesse James in his grave.   CHO.

I went down to Russelville
    At just about noon,
While the people had gone to dine,
    Jesse stepped into the bank,
Says: I'll give you a couple of thanks
    If you hand out your greenbacks to me.

The people held their breath
    When they heard of Jesse's death,
Wondering how he ever came to die.
    He was shot down on the sly
By little Robert Ford
    Who laid Jesse James in his grave.

Jesse James he has gone,
    He has left his friends forlorn,
He has gone to the sweet by-and-by,
    His memory stands here
And will pass from year to year,
    Jesse James, good bye.

Russellville is on Cole Co., Mo., a few miles from Jefferson City. I haven't identified "Aurtaville," unless it be Wardsville, which is near by.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Lighter
Date: 06 Jan 19 - 11:00 PM

Here's the partial gen on Paul Clayton's "Jesse James."

Clayton's *first* version of "Jesse James" appeared on Riverside RLP12-640, "Wanted for Murder," in 1958.   It reappeared in 1964 on Folk-Legacy's "Golden Ring: A Gathering of Friends Making Music."

The 1958 version is the text in the DT called "Jesse James (I Wonder Where my Poor Old Jesse's Gone)."

The Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries for 1962 lists the following - which is Clayton's *second* version:

"JESSE JAMES, (I DON'T KNOW WHERE MY JESSE'S GONE); based on a traditional ballad, w & m Paul Clayton, pseud. of Paul Clayton Worthington, & Thee Phillips. NM: added words & new music. © Paul Clayton Worthington; 6Dec62."

This is the version I recall hearing on Oscar Brand's WNYC radio show in 1966 or '67.

The lyrics, as performed by the Chad Mitchell Trio:

https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/The-Chad-Mitchell-Trio/Jesse-James

Except for the chorus, the lyrics of both versions are reasonably close to the standard text.

The Catalog of Copyright Entries for 1958 lists no copyright for the earlier Clayton "Jesse James."

I find nothing about Thee Phillips except this, in Robert Blair St. George's "Material Life in America, 1600-1860," p. 75:

"Not only is Jesse James lauded because he 'took from the rich and gave to the poor,' his death is blurred, the chorus of his ballad underscoring the affection in which he is held by the living, and - at least in the version Carolina banjo-picker Thee Phillips sang to me, implying his uttermost reward will be heaven: 'I don't know where my poor old Jesse's gone, but I;ll meet you in that land, where we've never been before, and I don't know where my poor old Jesse's gone."

This awakened a memory - don't ask me how these things stick - that Brand had mentioned that Clayton's source (or partial source) was from North Carolina.

Clayton did field collecting in Virginia and elsewhere.

Hypothesis: Clayton learned the chorus from Phillips, who may or may not have known the whole song. For legal protection, the two of them copyrighted the song in 1962.

If Phillips is the ultimate source, the '62 version may be closer to what he sang, as it contains the striking line "He stopped on the Rocky Mountain shore" and has Jesse fancifully robbing the "Denver" bank. These sound to me like authentic "folk" touches rather than the creation of a 1950's/'60's folkie, like Clayton, who held a master's degree from the University of Virginia.

Further hypothesis: Clayton suppressed Phillips's Wild West references in 1958 because, though he liked Phillips's chorus, he wanted to record a more historically accurate version.

Does anyone know anything else more bout Thee Phillips, banjo-picker from North Carolina?

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Lighter
Date: 06 Jan 19 - 11:18 PM

On the other hand, Bob Ford's "hiding in a cave" in the 1958 version is unique and folk-sounding too, as are several other things.

Without further information, it's probably impossible to disentangle what was Clayton and Phillips each contributed.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: leeneia
Date: 08 Jan 19 - 12:59 PM

I have no respect for Jesse James.

In the 1970's I read a short biography of him. One day the Pinkerton's thought James was hiding in a certain house, and they bombed it. Jesse James wasn't even there, but they killed his brother, only 8 years old, and his mother lost an arm.

I've had to listen to a sappy song born of the tourist trade which makes Jesse James a Robin-Hood type hero. Somehow the Jesse James song never mentions real victims like these.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: cnd
Date: 04 Mar 21 - 12:08 AM

Here's my attempted transcription of the lyrics as sung by the Bogtrotters (Fields Ward, Crockett Ward, Eck Dunford) in their 1937 Library of Congress recording. Notably, Crockett learned his rendition of the song in 1896 in Smyth County Virginia by a man he identified as Freeling James, who had moved to Virginia after living in Missouri during 'the raids' in that area.

Notably, the recording is similar (but not the same as) a recording from the Bogtrotters released on Folkways Bluegrass From the Blue Ridge: Country Band Music of Virginia. Unfortunately, the verses I'm least sure about were, naturally, not repeated in that rendition. I have marked that section with brackets ([[ and ]]).

Transcription by ear from The Bogtrotters: 1937-1942, Biograph RC 6003

JESSE JAMES

Jesse James was a man who had traveled through the land
And he traveled on both night and day
He was shot on the fly by little Robert Ford
And they laid Jesse James in his grave

Jesse James went to town not many days ago
And the bank was opened for the thief
The clerk got down upon his knees and he handed up the keys
To Frank and his brother Jesse James

Jesse James, Jesse James, there's no more of Jesse James
Robbing the banks and trains
He was shot on the fly in the twinkle of an eye
And the legend of James never dies

Jesse James had a wife, she lived a mourner all her life
And the children were running 'round brave
She mourned his loss [[as a loot giver too]]
As a guerrilla in Missourah he was brave

The boys in the West, when they heard of Jesse's death
They wondered what caused him to die
Was a cold pistol ball, brought him tumbling from the wall
And they laid Jesse James in his grave

Jesse James, Jesse James, there's no more of Jesse James
Robbing the banks and trains
He was shot on the fly by little Robert Ford
And they laid Jesse James in his grave

Frank James thought it best when he'd heard of Jesse's death
To abide by the laws of the state
He applied to Governor Crittenden* in a long written letter
And explained the course he's going on to take

Frank James is at ease in the state of Texas
And at Denver he resides
It's been many men called their presence for to be
For the name has reached across the sea

Jesse James, Jesse James, there's no more of Jesse James
On the Richmond and Danville Trains
He was shot on the fly by a little Robert Ford
And they laid Jesse James in his grave

* Pronounced more like "Gritten" but Crittendon is close enough and was indeed the governor of Missouri in 1882, the year of James' death.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: cnd
Date: 04 Mar 21 - 12:16 AM

Actually, the rendition on Folkways does have the lines I couldn't hear, just in a different order. Replace "[[as a loot giver too]]" with "and the little children, too." Despite the similarity of the lyrics, it is a different recording.

*******************************************************************

Here's the lyrics as printed in the aforementioned Folkways album.

Jesse James, Jene James, there's, no more of Jesse
Robbing the banks and trains
He was shot on the sly by little Robert Ford
And they laid Jesse James in his grave.

Jesse James went to town not many days ago
The bank was open for to see
The clerk got down upon his knees and handed up the keys
To Frank and his brother Jesse James.

Chorus: Jesse James, Jesse James, there's no more of Jesse James
Robbing the banks and trains
Was a dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard
And they laid Jesse James in his grave.

The boys in the West when they heard of Jesse's death
They wondered what caused him to die
Was a cold pistol ball brought him tumbling from the wall
And they laid Jesse James in his grave.

Jesse James had a wife, she was a mourner all her life
Children were running round brave
She mourned Jess' loss and the little children too
As a gorilla [sic] in Missouri he was brave.

Jesse James, Jesse James, there's no more of Jesse James
Robbing the banks and trains
He was shot on the sly by little Robert Ford
And they laid Jesse James down to die.

Frank James thought it best when he heard of Jesse's death
To abide by the laws of the state
He applied to Governor Britten in a long written letter
And explained the course he wanted to take.

Frank James is at ease in the state of Texas
At Denver he resides
It's been many men called their presence for to be
For the name has reached across the sea.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Lighter
Date: 04 Mar 21 - 08:00 AM

A tad more on Thee Phillips of North Carolina:

Cecelia Conway, African Banjo Echoes in North Carolina (Knoxville: Univ. of Tennessee Press, 1995), p. 63:

"Other black banjo players...To the west in Caldwell County, Thee Phillips and other members of his family played."

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Lighter
Date: 04 Mar 21 - 09:28 AM

My guess is that "Thee" may be short for "Theodore," though "Theo" is usual.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: cnd
Date: 25 Aug 22 - 11:04 AM

Here's an interesting version of Jesse James recorded by Bascom Lamar Lunsford in the summer of 1956 for Riverside Records. It has elements of several iterations of the song, and even seems to bridge a few of the variants, namely the ones above and the "Glendale Train" version (link). Note that many of the lines can be found in the Frank C. Brown collection of NC Folklore -- see here

The following liner notes accompany the album:

1. POOR JESSE JAMES: The folk, for the most part, have made Jesse James a hero in the tradition of Robin Hood. This hardly conforms with his true historical status, for Jesse was no more than a cold-blooded murderer and thief. Like other badman-outlaws, however, Jesse was a ready symbol of active revolt against established order and law, and as such, the folk found in him much to admire, despite his depredations. So they sing of his crimes, and of his treacherous death at the hands of a relative, in sentiments better reserved for more deserving figures. Lunsford leaned this version of Sam Sumner, near Bat Cave, North Carolina, in 1903.

Below is my transcription, from here.

POOR JESSE JAMES

Went down to the station not many days ago
Did something I'll never do again
Got down on my knees and delivered up the keys
To Frank and his brother Jesse James

CHORUS
Poor Jesse; goodbye, Jesse; farewell, Jesse James
Robert Ford, he caught his eye
And he shot him on the sly
And he laid poor Jesse down to die

Robert Ford, he caught his eye and he shot him on the sly
And the people, they said he's brave
But he ate of Jesse's bread and he slept in Jesse's bed
Yet he laid poor Jesse in his grave

All the people of the West, when they heard of Jesse's death,
They wondered how he came to die
It was Ford's pistol ball, brought him tumbling from the wall
And they laid poor Jesse in his grave

CHORUS

Oh, Jesse leaves a wife, she's a mourner all her life
And the children, they were very brave
But that dirty little coward, he shot Mr. Howard
And he laid poor Jesse in his grave

Oh, Jesse goes to rest with his hand on his breast
And the devil will be upon his knee
He was born one day in the county of Clay
And came from a great, great race

Oh Jesse was a man and a friend to the poor
Little did he suffer man's pain
But with his brother Frank he robbed the Chicago bank
And they stopped the Glendale train.

CHORUS

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Mrrzy
Date: 27 Aug 22 - 04:13 PM

I don't count people killed by the Pinkertons while looking for Jesse James as victims OF Jesse James.

I always wondered who Mr. Howard was, as the song seemed to think we'd know.

So did Bob Ford *also* shoot at Jesse and miss?

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Aug 22 - 06:04 PM

"Mr Howard" was Jesse James's alias when he was killed - or, at least, when he was shot at by Robert Ford, and subsequently buried.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Lighter
Date: 26 Feb 23 - 07:09 PM

Here's a very early complete text. Billy Gashade ain't in it, but "Bob Slade" is.

Daily Nebraska Press (Nebraska City, Neb.) (Sept. 5, 1886):

                   JESSE JAMES.
                      ----
                By The Two Orphans.
                      ----

Jesse James was a lad
That killed many a man
And he robbed the Denver train;
    But that dirty little coward
    That shot Mr. Howard
Has laid poor Jesse in his grave.

                   CHORUS

       Now Jesse James had a wife
       To mourn for his life,
       And children that were brave;
          But that dirty little coward
          That shot Mr. Howard
       Has laid Jesse in his grave.

Little Robert Ford,
That dirty little coward
I wonder how he must feel;
    For he ate of Jesse's bread,
    And he slept in Jesse's bed
Then laid Jesse James in his grave.

It was his brother Frank,
He robbed the Gallatin bank,
And carried the money from the town;
    It was at this very place,
    They had a little chase,
For they shot Capt. Sheets to the ground.

They went to the crossing
One pleasant summer night,
And they robbed the through express;
    With the agent on his knees,
    He delivered up the keys
To the outlaws, both Frank and Jess.

It was on a Wednesday night,
The moon was shining bright,
They robbed the Glendale bank;
    The people they did say,
    For many miles away,
It was robbed by Frank and Jesse James.


It was a pleasant summer morn,
Bold Jesse was at home,
Talking with his family brave;
    Robert Ford came along
    Like a thief in the night
And laid Jesse James in his grave.

Jesse was standing upon a chair,   
Nailing a picture there;                     [line missing?
    Robert Ford came behind him
    With a pistol in his hand,
And to the floor Jesse James did land.

This song was made
By old Bob Slade,
As soon as the news did arrive;
    And I'll bet "there's no man
    With the law in his hand,"
Could take Jesse James when alive.


Who were "The Two Orphans"? A vaudeville duo?

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Neil D
Date: 26 Feb 23 - 10:38 PM

Someone earlier in this thread mentioned the novel "The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford". The book was subsequently made into a movie that I highly recommend. Brad Pitt plays Jesse but Casey Afleck's portrayal of Robert Ford was mesmerizing.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Lighter
Date: 02 Mar 23 - 05:28 PM

"Paul Clayton and the Folksong Revival," by 'Catter Bob Coltman, has this to say:

"Trying to over come the banality of the widely known "Jesse James," he put a new chorus - 'I don't know where my poor old Jesse's gone' - to barely reworked verses and copyrighted that."

Bob doesn't tell us anything about Thee Phillips, however - or whether he was Clayton's source for the "new" chorus. It would certainly appear so - especially if Deckman's recollected date of 1954 is correct.

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Lighter
Date: 02 Mar 23 - 05:48 PM

A month earlier, St. Paul [Minn.] Globe (Aug. 8, 1886):

Once a Slave But Now a Traveling
Showman like Forepaugh and Barnum....

'Jessie James was the lad who slayed de many men,
and robbed de Danville Train;
It was all on de account of little Robert Ford
That they laid Jessie James in his grave.'

This was the refrain of a song of forty-three verses which an ebony-hued individual was singing to an admiring crowd of bootblacks and stablemen on Fourth street last Thursday evening. The singer accompanied his song in praise of the train robber with appropriate and grotesque gestures, and as he described the scenes of robbery and bloodshed, the crowd increased in number.

(The singer gave his name as "Happy Tom Benton Scott, the Black Cinnamon Bear of St. Paul." He was 58 years old and a veteran of the Union army.)

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Lighter
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 10:54 AM

And here's the Chad Mitchell Trio singing some of the Clayton-Phillips words in 1965:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1uWPwRga-s

First time I've heard this recording, but the style really takes me back!

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Lighter
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 11:15 AM

And here's Clayton himself singing it in 1963 (at second hand, unfortunately):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4elxR9hYu4

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: Lighter
Date: 10 May 23 - 03:41 PM

Warning: Off Topic!

This poem by William Rose Benet (1924) appeared in my seventh-grade English book. It was great then, and it's great now. (OK, some of it could be cut; so could War and Peace):

             JESSE JAMES: AMERICAN MYTH

    A DESIGN IN RED AND YELLOW FOR A NICKEL LIBRARY

Jesse James was a two-gun man,
    (Roll on, Missouri!)
Strong-arm chief of an outlaw clan,
    (From Kansas to Illinois!)
He twirled an old Colt forty-five;
    (Roll on, Missouri!)
They never took Jesse James alive.
    (Roll, Missouri, roll!)

Jesse James was King of the Wes';
    (Cataracks in the Missouri!)
He'd a di'mon' heart in his lef' breas';
    (Brown Missouri rolls!)
He'd a fire in his heart no hurt could stifle;
    (Thunder, Missouri!)
Lion eyes an' a Winchester rifle.
    (Missouri, roll down!)

Jesse James rode a pinto hawse;
Come at night to a water-cawse;
Tetched with the rowel that pinto's flank;
She sprung the torrent from bank to bank.

Jesse rode through a sleepin' town;
Looked the moonlit street both up an' down;
Crack-crack-crack, the street ran flames
An' a great voice cried, " I'm Jesse James! "

Hawse an' afoot they're after Jess!
    (Roll on, Missouri!)
Spurrin' an' spurrin' — but he's gone Wes'.
    (Brown Missouri rolls!)
He was ten foot tall when he stood in his boots;
    (Lightnin' light the Missouri!)
More'n a match fer sich galoots.
    (Roll, Missouri, roll!)

Jesse James rode outa the sage;
Roun' the rocks come the swayin' stage;
Straddlin' the road a giant stan's
An' a great voice bellers," Throw up yer han's!"

Jesse raked in the di'mon' rings,
The big gold watches an' the yuther things;
Jesse divvied 'em then an' thar
With a cryin' child had lost her mar.

The U.S. troopers is after Jess;
    (Roll on, Missouri!)
Their hawses sweat foam, but he's gone Wes';
    (Hear Missouri roar!)
He was broad as a b'ar, with a ches' like a drum,
    (Wind an' rain through Missouri!)
An' his red hair flamed like Kingdom Come.
    (Missouri down to the sea!)

Jesse James all alone in the rain
Stopped an' stuck up the Eas'-boun' train;
Swayed through the coaches with horn an' a tail,
Lit out with the bullion an the registered mail.

Jess' made 'em all turn green with fright,
Quakin' in the aisles in the pitch-black night;
An' he give all the bullion to a pore old tramp
Campin' in the cuttin' in the dirt an' damp.


The whole U.S. is after Jess';
    (Roll on, Missouri!)
The son-of-a-gun, if he ain't gone Wes';
    (Missouri to the sea!)
He could chaw cold iron an' spit blue flame
    (Cataracks down the Missouri!)
He rode on a catamount he'd larned to tame.
    (Hear that Missouri roll!)

Jesse James rode into a Bank
Give his pinto a tetch on the flank;
Jumped the teller's window with an' awful crash;
Heaved up the safe an' twirled his mustache;

He said, "So long, boys!" He yelped, "So long!
Feelin' porely today, I ain't feelin' strong!"
Rode right through the wall agoin' crack-crack-crack --
Took the safe home to mother in a gunny-sack.


They're creepin'; they're crawlin'; they're stalkin' Jess;
    (Roll on, Missouri!)
They's a rumor he's gone much further Wes';
    (Roll, Missouri, roll!)
They's word of a cayuse hitched to the bars
    (Ruddy clouds on Missouri!)
Of a golden sunset that busts into stars.
    (Missouri, roll down!)

Jesse James rode hell fer leather;
He was a hawse an' a man together;
In a cave in a mountain high up in air
He lived with a rattlesnake, a wolf, an' a bear.

Jesse's heart was as sof' as a woman;
Fer guts an' stren'th he was sooper-human;
He could put six shots through a woodpecker's eye
And take in one swaller a gallon o' rye.

They sought him here an' they sought him there,
    (Roll on, Missouri!)
But he strides by night through the ways of the air;
    (Brown Missouri rolls!)
They say he was took an' they say he is dead,
    (Thunder, Missouri!)
But he ain't — he's a sunset overhead!
    (Missouri down to the sea!)

Jesse James was a Hercules.
When he went through the woods he tore up the trees.
When he went on the plains he smoked the groun'
An' the hull lan' shuddered fer miles aroun'.

Jesse James wore a red bandanner
That waved on the breeze like the Star Spangled Banner;
In seven states he cut up dadoes.
He's gone with the buffler an' the desperadoes.

Yes, Jesse James was a two-gun man
    (Roll on, Missouri!)
The same as when this song began;
    (From Kansas to Illinois!)
An' when you see a sunset bust into flames
    (Lightnin' light the Missouri!)
Or a thunderstorm blaze — that's Jesse James!
    (Hear that Missouri roll!)

Subject: RE: Origins: Jesse James I
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 15 May 23 - 04:04 AM

SONGS ABOUT JESSE JAMES posted on Mudcat Permathread Any April Songs?    /mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=169449#jessejamessongs:~:text=Subject%3A%20RE%3A%20Any%20April%20Songs%3F%0AFrom%3A%20Geo