“Jesse James” is a 19th-century American folk song about the outlaw of the same name, first recorded by Bentley Ball in 1919 and subsequently by many others, including Bascom Lamar Lunsford, Vernon Dalhart, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, The Kingston Trio, The Pogues, The Ramblin’ Riversiders, The Country Gentlemen, Willy DeVille, Van Morrison, Grandpa Jones, Bob Seger, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (on the Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy album), Sons of the Pioneers, Johnny Cash, Liam Clancy, Mungo Jerry and Bruce Springsteen. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.
The lyrics are largely biographical containing a number of details from Jesse James’ life, portraying him as an American version of Robin Hood, though there is no evidence to indicate that he actually “stole from the rich and gave to the poor”. The song is the starting point of the Jesse James panel of a mural on American folk songs by Thomas Hart Benton.
Robert Ford, who killed Jesse, was a James’ gang member. Mr. Howard was the alias that James lived under in Saint Joseph, Missouri at the time of his killing