'Jesse James' is a 19th-century American folk song about the outlaw of the same name, first recorded by Bentley Ball in 1919[1] 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, Carl Sandburg, 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.[2]
Spoiler alert: Jesse James dies in 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.' Robert Ford is the one who pulls the trigger. If you care only about whodunit and not about how. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Subtitles. Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Western. Actor: Brad Pitt, Mary-Louise Parker, Brooklynn Proulx, Dustin Bollinger. Taking place in the American Northwest in the early 1880s, the film dramatizes the last seven months in the life of. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a 2007 American epic revisionist Western film written and directed by Andrew Dominik.Adapted from Ron Hansen's 1983 novel of the same title, the film dramatizes the relationship between Jesse James and Robert Ford (Casey Affleck), focusing on the events that lead up to the titular killing. THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD. Young Robert Ford is thrilled when he finally gets to ride with legendary outlaw Jesse James. But this new member of James’ gang soon is disillusioned by the difference between the man and the myth. Featuring music by Nick Cave and strong supporting performances by Sam Rockwell, Jeremy Renner and Sam Shepard. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford: Directed by Andrew Dominik. With Brad Pitt, Mary-Louise Parker, Brooklynn Proulx, Dustin Bollinger. Robert Ford, who's idolized Jesse James since childhood, tries hard to join the reforming gang of the Missouri outlaw, but gradually becomes resentful of the bandit leader.
Description[edit]
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.[3]
But that dirty little coward
That shot Mr. Howard
Has laid poor Jesse in his grave.[4][5]
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.
The song was recorded in 1924 by Bascom Lamar Lunsford and subsequently by many artists, including Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Eddy Arnold, Jackson C. Frank, The Country Gentlemen, The Pogues, The Kingston Trio, Van Morrison, Bob Seger, Willy DeVille, Mungo Jerry and Bruce Springsteen. It is the most famous song about James. Part of the song is heard at the end of the 1939 movie, Jesse James. The song was used in a 1958 episode of the TV western series Lawman, in which the marshal tries to get Robert Ford (played by Martin Landau) out of town safely. Ry Cooder's arrangement of the song plays over the end credits of Walter Hill's 1980 movie The Long Riders and a portion of the song is performed on-screen by Nick Cave, who plays a strolling balladeer in a bar patronized by Robert Ford in the 2007 movie The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
Woody Guthrie also wrote the song Jesus Christ based on the same melody and lyrical structure. The song 'Ballad of October 16' from the album Songs for John Doe by the Almanac Singers is based on the same melody and has lyrical similarities.
The folksinger Almeda Riddle, born Almeda James, was a first cousin twice removed of Frank and Jesse James. On a recording of the song she noted, 'I'm sure you've read of Frank and Jesse James. Well, my father's grandfather and their father (Robert S. James) was brothers. I never was ashamed of the James boys was my cousins, but neither was I proud of it.'
The composer of the song is unknown, but it is attributed in the lyrics of some versions to a to 'Billy Gashade' or 'Billy LaShade', though no historical record exists for anyone under either name.[1][6]
This song is popular in the bluegrass repertoire; it is usually played as an instrumental, most often in the key of B.
Lyrics[edit]
Although the lyrics and structure of the song vary among versions, the following arrangement is typical:
Jesse James was a lad that killed many a man,
He robbed the Glendale train,
He stole from the rich and he gave to the poor,
He'd a hand and a heart and a brain.
Well it was Robert Ford, that dirty little coward,
I wonder how he feels,
For he ate of Jesse's bread and he slept in Jesse's bed,
And he laid poor Jesse in his grave.
(chorus)
Well Jesse had a wife to mourn for his life,
Three children, [now] they were brave,
Well that dirty little coward that shot Mr. [Mister] Howard,
He laid poor Jesse [Has laid Jesse James] in his grave.
NOTE: Another version of this verse (which I heard from my grandmother when I was a little girl) is:
Now Jesse had a wife, he loved her all his life,
Oh, so good and brave.
But the dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard
Has laid poor Jesse in his grave.
Jesse was a man, a friend to the poor,
He'd never rob a mother or a child,
There never was a man with the law in his hand,
That could take Jesse James alive.
Jesse was a man, a friend to the poor,
He'd never see a man suffer pain,
And with his brother Frank he robbed the Chicago bank,
And stopped the Glendale train.
It was on a Saturday night and the moon was shining bright,
They robbed the Glendale train,
And people they did say o'er many miles away
It was those outlaws, they're Frank and Jesse James
(chorus)
Now the people held their breath when they heard of Jesse's death,
And wondered how he ever came to fall
Robert Ford, it was a fact, he shot Jesse in the back
While Jesse hung a picture on the wall
Now Jesse went to rest with his hand on his breast,
The devil will be upon his knee.
He was born one day in the County Clay,
And he came from a solitary race.
(chorus)
A somewhat different version, alternately titled I Wonder Where My Poor Old Jesse's Gone, is as follows:
Jesse James was a man that was knowed through all the land
For Jesse he was bold and bad and brave
But that dirty little coward that shot down Mr. Howard
Has went and laid poor Jesse in his grave
Oh I wonder where my poor old Jesse's gone
Oh I wonder where my poor old Jesse's gone
I will meet him in that land where I've never been before
And I wonder where my poor old Jesse's gone
Jesse and his brother, Frank, they robbed the Gallatin bank
And carried the money from the town
It was in that very place that they had a little race
And they shot Captain Sheets to the ground
It was on a Wednesday night and the moon was shining bright
They robbed the Glendale train
And the agent on his knees, delivered up the keys
To the outlaws, Frank and Jesse James
It was on a Friday night and the moon was shining bright
Bob Ford had been hiding in a cave
He had ate of Jesse's bread, he had slept in Jesse's bed
But he went and laid poor Jesse in his grave
(chorus)
Jesse James was alone a-straightening up his home
Stood on a chair to dust a picture frame
When Bob Ford fired the ball that pulled Jesse from the wall
And he went and laid poor Jesse in his grave
Jesse James has gone to rest with his hands upon his breast
There's many a man that never knowed his face
He was born one day in the county of Clay
And he came from a solitary race[7]
References[edit]
- ^ abPolenberg, Richard (November 2015). Hear My Sad Story: The True Tales That Inspired 'Stagolee,' 'John Henry,' and Other Traditional American Folk Songs. Cornell University Press. p. 118. ISBN978-1501700026.
jesse james song history.
- ^Western Writers of America (2010). 'The Top 100 Western Songs'. American Cowboy. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014.
- ^Annett Claudia Richter - Fiddles, Harmonicas, and Banjos: Thomas Hart Benton and His Role ... 2008 -- Page 218 'From the widely spread folk song 'Jesse James,' Benton selected two of the outlaw's most remembered actions: the robbery of a bank and of a train together with his gang. The story of Jesse James appeared in the St. Joseph, Missouri, ...'
- ^'Jesse James (trad.) (1800s)'. Folkarchive.de. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- ^Settle, William A. (25 November 1977). Jesse James Was His Name: Or, Fact and Fiction Concerning the Careers of the Notorious James Brothers of Missouri. U of Nebraska Press. Retrieved 25 November 2017 – via Internet Archive.
- ^'Jesse James, a.k.a. Ballad of Jesse James'. International Lyrics Playground. 2007. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
- ^[1]
External links[edit]
Starring: Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Shepard, Sam Rockwell, Garrett Dillahunt
Director: Andrew Dominik
Released: 2007
Mood: If you’re feeling particularly angsty and need to fuel your inner demons with something dark but still want to watch a Western.
You never know what you’re going to get when you watch a Revisionist Western. I wouldn’t call it my favourite subgenre of Westerns. Sometimes they do something fascinating and unique. Other times, these movies are just confusing.
I’ve seen The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford several times, and fortunately, it falls into the ‘fascinating and unique’ category.
This is a super bleak film – and I say film because this is no mere movie. It’s a work of art on every level. The story is deep. The mood is agonizingly grim.
And the haunting score by dark musical geniuses Nick Cave and Warren Ellis makes me want to wear all black and stare for hours out of a rainy window. It’s SO GOOD that after writing that sentence, I broke my personal rule of writing in silence to play the soundtrack while I wrote this review.
This isn’t the cheeky, sexy American Outlaws version of the James Gang. It’s not an action movie. It’s an intimate look at the relationship between an intensely paranoid Jesse James and his fanboy killer.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Fordcouldn’t have a more literal title. You know what you’re going to get as far as the outcome – but the story isn’t the one we’re all used to hearing and seeing.
The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford Movie Cast
It begins shortly before the James Gang’s final train robbery. Charley Ford (Sam Rockwell) is already a member of the gang, and his younger brother Robert ‘Bob’ (Casey Affleck) is desperate to join. He’s painfully awkward around Jesse (Brad Pitt), but Jesse is running out of men – the Younger boys had already been arrested at this point – so he lets Bob do small tasks for him.
Bob’s obsession with Jesse grows. At one point the guys find a box full of Jesse James memorabilia that he’s been toting around. Meanwhile, Jesse is busy hunting down every former friend who crossed him. Jesse’s moods get worse, and he makes fun of Bob, thinking he’s pathetic and an easy target.
Big mistake. Bob is extremely sensitive, and heavily underestimated. And we all know how that turned out for Jesse.
The Assassination of Jesse James is kind of a whole-body experience, if that makes sense. It’s like a somber Western ballad, come to life. There’s no hero here. Everyone has major character flaws, and not in the fun ‘bad boy you want to fix’ kind of way.
Early in the film, Frank James (Sam Shepard) says to Robert Ford, “I don’t know what it is about you, but the more you talk, the more you give me the willies.” This somehow neatly sums up Affleck’s performance as Bob, yet also barely scratches the surface.
When I said it’s a whole-body experience, part of what I meant was Bob. Affleck is so good as the simpering, jealous creep who wants a piece of Jesse that it makes your skin crawl… because you just know he wishes he could climb inside Jesse’s skin and become one with him. You’re supposed to hate him, you do hate him, but you have to admit that he MAKES the whole damn film what it is.
Shia LeBoeuf and Ryan Gosling also auditioned for the part of Bob, but I really think this is the best it could have been played.
Brad Pitt is unlikable in totally different ways, and it’s delivered equally well. His Jesse is so ruthless and dead inside, it fully evokes the man who did so many heinous things in his young life. Pitt has this way of disappearing into his characters’ crazies, and you’re constantly on edge waiting for him to explode.
Apparently descendants of James have said that of all the movies about his life, this one is the most accurate and they attribute it to Pitt and Affleck’s performances (which is kind of unfair, given the amount of research author Ron Hansen put into the book that the script is based upon).
Everyone does a fine job, especially the actors playing the other Gang members. They fully capture what it would have felt like to have ridden with Jesse and know his capabilities, and to know you didn’t stand a chance once he turned on you. They’re all falling apart both mentally and physically, just waiting for the inevitable.
Garrett Dillahunt is always my favourite in everything, and does a lot with the smaller role of Ed Miller. Paul Schneider is another standout as Dick Liddil.
The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford Movie Online
Of all the awards for which this film was nominated – and it was nominated for a LOT of awards – you see one name all over them: cinematographer Roger Deakins.
He put so much into every little detail, from the somber black and brown tones to the stunning night scenes and blurred, vintage effects, that he even pioneered a new technique. He apparently said that the scene where the train arrives in the dark and appears to be lit only by lanterns was a career high-point.
I’m no film geek, but even I know that the cinematography was a delicious visual treat for those who appreciate this kind of thing.
Somehow The Assassination of Jesse James was a box office flop, but the critics loved it. It’s not for everybody. If you like classic John Wayne-style Westerns, you might find it too artsy and slow. But if you need something to pass a particularly bleak afternoon, or if you’re just feel extra goth tonight, this one’s for you.