![\"Jesse-James_First-Bank-Robbery_HD_768x432-16x9\"](\"http:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2015\/01\/Jesse-James_First-Bank-Robbery_HD_768x432-16x9-300x169.jpg\")
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After listening to troubadour by George Strait and hearing Jesse James\u2019s name I was curious too how many country songs talk about him in their lyrics and why. Some of the people that sang about Jesse James included Johnny Cash a well known country artists and also Woody Guthrie. A lot of older traditional country songs talk about him and I was kind of curious as to why. After listening to a few songs I start to see a pattern to Jesse\u2019s story, which he was known for being the fastest gunslinger in the west, bank\/coach robber, outlaw, and a murderer.<\/p>\n
After hearing those songs I wanted to see whether the stories had any truth too them. I found some information about his story and parts of the stories are truth but some of them were just rumors and myths. So I did some more digging and found out that he was from Missouri where he lived on a slave farm with his mother Zerelda James, his father Robert James, and his brother Frank James. I read on about his outlandish lifestyle as an outlaw. It all started when he joined the confederate guerrillas lead by Bill Anderson known for terrorizing his enemies with scalping and other inhumane tortures.<\/p>\n
Shortly after Jesse joined the guerrillas the civil war had been won by the union, so eventually they had to surrender too but of course as we know the story for Jesses James continues. He goes on to rob banks, coaches and trains. Eventually he becomes the greatest known outlaw, muderer, and robber. As I had said previously a lot of older country songs talk about Jesse James and I believe for one is because he was such legendary southern outlaw so it would have been stories that most of those country singers would have heard about as a child, which we all know, or at least I do, and\u00a0who wouldn\u2019t have wanted to be an outlaw like Jesse James? I believe it inspired\u00a0their wild side and the song was a way for them to escape reality and show that they were just like him and they could be free and wild-spirited.<\/p>\n
So in conclusion I think that Jesse James plays a big role in older country for the simple reason his stories were told by so many songs and still to this day he is talked about in songs, movies, even an music artist\u2019s stage name is Jessie James so that their fans can resonate them with Jesse\u2019s wild side. Time and time again you will hear Jesse James story being told through country songs because he is what you would have called the real southerner.<\/p>\n
And if you want to learn a little more about Jesse James here is a short interesting documentary about his life where I got most of facts about Jesse James.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=e9q6Z8GKVMA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After listening to troubadour by George Strait and hearing Jesse James\u2019s name I was curious too how many country songs talk about him in their lyrics and why. Some of the people that sang about Jesse James included Johnny Cash … Continue reading