In the Jailhouse Now
Encyclopedia
"In The Jailhouse Now" is an American novelty
blues
song originally found in vaudeville
performances from the early 20th century, usually credited to Jimmie Rodgers
. The song's first two verses trace the exploits of Ramblin’ Bob, who cheats at cards and gets caught, while the final verse tells about taking a girl named Susie out on the town and winding up in jail together.
, New Jersey
, and features Rodgers on vocals and guitar, with Ellsworth T. Cozzens playing banjo
. Rodgers included his famous yodel throughout the song. Rodgers recorded a sequel
titled "In the Jailhouse Now—No. 2" in Hollywood, California
, in 1930, which follows the misadventures of a man named “Campbell”.
many times, most frequently in Jimmie Rodgers’s version. Artists who have sung it include Tommy Duncan
, Webb Pierce
, Pink Anderson
, Johnny Cash
, Leon Russell
, Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions (featuring Jerry Garcia
), Merle Haggard
, Doc Watson
, and Tim Blake Nelson
with The Soggy Bottom Boys in the film and soundtrack for O Brother, Where Art Thou?
. The song shows up under different titles including "He's in the Jailhouse Now," and some versions use the line "She's in the graveyard now" in the chorus.
Prior to 1930, several different versions of it were recorded and copyrighted. The earliest is Davis and Stafford's 1915 version, which has verses about a man named Campbell cheating at a card game, and a corrupt election. In 1924, Whistler's Jug Band from Louisville
, Kentucky
, recorded it under the title "Jail House Blues
," which was the same title as a famous blues tune by Bessie Smith
but was, in fact, the same song as "In the Jailhouse Now".
In 1927, Earl McDonald's Original Louisville Jug Band made another recording of the song. Two African-American bluesmen also recorded the song prior to Rodgers: Blind Blake
(in 1927), and Jim Jackson
(in January 1928). Jackson also copyrighted the song before Rodgers. Finally, in 1930, the Memphis Sheiks (a pseudonym for The Memphis Jug Band
) recorded it in a version that scholars have often claimed -- albeit mistakenly -— was a cover of Jimmie Rodgers. The version of the melody and lyrics that they used, is clearly derived from the Louisville Jug Band performances, not Rodgers. On some of the Memphis Sheiks' records, an African-American vaudeville performer named Bert Murphy is given credit for writing the song.
Shortly after Rodgers recorded the song, three additional versions appeared that were decidedly not covers of Rodgers. Boyd Senter and his Senterpedes did a jazz
version in 1929 for Victor Records (issued on #22010, and later reissued on Bluebird Records
#5545); Gene Kardos
and His Orchestra also did a jazz version in 1932 for Victor; and Billy Mitchell did a stride piano
and shouter version of it in 1936 for the Bluebird label.
After Rodgers, the best-known version of the song was by Webb Pierce
, who had a No. 1 country hit with the song in 1955.
When Johnny Cash
recorded the song in 1962, he used lyrics that are different from Jimmie Rodgers' versions which Cash learned from the African-American jug band musicians in Memphis. In spite of this, most writers claim that Cash was covering Jimmie Rodgers' song, which further obscures that the song originated with African-American performers and was kept alive in a vaudeville and jug band tradition for many decades.
In O Brother, Where Art Thou?
, "Delmar" (Tim Blake Nelson
) sings a rendition, with "Pete" (John Turturro
) yodeling between the verses, prior to the Soggy Bottom Boys' main number, "Man of Constant Sorrow
".
In 1979, the song was done in a blackface performance in the musical One Mo' Time by Vernel Bagneris
. The musical was revived on Broadway
in 2002. The version of the song used in the show was the same as that recorded by the Louisville Jug Bands in the 1920s.
Novelty song
A novelty song is a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs. The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music. The other two divisions...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
song originally found in vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
performances from the early 20th century, usually credited to Jimmie Rodgers
Jimmie Rodgers (country singer)
James Charles Rodgers , known as Jimmie Rodgers, was an American country singer in the early 20th century known most widely for his rhythmic yodeling...
. The song's first two verses trace the exploits of Ramblin’ Bob, who cheats at cards and gets caught, while the final verse tells about taking a girl named Susie out on the town and winding up in jail together.
Jimmie Rodgers recording
Rodgers version of "In the Jailhouse Now" was recorded February 15, 1928, in CamdenCamden, New Jersey
The city of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey. It is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 77,344...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, and features Rodgers on vocals and guitar, with Ellsworth T. Cozzens playing banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
. Rodgers included his famous yodel throughout the song. Rodgers recorded a sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
titled "In the Jailhouse Now—No. 2" in Hollywood, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, in 1930, which follows the misadventures of a man named “Campbell”.
Recording and copyright history
The earliest copyright for the song is a 1915 version by two African-American theater performers named Davis and Stafford. The song has been coveredCover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
many times, most frequently in Jimmie Rodgers’s version. Artists who have sung it include Tommy Duncan
Tommy Duncan
Thomas Elmer Duncan , better known as Tommy Duncan, was a pioneering American Western swing vocalist and songwriter who gained fame in the 1930s as a founding member of The Texas Playboys...
, Webb Pierce
Webb Pierce
Webb Michael Pierce was one of the most popular American honky tonk vocalists of the 1950s, charting more number one hits than any other country artist during the decade. His biggest hit was "In The Jailhouse Now," which charted for 37 weeks in 1955, 21 of them at number one...
, Pink Anderson
Pink Anderson
"Pink" Anderson was a blues singer and guitarist, born in Laurens, South Carolina.-Life and career:After being raised in Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina, he joined Dr...
, Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
, Leon Russell
Leon Russell
Claude Russell Bridges , known professionally as Leon Russell, is an American musician and songwriter, who has recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music....
, Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions (featuring Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
), Merle Haggard
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...
, Doc Watson
Doc Watson
Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson is an American guitar player, songwriter and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues and gospel music. He has won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Watson's flatpicking skills and knowledge of traditional American music are highly regarded...
, and Tim Blake Nelson
Tim Blake Nelson
Tim Blake Nelson is an American director, writer, singer, and actor.-Early life:Nelson was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Ruth Kaiser Nelson, who is a noted social activist and philanthropist in Tulsa, and a geologist father...
with The Soggy Bottom Boys in the film and soundtrack for O Brother, Where Art Thou?
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a 2000 comedy film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and starring George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and Charles Durning. Set in 1937 rural Mississippi during the Great Depression, the film's story is a modern satire loosely...
. The song shows up under different titles including "He's in the Jailhouse Now," and some versions use the line "She's in the graveyard now" in the chorus.
Prior to 1930, several different versions of it were recorded and copyrighted. The earliest is Davis and Stafford's 1915 version, which has verses about a man named Campbell cheating at a card game, and a corrupt election. In 1924, Whistler's Jug Band from Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, recorded it under the title "Jail House Blues
Jail House Blues
Jailhouse Blues is a motion picture released by Columbia Pictures. This musical short film features Mamie Smith, who was a top star in Black Vaudeville and a recording artist with Okeh Records, although by the time Jailhouse Blues was made her contract with Okeh had ended.-Synopsis:Mamie is...
," which was the same title as a famous blues tune by Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith was an American blues singer.Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s...
but was, in fact, the same song as "In the Jailhouse Now".
In 1927, Earl McDonald's Original Louisville Jug Band made another recording of the song. Two African-American bluesmen also recorded the song prior to Rodgers: Blind Blake
Blind Blake
"Blind" Blake was an American blues and ragtime singer and guitarist.-Biography:...
(in 1927), and Jim Jackson
Jim Jackson (musician)
Jim Jackson was an African American blues and hokum singer, songster and guitarist, whose recordings in the late 1920s were popular and influential on later artists.-Career:...
(in January 1928). Jackson also copyrighted the song before Rodgers. Finally, in 1930, the Memphis Sheiks (a pseudonym for The Memphis Jug Band
Memphis Jug Band
The Memphis Jug Band was an American musical group in the late 1920s and early to mid 1930s. The band featured harmonicas, violins, mandolins, banjos, and guitars, backed by washboards, kazoo, and jugs blown to supply the bass; they played in a variety of musical styles...
) recorded it in a version that scholars have often claimed -- albeit mistakenly -— was a cover of Jimmie Rodgers. The version of the melody and lyrics that they used, is clearly derived from the Louisville Jug Band performances, not Rodgers. On some of the Memphis Sheiks' records, an African-American vaudeville performer named Bert Murphy is given credit for writing the song.
Shortly after Rodgers recorded the song, three additional versions appeared that were decidedly not covers of Rodgers. Boyd Senter and his Senterpedes did a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
version in 1929 for Victor Records (issued on #22010, and later reissued on Bluebird Records
Bluebird Records
Bluebird Records is a sub-label of RCA Victor Records originally created in 1932 to counter the American Record Company in the "3 records for a dollar" market. Along with ARC's Perfect Records, Melotone Records and Romeo Records, and the independent US Decca label, Bluebird became one of the best...
#5545); Gene Kardos
Gene Kardos
Gene Kardos was leader of an outstanding jazz and dance orchestra starting in 1931 and running through 1938. He first recorded for Victor in 1931-32 and thereafter recorded for ARC's labels through 1938.Among his musicians were Mike Doty and Joel Shaw...
and His Orchestra also did a jazz version in 1932 for Victor; and Billy Mitchell did a stride piano
Stride piano
Harlem Stride Piano, Stride Piano, or just Stride, is a jazz piano style that was developed in the large cities of the East Coast, mainly in the New York, during 1920s and 1930s. The left hand may play a four-beat pulse with a single bass note, octave, seventh or tenth interval on the first and...
and shouter version of it in 1936 for the Bluebird label.
After Rodgers, the best-known version of the song was by Webb Pierce
Webb Pierce
Webb Michael Pierce was one of the most popular American honky tonk vocalists of the 1950s, charting more number one hits than any other country artist during the decade. His biggest hit was "In The Jailhouse Now," which charted for 37 weeks in 1955, 21 of them at number one...
, who had a No. 1 country hit with the song in 1955.
When Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
recorded the song in 1962, he used lyrics that are different from Jimmie Rodgers' versions which Cash learned from the African-American jug band musicians in Memphis. In spite of this, most writers claim that Cash was covering Jimmie Rodgers' song, which further obscures that the song originated with African-American performers and was kept alive in a vaudeville and jug band tradition for many decades.
In O Brother, Where Art Thou?
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a 2000 comedy film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and starring George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and Charles Durning. Set in 1937 rural Mississippi during the Great Depression, the film's story is a modern satire loosely...
, "Delmar" (Tim Blake Nelson
Tim Blake Nelson
Tim Blake Nelson is an American director, writer, singer, and actor.-Early life:Nelson was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Ruth Kaiser Nelson, who is a noted social activist and philanthropist in Tulsa, and a geologist father...
) sings a rendition, with "Pete" (John Turturro
John Turturro
John Michael Turturro is an American actor, writer and director known for his roles in the films Do the Right Thing , Miller's Crossing , Barton Fink , Quiz Show , The Big Lebowski , O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the Transformers film series...
) yodeling between the verses, prior to the Soggy Bottom Boys' main number, "Man of Constant Sorrow
Man of Constant Sorrow
"Man of Constant Sorrow" is a traditional American folk song first recorded by Dick Burnett, a partially blind fiddler from Kentucky. The song was originally recorded by Burnett as "Farewell Song" printed in a Richard Burnett songbook, c. 1913. An early version was recorded by Emry Arthur in 1928...
".
In 1979, the song was done in a blackface performance in the musical One Mo' Time by Vernel Bagneris
Vernel Bagneris
Vernel Martin Bagneris , playwright, actor, director, singer, and dancer, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the third child of Gloria Diaz Bagneris and Lawrence Bagneris Sr. Bagneris’s mother was a housewife and deeply religious woman who “quietly outclassed most people,” and his father was a...
. The musical was revived on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in 2002. The version of the song used in the show was the same as that recorded by the Louisville Jug Bands in the 1920s.