The Ballad of Casey Jones

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"The Ballad of Casey Jones"
see also Casey Jones (Grateful Dead)
Music by Eddie Newton
Lyrics by Wallace Saunders, T. Lawrence Seibert
Written about 1900
Language English
Recorded by Joe Hickerson
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Casey Jones is a traditional song about the railroad engineer Casey Jones and his death in a train wreck. Roud Folk Song Index 3247.

There is little doubt that without the popular ballad that bears his name Casey Jones would be forgotten today except by railroad historians searching through dusty archives. This is to be expected as virtually no acts of physical heroism survive long outside the memories of those who were alive at the time without a means of powerfully capturing the popular imagination. The catchy song known as “The Ballad of Casey Jones” served this purpose well down through the years in its 40+ versions and enhanced Casey’s legendary status to the extent that he has even become something of a mythological figure like Pecos Bill or Paul Bunyan to the uninformed. But he was quite real. Books and pulp magazines about the railroad and its heroes helped to perpetuate his memory as well, but didn’t come close to having the powerful, enduring cultural impact of a simple song that was first heard in a Canton, Mississippi railroad shop.

Soon after Casey’s death it was first sung by a humble engine wiper and friend of Casey’s known as Wallace Saunders to the tune of a popular song of the time known as “Jimmie Jones.” Making up little songs and ballads about people appeared to have been his specialty. He was known to sing and whistle as he went about his work cleaning the huge steam engines, so naturally he would sing about his dead friend. In the words of Casey’s wife: "Wallace's admiration of Casey was little short of idolatry. He used to brag mightily about Mr. Jones even when Casey was only a freight engineer." But Saunders, being illiterate and only interested in using the song as a vehicle to express his grief and admiration for his friend, never had his original version copyrighted, and thus there is no way of knowing precisely what words he sang.

As railroaders stopped in Canton they would pick up the song and pass it along. Soon it was a hit up and down the I.C. line.

But it was up to others with a profit motive to take it and rework it for a nationwide audience.

Illinois Central Engineer William Leighton appreciated the song’s potential enough to tell his brothers Frank Leighton and Bert Leighton, who were vaudeville performers, about it. They took it and sang it in theaters around the country with a chorus they added. But apparently even they neglected to get it copyrighted.

Reportedly Saunders received a bottle of gin for the use of the song. Nothing more was heard from him after this time and he passed into history as the man who helped to make Casey Jones an integral part of American folklore.

Finally, with vaudeville performers T. Lawrence Seibert credited with the lyrics and Eddie Newton the music it was published and offered for sale in 1909 with the title "Casey Jones, The Brave Engineer." As their intent was to entertain, it was hailed on the cover of the sheet music as the "Greatest Comedy Hit In Years" and "The Only Comedy Railroad Song." This version was the one that was strenuously objected to by Casey's wife for making her appear to have been unfaithful to Casey. The offending lines read: “Mrs. Jones sat on her bed a sighing/Just received a message that Casey was dying/ Said go to bed children and hush your crying/Cause you got another papa on the Salt Lake line.” This is similar to a line in the song "Duncan and Brady". She spent her remaining years refuting those lines, once saying "That devil hasn't shown up in 58 years!"

By World War I, dozens of versions had been published and millions of copies were sold, securing the memory of a new American folk hero. Poet Carl Sandburg called the song "Casey Jones, the Brave Engineer" as the "greatest ballad ever written."

[edit] Recordings

[edit] See Also

Casey Jones by The Grateful Dead

[edit] References

  • Ballad of Casey Jones
  • "A treasury of American Folklore," by B. A. Botkin, (American Legacy Press, NT, 1944) pp 241-246)
  • April 1932, Erie Railroad Magazine, vol 28, no. 2, p12