Bruce Springsteen: Jesse James

Although no one really believes that the outlaw Jesse James was a Missouri version of Robin Hood, he's portrayed as such in the folk song "Jesse James," which has been recorded numerous times, most recently five years ago by Bruce Springsteen on We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions.

This live version presents a rousing version of how Robert Ford, "that dirty little coward, that shot Mr. Howard," killed James while he dusted a picture on the wall of his home.



Interspersed in the performance are clips from the Brad Pitt film, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. In that movie, Nick Cave, playing a strolling musician, sings "Jesse James" in a bar. Ford corrects Cave's character, pointing out that James had just two children, not three as the song states.

Oh, there are Italian subtitles too in the video. And a sousaphone.

This week's Saturday Musical Selection has everything.

Related posts:

September 7, 1876: The defeat of Jesse James in Northfield, Minnesota

Jesse James' first train robbery

Dave Edmunds: From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)--Springsteen cover