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"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.

Jimmie Rodgers recording

Rodgers version of "In the Jailhouse Now" was recorded February 15, 1928, in Camden, New Jersey, and features Rodgers on vocals and guitar, with Ellsworth T. Cozzens playing banjo. Rodgers included his famous yodel throughout the song. He recorded a sequel titled "In the Jailhouse Now—No. 2" in Hollywood, California, in 1930, which follows the misadventures of a man named Campbell.

Recording and copyright history

The song has been covered many times, most frequently with Jimmie Rodgers’ version. Artists who have sung it include Tommy Duncan, Webb Pierce, Pink Anderson, Johnny Cash, Jim Jackson, Leon Russell, Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions (featuring Jerry Garcia), Merle Haggard, Doc Watson, Prism, Suzy Bogguss (with Chet Atkins), and Tim Blake Nelson with The Soggy Bottom Boys in the film and soundtrack for O Brother, Where Art Thou?. It was also one of the first songs learned by a teenage Joan Baez. 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. Pierce's version spent No. 1 on the Billboard country chart for 21 weeks, becoming the third song in the chart's history to spend as long on the chart; previously, Eddy Arnold ("I'll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms)," 1947) and Hank Snow ("I'm Movin' On," 1950) achieved the feat. For 58 years, those three songs held the longevity record for most weeks at No. 1 with 21 weeks, with only a handful of songs coming within a month of matching the record into the early 1960s. Finally, on August 10, 2013, "Cruise" by Florida Georgia Line surpassed Pierce's "In the Jailhouse Now" for most weeks at No. 1 when it spent its 22nd week at No. 1.

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.

The song regained popularity years later when Sonny James recorded a live version during a 1976 concert at Tennessee State Prison. James' version included backing by the Tennessee State Prison Band, and peaked at No. 15 on the Hot Country Singles chart in 1977.

The Jimmie Rodgers version was sung by Gene Autry and his side kick Frog in his 1939 movie "South of the Border."

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". The other "Soggy Bottom Boys" songs are lip-synched, but Tim Blake Nelson sings his own vocals on this song, while Turturro's yodeling is actually performed by Pat Enright of the Nashville Bluegrass Band.

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.

See also

• "Man of Constant Sorrow"
• "I'll Fly Away"

References

1. The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers, p. 131
2. The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers, p. 119
3. Jimmie Rodgers: The Life and Times of America's Blue Yodeler, pp. 137-138
4. Jimmie Rodgers: The Life and Times of America's Blue Yodeler, p. 258
5. The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers, p. 141,163
6. The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers, p. 132
7. The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers, p. 135
8. The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers, p. 139
9. The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers, p. 156
10. The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers, p. 149-150
11. The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers, p. 291-292
12. Abrams, Steven and Settlemier, Tyrone Online Discographical Project: Victor 22000 - 22500 Retrieved September 14, 2011
13. The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers, pp. 165-168
14. The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers, p. 171
15. The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers, pp. 177-180
16. The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers, p. 182
17. Rowell, Erica (2007). The Brothers Grim: The Films of Ethan and Joel Coen. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 276 n.59. ISBN 978-0810858503. Excerpts available at Google Books.
18. The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers, p. 187
19. The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers, p. 188

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Compilations	Johnny Cash Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous Greatest! Johnny Cash Sings Hank Williams Now Here's Johnny Cash All Aboard the Blue Train with Johnny Cash Original Sun Sound of Johnny Cash Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 Heart of Cash Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 Sunday Morning Coming Down International Superstar Five Feet High and Rising Destination Victoria Station Greatest Hits, Vol. 3 The Unissued Johnny Cash Johnny & June Tall Man Encore Biggest Hits The Man in Black 1954–1958 The Man in Black 1959–1962 Come Along and Ride This Train The Essential Johnny Cash (1992) Wanted Man The Man in Black 1963–1969 The Man in Black – His Greatest Hits 16 Biggest Hits Love, God, Murder The Essential Johnny Cash (2002) Unearthed The Legend The Legend of Johnny Cash Patriot 16 Biggest Hits: Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash The Legend of Johnny Cash Vol. II The Complete Columbia Album Collection Johnny Cash and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Songs	"25 Minutes to Go" "Seasons of My Heart" "Any Old Wind That Blows" "A Wonderful Time Up There" "The Ballad of Boot Hill" "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" "Ballad of a Teenage Queen" "Big River" "Blistered" "A Boy Named Sue" "Busted" "Cat's in the Cradle" "Cocaine Blues" "Cry! Cry! Cry!" "Daddy Sang Bass" "Dark as a Dungeon" "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" "Engine 143" "Flesh and Blood" "The Folk Singer" "Folsom Prison Blues" "Forty Shades of Green" "Get Rhythm" "Give My Love to Rose" "Goodnight, Irene" "Green, Green Grass of Home" "Greystone Chapel" "Guess Things Happen That Way" "Hey, Porter" "Home of the Blues" "Hurt" "I Couldn't Keep from Crying" "I Love You Because" "I Still Miss Someone" "I Walk the Line" "If I Had a Hammer" "If I Were a Carpenter" "In My Life" "In the Jailhouse Now" "It Ain't Me Babe" "Jackson" "Kate" "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream" "The Man Comes Around" "Man in Black" "The Matador" "Oh Lonesome Me" "One Piece at a Time" "Oney" "Orange Blossom Special" "The One on the Right Is on the Left" "Remember the Alamo" "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" "Ring of Fire" "Rock Island Line" "So Doggone Lonesome" "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" "Tennessee Flat Top Box" "There Ain't No Good Chain Gang" "A Thing Called Love" "Understand Your Man" "What Is Truth" "What'd I Say" "Without Love" "You Are My Sunshine"
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• Jimmie Rodgers (country singer) songs
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• Willie Nelson songs
• Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles
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• American folklore
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