BALLAD OF JESSE JAMES^©

a.k.a. DON'T YOU WANT TO BE AN OUTLAW
a.k.a. BILLY
a.k.a. THE BALLAD OF JESSE JAMES

Well, don't you wanna climb a mountain
Yeah, don't you wanna ride the river
Drink from a magic fountain
Give your woman all the love that you can give her

Well, don't you wanna be an outlaw
Don't you wanna ride the range
Don't you wanna be an outlaw children
Just like Jesse, like Jesse James, just like Jesse boy

Well now, don't you wanna swim the ocean
Yeah, don't you wanna climb the highest tree
Drink some of Mama's lovin' potion
Get your woman till she just can't see*

Don't you wanna be an outlaw
Just a poor boy caught on the skids
Don't you wanna be an outlaw children
Just like Billy, just like Billy the Kid

Well now, Billy he was a bad boy
He won the wilder west
By the year of 21, had many notches on his gun
But someone laid him to an early rest

Well, don't you wanna climb a mountain
Yeah, don't you wanna ride the river
Drink from a magic fountain
Give your woman all the love that you can give her

Don't you wanna be an outlaw
Don't you wanna ride the range
Don't you wanna be an outlaw children
Just like Jesse

[guitar solo]

Yeah, Jesse he was a bad boy
He won the wilder west
And many notches on his gun, as the year of 21
Someone laid him to an early rest
???!

Don't you wanna climb a mountain
Yeah, don't you wanna ride the river
Drink from a magic fountain
Give your woman all the love that you can give her
Hey!

Don't you wanna be an outlaw
Don't you wanna ride the range
Don't you wanna be an outlaw children
Just, just like Jesse, ???

Well, don't you wanna be an outlaw
Don't you wanna be an outlaw
Woah woah woah, woah woah woah
Just like Jesse, just like Jesse, just like Jesse
Bring it on man! Bring it on man!
Woah woah woah

This song about Jesse James and Billy The Kid is a Bruce Springsteen Band number written in mid-1971. It was played live during the Bruce Springsteen Band period, and 3 of those live performances are known to exist (and the corresponding audio recordings are in limited circulation):

• 01 Sep 1971 at Garfield Park, Long Branch, NJ
• 30 Oct 1971 at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
• 17 Dec 1971 at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

According to Brucebase, Springsteen did not record any material in a professional recording studio during the Feb 1971 - Feb 1972 period. However, studio "rehearsal" sessions were frequently conducted at Challenger Eastern Surfboards Factory, Highlands, NJ. The primary purpose of these sessions was to prepare for live shows, and not to make audio recordings. So only a fraction of these extensive body of rehearsal sessions were ever recorded, and when they were, it is an unfortunate reality that the Reel-to-Reel tapes recorded during the sessions were often erased and reused as part of the recording of live shows. Therefore it can be reasonably assumed that very little of these rehearsal sessions survive on tape.

Premises of Challenger Eastern Surfboards Factory, Highlands, NJ

Audio of only one of those sessions is known to exist; a continuous 6-song, 61-minute segment of a rehearsal that took place at the Surfboard Factory around Jan or Feb 1972. Engineered and produced by Carl "Tinker" West, the session lineup was Springsteen, Van Zandt, David Sancious, Garry Tallent, and Vini Lopez.

BALLAD OF JESSE JAMES is part of the above-mentioned existing studio, and it is included on the Deep Down In The Vaults bootleg. The above lyrics refer to that version.

* The lyrics on this line are unintelligible. Some sources replace it with "Don't you wanna dream some fantasy".