Along Came Jones

"Along Came Jones" is a comedic song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded by The Coasters, but covered by many other groups and individuals.

The song

Told from the perspective of a person who decides to watch television, the song tells of the interaction between a gunslinger stock villain, "Salty Sam," and a ranch-owning woman, "Sweet Sue," on an unnamed television show.

The TV show features various damsel in distress situations, whereby Sam abducts Sue and places her in peril, intended to force her to give him the deed to her ranch – or face a gruesome death:

• In the first verse, the viewer watches Sam attempt to kill Sue by cutting her in half in an abandoned sawmill.
• In the second verse, the viewer fixes a snack during a commercial break, and comes back to see Sam attempting to blow up Sue in an abandoned mine.
• In the third verse, apparently tired of the show, the viewer changes channels – only to find another episode of the same show, this time with Sam attempting to stuff Sue in a burlap sack and throw her in front of an oncoming train.

However, Sue is rescued, and Sam's plans foiled, by the hero – a "tall, thin, slow-walkin', slow-talkin', long, lean, lanky" fellow named Jones. (How Jones manages to defeat Sam and rescue Sue is never told.)

Origins and meaning

The song was inspired in part by the 1945 Gary Cooper film Along Came Jones, a Western comedy in which "long, lean, lanky" Cooper mercilessly lampoons his "slow-walkin', slow-talkin'" screen persona; songwriter Mike Stoller studied orchestration with Arthur Lange, who composed the score for the film. The song was a satirical statement about how mainstream entertainment was irrelevant to 1950s teenagers in general, and to black teenagers in particular. (An early draft of the lyric made pointed references to Jones' white hat and white horse.)

Cover versions

A cover version was recorded by novelty pop artist Ray Stevens in 1969, reaching a peak of #27 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[1] Stevens was also the voice of "Salty Sam," and (in falsetto) of "Sweet Sue," who screams for help and makes humorous ad-libs ("there he go again, tyin' me up, same routine," "here comes the train, here comes the train," etc.) The record features dubbed-in laughter and cheering from a "live" audience, and includes a brief quote from Rossini's "William Tell Overture" before it ends. Another cover was done by the Righteous Brothers on their Sayin' Something album (1967), notable for "And then?" vocalist Bill Medley losing his patience with the story as told by Bobby Hatfield by the third verse.^[2]

Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones (of The Monkees fame), did a cover version with Monkees songwriters, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, on the album Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart in 1976.^[3] It was notable for Davy (the "Jones" of the title) making humorous comments in a mock British posh accent ("That's not cricket, old chap").

French singer Henri Salvador covered the song in French but with different lyrics and a different children's television hero in the starring role: "Zorro est Arrivé" (1964).^[4]

The song is alluded to in the song "Million Dollar Bash" by Bob Dylan.

References