Home demo version 1
Robert Ford and Jesse James were like brothers
Together they would loot the Danville train, train
And then, da da da da da
Da da da da da da da
Da da, to dust, and they went down the line
Baby, da da da da da da
Da da da da da da da
Da da da, da da da da da da da da da, da da da da da
Baby I can't take it now
ROBERT FORD is an unreleased song written by Bruce Springsteen who recorded it in studio in 1982. The song is also known under the titles "Robert Ford And Jesse James" and "Jesse James". This website uses the title "Robert Ford", which is the one used in Sony's logs of Bruce Springsteen's studio sessions to indicate the version recorded in studio in 1982.
The above lyrics are for a solo acoustic home demo take of ROBERT FORD recorded in late March or early April 1981 at Springsteen's home in Colts Neck, NJ, during a break in The River Tour. It's just a snippet that, like many other home demos from that period, is ruined by some unintelligible and bluffed vocals.
The song is obviously inspired or based on the 19th century folk song JESSE JAMES, which Springsteen later recorded in 1997 and released in 2006. See home demo version 2 for more similarities.
The song appeared in a 2022 filing at the United States Copyright Office. See the "Copyright Filings" section below form more details.
Three solo acoustic home takes of ROBERT FORD are in circulation among collectors.
According to Sony's logs of Bruce Springsteen's studio sessions, ROBERT FORD was recorded on 27 Apr 1982 at The Power Station in New York City, NY. The song was probably recorded in a full-band electric arrangement. No studio take of ROBERT FORD has ever surfaced among collectors.
In 2022, a "Recorded Document" consisting of 539 Bruce Springsteen "musical works" was filed at the United States Copyright Office. The two filings are related to Springsteen's late 2021 deal with Sony Music in which he sold the masters of his entire catalog and the coinciding music publishing rights. They show the transfer of the songs from Bruce Springsteen to Thrill Hill Music LLC and then from Thrill Hill Music LLC to Sony Music Publishing (US) LLC and Asbury Boss LLC. Thrill Hill Music LLC and Asbury Boss LLC are limited liability companies incorporated in September 2021 and October 2021 respectively and likely created for the deal.
Copyright entry #1:
Type of Work: Recorded Document
Document Number: V15007D317
Date of Recordation: 2022-05-13
Entire Copyright Document: V15007 D317 P1-13
Date of Execution: 01Nov21; 01Mar22
Title: 100 Miles From Jackson & 538 other titles; Musical Work.
Notes: Assignment.
Party 1: Bruce Springsteen
Party 2: Thrill Hill Music LLC
Links: List of titles
Names: Springsteen, Bruce | Thrill Hill Music LLC
Copyright entry #2:
Type of Work: Recorded Document
Document Number: V15007D318
Date of Recordation: 2022-05-13
Entire Copyright Document: V15007 D318 P1-14
Date of Execution: 22Nov21; 22Nov21
Title: 100 Miles From Jackson & 538 other titles; Musical Work.
Notes: Exhibit 10.1 Assignment
Party 1: Thrill Hill Music LLC
Party 2: Sony Music Publishing (US) LLC; Asbury Boss, LLC
Links: List of titles
Names: Thrill Hill Music LLC | Sony Music Publishing (US) LLC | Asbury Boss, LLC
This home demo version 1 of ROBERT FORD can be found on the Fist Full Of Dollars (E. St. Records) [track 25] bootleg. The song is listed under the title "Robert Ford And Jesse James".
Bruce Springsteen has never performed ROBERT FORD live.
As far as it's known, no artist has recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's ROBERT FORD.
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
List of available versions of ROBERT FORD on this website:
ROBERT FORD [Home demo version 1]