“John Henry” is one of the most-recorded American folk songs, and for good reason: there’s so much going on in it.
It’s a story of man vs. machine and African-American empowerment, as presumably Black railroad worker John Henry races a steam drill to prove that humans could (at least at the time) outperform technology.
It’s a story of exploited workers vs. authority, as John Henry literally works himself to death to prove his dedication to his work.
It’s a love story and a feminist story, as John Henry’s fallen hammer is taken up by his widow, Polly Ann.
And it appears to be based at least in part on a real person and real events. In fact, while the site of John Henry’s famous race is up for debate (a West Virginia railroad lays claim with a memorial statue, however), John Henry himself may have been a New Jerseyan born exactly a century before the state’s most famous current citizen–so says researcher Scott Reynolds Nelson, at least.
The ballad of “John Henry” changes and grows as all great legends do, from the first known recording in 1924 by Fiddlin’ John Carson…
to Pete Seeger’s version that inspired Bruce’s own.
But even Pete claimed not to know the song’s original lyrics and melody. Those appear to be lost to time, since the ballad first started circulating in the 1870s, a good half-century before it was ever recorded.
(In a curious side note, Woody Guthrie took inspiration from “John Henry,” lifting its melody for his own song, “Tom Joad” — which means that in a roundabout way, “John Henry” also inspired Bruce to write “The Ghost of Tom Joad.“)
Bruce took inspiration from Seeger’s version, arranging “John Henry” as a celebratory heroic epic rather than a tragic work song.
On March 19, 2005, Bruce took a break from rehearsals for his upcoming solo acoustic tour and summoned The Gotham Playboys (the core of what would eventually become the Sessions Band) to his home and recorded “John Henry,” along with seven other folk songs that would be released the following year (and one that still isn’t). Remarkably, that session was captured on film, and Bruce looks and sounds like he was having the time of his life.
Bruce had a great time performing it on stage too. He featured “John Henry” prominently and early in the set throughout his 2006 tour, and even an on-stage wardrobe malfunction with his pants in New Orleans couldn’t throw Bruce off his game. (His officially released video omits that part.)
“John Henry” isn’t one of the Seeger Sessions songs to make the E Street transition, though. While it appeared in every show of the Seeger Sessions Tour, it hasn’t been heard from since that tour’s finale in Belfast.
But even if Bruce never performs “John Henry” again, we’ll certainly be hearing versions from other artists. It’s too much of an American story to ever go out of style.
John Henry
Recorded: March 19, 2005
Released: We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006)
First performed: April 20, 2006 (Asbury Park, NJ)
Last performed: November, 21, 2006 (Belfast, Northern Ireland)
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