I Got Stripes

"On a Monday"
Single by Lead Belly
Released1939 (1939)
GenreCountry
"I Got Stripes"
Single by Johnny Cash
A-side"I Got Stripes"
"Five Feet High and Rising"
ReleasedJuly 1959 (1959-07)
GenreCountry
LabelColumbia 4-41427
Songwriter(s)Charlie Williams, Johnny Cash[1]
Johnny Cash singles chronology
"Katy Too"
(1959) 		"I Got Stripes"
(1959) 		"Goodbye Little Darlin'"
(1959)
Audio
"I Got Stripes" on YouTube
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Billboard[2]Spotlight winner of the week

"I Got Stripes" is a song recorded by Johnny Cash.

Cash's version is credited to him and Charlie Williams,[3] but they borrowed from a song by Lead Belly titled "On a Monday".[4]

Lead Belly's original, also known as "Yellow Women's Door Bells" and "Almost Done", was recorded and released by him in 1939[5] and reflected his "prison experiences".[6]

Johnny Cash version

The song was recorded by Cash on March 12, 1959[7][8] and released as a single in July,[9] with "Five Feet High and Rising" (another song from the same recording session) on the opposite side.[7][8][4][10][11][12][13][excessive citations]

According to Robert Hilburn and his book Johnny Cash: The Life, "I Got Stripes" is a "raucous prison tale" written by Johnny Cash and Charlie Williams, a DJ from Los Angeles and Cash's friend. They borrowed from a song by Lead Belly titled "On a Monday".[4]

Charts

Chart (1959) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[14] 43
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[15] 4

References

  1. ^ "I Got Stripes / Five Feet High And Rising". Discogs. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
  2. ^ Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (6 July 1959). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 27–. ISSN 0006-2510. {cite book}: |author= has generic name (help)
  3. ^ Robert K. Oermann (1999). A Century of Country: An Illustrated History of Country Music. TV Books. ISBN 978-1-57500-083-1. I Got Stripes Five Feet High And Rising.
  4. ^ a b c Robert Hilburn (31 October 2013). Johnny Cash: The Life. Orion. pp. 136–. ISBN 978-0-297-86658-9.
  5. ^ "Song: On a Monday written by Leadbelly | SecondHandSongs". SecondHandSongs.
  6. ^ Schmid, Will (1990). A Tribute to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly, Teacher's Guide. R&L Education. ISBN 9780940796850.
  7. ^ a b Johnny Cash (2004). Johnny Cash, the Songs. Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 9781560256298.
  8. ^ a b Don Cusic (15 July 2011). The Cowboy in Country Music: An Historical Survey with Artist Profiles. McFarland. pp. 148–. ISBN 978-0-7864-6314-5.
  9. ^ Johnny Cash - I Got Stripes, retrieved 2019-06-15
  10. ^ Steve Turner (30 October 2005). The Man Called CASH: The Life, Love and Faith of an American Legend. Thomas Nelson. pp. 245–. ISBN 978-1-4185-7809-1.
  11. ^ C. Eric Banister (1 August 2014). Johnny Cash FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Man in Black. Backbeat Books. pp. 62–. ISBN 978-1-61713-608-5.
  12. ^ John M. Alexander (16 April 2018). The Man in Song: A Discographic Biography of Johnny Cash. University of Arkansas Press. pp. 6–. ISBN 978-1-61075-628-0.
  13. ^ Red Robinson; Peggy Hodgins (1983). Rockbound: Rock'n'roll Encounters. Hancock House. ISBN 978-0-88839-162-9.
  14. ^ "Johnny Cash Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
  15. ^ "Johnny Cash Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-01-16.