"The Ballad of Jesse James", or simply "Jesse James", is a 1882 American folk song about the outlaw of the same name, first recorded by Bentley Ball in 1919 and subsequently by many others, including Bascom Lamar Lunsford, Vernon Dalhart, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, The Kingston Trio, The Pogues, The Ramblin' Riversiders, The Country Gentlemen, Willy DeVille, Van Morrison, Harry McClintock, Grandpa Jones, Bob Seger, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Carl Sandburg, Sons of the Pioneers, Johnny Cash,Jackson C. Frank Liam Clancy, Mungo Jerry and Bruce Springsteen. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.