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For the list of men with the surname Garfield, see Garfield (name).
"Mister Garfield"
Single by Johnny Cash
from the album Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West
A-side"Mister Garfield"
"The Streets of Laredo"
Released1965 (1965)
GenreFolk, country
LabelColumbia 4-43313
Songwriter(s)J. Elliot; arr: Johnny Cash
Producer(s)Don Law and Frank Jones[1]
Audio
"Mister Garfield" on YouTube

"Mister Garfield" is a traditional song[2] sometimes credited to Ramblin' Jack Elliott.[2][3]

The song talks about the assassination of U.S. President James A. Garfield by Charles Guiteau[4] at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington on July 2, 1881.

Johnny Cash version

Johnny Cash recorded it on Columbia Records for his 1965 double album Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West.

Released in June 1965[5][6][7] as the first and only single from the yet-to-be-released album (Columbia 4-43313, with "The Streets of Laredo" on the opposite side),[5][8][6][9][7][10] it reached number 15 on the U.S. Billboard country chart[11] and number 17 on the Cash Box country chart.[10]

Later Cash sang the song on his album America[12] (1972).

Background and lyrical analysis

When researching song titles for inclusion on Johnny Cash Sings Ballads of the True West, Cash [...] combed through the repertoires of contemporary artists who performed authentic cowboy songs, such as Elliott, who taught Cash "The Death of Mister Garfield," the odd ballad recorded by the Rambling Boys in 1957 that eerily, and casually, details the assassination of President James A. Garfield by Charles Guiteau in 1881. Cash was intrigued by the song and wrote in the notes, "This song was brought to me by folksinger Jack Elliott.... It is eighty years old and to my knowledge has never been recorded." The song had been recorded by both Bascom Lamar Lunsford and Derroll Adams, but it was obvious that Cash learned the song firsthand from Elliott himself. Cash could not help but tool with the song's lyrics, and the version he eventually waxed for Columbia shared only occasional similarities with earlier versions. Oddly, Columbia wrongly assigned the writing credit of the “Mr. Garfield” ballad to Elliott.

— Hank Reineke. Ramblin' Jack Elliott: The Never-Ending Highway[2]

Brooklyn-born folk singer Ramblin' Jack Elliott wrote “Mister Garfield” about the 1881 shooting of President James A. Garfield in broad daylight at a railroad depot. A man named Charles J. Guiteau shot Garfield, and the story is told from the point of view of a young man who is shocked to hear about the assassination. The boy talks his brother into going with him to see the ailing president. The boy is saddened to learn that the president ultimately died from his wounds. Elliott originally had presented the song to Cash as "The Ballad of Charles Guiteau," but Cash preferred the title “Mister Garfield.” The song was the only single released from this album, and it climbed to number 15 on the country chart.

— John M. Alexander. The Man in Song: A Discographic Biography of Johnny Cash[3]

Track listing

7" single (Columbia 4-43313,[1] 1965)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Streets of Laredo"Arr.: Johnny Cash3:09
2."Mister Garfield"J. Elliot; arr.: Johnny Cash3:03

Charts

Chart (1965) Peak
position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[13] 15

References

  1. ^ a b "The Streets Of Laredo / Mister Garfield". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  2. ^ a b c Hank Reineke (30 December 2009). Ramblin' Jack Elliott: The Never-Ending Highway. Scarecrow Press. pp. 169–. ISBN 978-0-8108-7257-8.
  3. ^ a b John M. Alexander (16 April 2018). The Man in Song: A Discographic Biography of Johnny Cash. University of Arkansas Press. pp. 167–. ISBN 978-1-61075-628-0.
  4. ^ John M. Alexander (16 April 2018). The Man in Song: A Discographic Biography of Johnny Cash. University of Arkansas Press. pp. 188–. ISBN 978-1-61075-628-0.
  5. ^ a b Peter Lewry (2001). I've Been Everywhere: A Johnny Cash Chronicle. Helter Skelter. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-900924-22-1.
    June
    "Mister Garfield"/"The Streets Of Laredo" (Columbia 4-43313) released. Both titles are from the forthcoming Ballads Of The True West album.
  6. ^ a b Steve Turner (1 November 2005). The man called Cash: the life, love, and faith of an American legend. Thomas Nelson Inc. p. 266. ISBN 978-0-8499-0815-6.
  7. ^ a b The Johnny Cash Record Catalog. Greenwood Publishing Group. 1994. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-313-29506-5.
  8. ^ C. Eric Banister (1 August 2014). Johnny Cash FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Man in Black. Backbeat. pp. 136–. ISBN 978-1-61713-609-2.
  9. ^ Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (23 May 1970). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 1–. ISSN 0006-2510. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
    Standard Catalog of American Records, 1950-1975. Krause Publications. 2000. ISBN 978-0-87341-934-5.
    Tim Neely (31 August 2006). Goldmine Standard Catalog of American Records: 1950-1975. Krause Publications.
  10. ^ a b George Albert (1984-01-01). The Cash Box Country Singles Charts, 1958-1982. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-1685-5.
  11. ^ Joel Whitburn (2002). Top Country Singles, 1944 to 2001: Chart Data Compiled from Billboard's Country Singles Charts, 1944-2001. Record Research. ISBN 978-0-89820-151-2.
    Joel Whitburn (2005). Joel Whitburn's Top Country Songs: 1944-2005, Billboard. Record Research. ISBN 978-0-89820-165-9.
  12. ^ Johnny Cash (2004). Johnny Cash, the Songs. Thunder's Mouth Press.
  13. ^ "Johnny Cash Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-01-20.
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