I Got Stripes

The song I Got Stripes, which we want you to play today, has an interesting story behind it. Although it is attributed to Johnny Cash and Charlie Williams, they actually took inspiration from an earlier piece by Lead Belly called On a Monday. Lead Belly's original version, also known as Yellow Women's Door Bells or Almost Done, was recorded and released in 1939. In it, Lead Belly reflected his own prison experiences.

The version by Johnny Cash was recorded on March 12, 1959, and was released as a single in July of the same year, accompanied by Five Feet High and Rising. It is described as an energetic prison tale, a story told by Cash and Charlie Williams, who was a DJ friend of Cash's and came from Los Angeles. Country music is the genre that envelops this narrative, and its duration is 2 minutes and 1 second.