How to Play “In the Jailhouse Now,” a Novelty Number Turned Country and Pop Hit

I first heard “In the Jailhouse Now” on the oldies station when I was a kid but didn’t start playing it until getting into old country as a working musician in the ’90s. Webb Pierce’s monster hit version from 1955—which spent 21 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard country chart—was a staple of every retro honky-tonk band with a back line of old tube amps and a closet full of vintage cowboy shirts and cuffed jeans.

“In the Jailhouse Now” is often credited to Jimmie Rodgers, who in his 1928 recording had the first major hit with the song. But its history goes way back; played in vaudeville shows and by jug bands, the song was first recorded by the theater performers Davis and Stafford in 1915. 

“Jailhouse” has been recorded many times over the years—often in very divergent styles—by the likes of Hank Snow, Johnny Cash, and others, and has been featured in major motion pictures like O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Back in the Saddle. The lyrics have varied, but the song is generally about a guy who gets caught cheating in cards and winds up being thrown in jail, along with a woman he met while out on the town. 

This is an easy song with just a few simple open chords, the I, IV, V, and II, or C, F, G, and D7 in the key of C major. I play it with a simple boom-chuck pattern (bass notes on beats 1 and 3 and chord strums on 2 and 4) and the occasional walkup, like the one shown here in the pickup bar of the accompaniment pattern. Note that while in my arrangement I stick almost entirely to common time, the earlier versions often had a looser sense of structure. Don’t be surprised if you’re playing along with an old recording and encounter a stray bar of 2/4 here and there. You are likewise free to do the same as the lyrics compel you.

Maurice TaniMaurice Tani is a veteran singer-songwriter and alt-country band leader based in California.