I Got Stripes

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

"On a Monday"
Single by Lead Belly
Released	1939 (1939)
Genre	Country

"I Got Stripes"
Single by Johnny Cash
A-side	"I Got Stripes" "Five Feet High and Rising"
Released	July 1959 (1959-07)
Genre	Country
Length	2:04
Label	Columbia 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
Source	Rating
Billboard[2]	Spotlight winner of the week

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. 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. Johnny Cash (2004). Johnny Cash, the Songs. Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 9781560256298.
8. 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.