Gordon Jenkins
Musician · 1910–1984 · Webster Groves, Missouri
Best known for
Songwriter
Gordon Jenkins was a St. Louis-born American arranger, conductor, and composer whose 1953 song “Crescent City Blues” supplied the melody and most of the lyrics for Johnny Cash’s 1956 hit “Folsom Prison Blues” — a borrowing Cash settled with Jenkins out of court in 1969 after the live At Folsom Prison album revived the song.
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- Born May 12, 1910, in Webster Groves, Missouri.
- Worked as Decca Records’ West Coast musical director and as an arranger for Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, and Nat King Cole.
- Wrote “Crescent City Blues” in 1953 for Beverly Mahr’s appearance on his Seven Dreams concept album.
- Settled Cash’s borrowing for the song out of court in 1969.
- Wrote and arranged “P.S. I Love You,” “Goodbye,” and the orchestration for “The Future” suite on Frank Sinatra’s 1980 album Trilogy.
- Died May 1, 1984, at age 73.
