An American folk standard originating from 19th-century railroad work gangs, recounting the steel-driving man who raced a steam drill to the death. First commercially recorded by old-time fiddler Fiddlin' John Carson in 1924.
It was epically redefined in 1962 by Johnny Cash as 'The Legend of John Henry's Hammer'—an eight-minute conceptual centerpiece on 'Blood, Sweat and Tears' exploring human pride against industrialization.
An oral-tradition work ballad was redefined into Johnny Cash's narrative country epic.