Allentown Jail

"Allentown Jail" is a folk-style song, written by Irving Gordon.

Background

The song tells the story of a man who tries to steal a diamond ring for his girlfriend, gets caught, and ends up in the Allentown jail.

In 1951, Jo Stafford recorded this song. It was released as a single on Columbia Records.
In 1960, Kathy Linden recorded it as her first single on Monument Records.
The Kingston Trio recorded a version in 1962, as the song became popular in the folk scene. The trio had plans of releasing it as a single, but the single never came to fruition. Their version has since been released on various CD compilations of their works.
In 1963, a more harmonic arrangement was performed by The Lettermen and released as a single. This version incurred some success, but only to a minor degree.
Other artists who recorded this song include The Seekers, The Springfields, Billy Strange, and British singers Lita Roza and Karen Young. There is also a French adaptation of the song, "Les prisons du roy", by Edith Piaf, which was later covered by Marianne Faithfull.