| "The Tijuana Jail" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Kingston Trio | ||||
| B-side | "Oh Cindy" | |||
| Released | February 23, 1959 | |||
| Genre | Folk | |||
| Length | 2:48 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Denny Thompson | |||
| The Kingston Trio singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"The Tijuana Jail" is a song written by Denny Thompson and performed by The Kingston Trio. It reached #12 on the US pop chart in 1959.[1]
The song is about a small group of men, who go to an illegal gambling joint, in Tijuana, Mexico, to shoot dice and drink alcohol, when the Mexican authorities arrive to arrest the men, where they are placed in the Tijuana Jail, where they cannot raise the $500 bail to get themselves released. The men conclude by telling their friends to send their mail to the Tijuana Jail.
The melody is loosely based on the traditional folk song "Midnight Special."[2]
The song was ranked #77 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 singles of 1959.[3]