Jesco White: The Dancing Outlaw — The legend lives on

Editor's note: Since Jesse "Jesco" White's dialect is so unusual, his quotes are written as they were spoken in order to capture the full essence of his personality. It's written this way not to poke fun at Jesco, rather to share his unique way of explaining things to those who will listen. Be aware some content is adult in nature. Reader discretion is advised.

MADISON — Most folks got to know Jesco White from the West Virginia Public Broadcasting series "Different Drummer" in a 1991 documentary titled "The Dancing Outlaw" where he shows off his dancing prowess and talks about his family, Elvis and life in general.

Today's generation also knows him by one of his most famous quotes from the documentary: "I'm tired of eatin' sloppy, slimy eggs," which was directed toward his wife's apparent difficulties with cooking fried eggs. The video clip of this segment is now popular on YouTube.com.

In that medium, his MySpace page, "jescorama3000," which is maintained by a friend, describes him as an "Appalachian Shaman" and the "King of the Wild Mountain Dancers."

But after an interview in his small, but tidy, Madison apartment, it appears that he is all that — and a whole lot more. He's sincere, moody, personable and funny — though sometimes irreverent — but most of all, he's real. He suffers hard times, but has a good bit of fun along the way.

Being taken advantage of and "The Miracle Woman"

He has gathered a loyal following over the years, being named in numerous songs and appearing in plenty of movies and music videos.

Most of the songs, he says, mention him without his permission — and with no compensation. But one of the most recent songs, "Legend of D. Ray White" by Hank Williams III, is about Jesco's father — a famous mountain dancer in his own right. The Hank III song was with his blessing, Jesco said.

He's certainly not shy about his displeasure of others making profits from his name and talents. "Yeah, and I mean it's not goin' nowhere. It just ends up in a big partyin', laughin' time and carryin' on, and that's all that comes out of it. And I'm thinking I'm goin' to go higher and bigger and stuff and it don't go nowhere. It's like a dog chasin' its tail in a circle. I'm back where I started, man, and it hurts me now — I've got beautiful talents to dance and stuff — like the plaques and stuff I made ..."

He creates talented woodburnings, some of which he had made for his recently departed mother, Bertie Mae White, known as "The Miracle Woman," who passed away June 1. He had also created hand-carved canes from native Boone County woods, two of which were for his ailing mother before she died. He said she never used them, just admired them and showed them off to visiting friends. He now has either sold them or has them in a nearby shop for sale, " 'cause I can't stand to look at 'em knowin' my mom's gone — that I made them for her, and she's not here to enjoy 'em. And it makes my depression worser knowin' my hands made them for my mother and she's not here to use 'em," he said with his voice trembling, adding, "but I kept her laughter, though, 'til she died — 'til the end."

By the way, she was called The Miracle Woman by folks who knew her because of the loss, grief and lingering sadness she had to endure while not losing her exceptional sense of humor.

Becoming "famous"

When he made his television debut in the PBS documentary, he explained, "That was really true, everything in it. 'Cept they didn't understand what I was tryin' to produce — somethin' that had my talent in it. And it was like a nightmare in hell to produce somethin' that everybody else wants to take advantage of because you have a lack of education. The only education I've got is what I've learned the hard way.

"What little help I did get, what people did help me with, made it worser instead of better because it wasn't enough to do anything with — just make the problems worser. And I've not been doin' no performin' for a long time — just maybe go out to a beer joint now and then and try to make a few dollars or drink or hang out with friends," he said, sighing, "and it's hard to even do that because of the alcohol killing you that way, so it's just like any way you're turnin' you're screwed."

He does wish someone could do something about folks taking advantage of him, saying, "It's goin' to keep me in depression and misery and angry over it 'cause no one's tryin' to help me — protect me. I should have rights as a legend or citizen or somethin'. Now, I've never made it nowhere and I'm still livin' in a honky-tonk jail," he said, chuckling.

But Jesco carries on.

"I'll make it — All I can say is this cat's a hustler," he laughed.

And, as proclaimed in the documentary, he said, "I'm three people. I can do the talent like, I'm a comedian — I tell dirty jokes. I dance a little bit of the bluegrass music or about anything, as far as that goes, if I've got a good buzz. Then, the other part, I do Elvis songs and stuff. Hey, we have a good time, but it's like they want to drive you crazy with it. And sometimes a person's gotta dry out and rest, man, you know. But they don't believe in that, son, they believe 'rock on down,' you know, 'til they fall, I guess." He then mused, "Who wants to be like a cockroach on hot shots staggerin' through life?"

"The gas prices is gettin' scary"

The Dancing Outlaw also is observant about the troubled economy. "Everything's goin' up," he complained. "The gas prices is gettin' scary."

To illustrate his point about money getting tighter and tighter, he told a story about going to a "value-priced" store recently and not finding what he expected. "I got a loaf a bread. I was gettin' ready to check out and it had a little bit of mold on it. Not very much. I don't know if it was an old loaf they'd forgot to change out or what. I said, 'Damn, man, there's enough mold on here to kill everyone in this store.' I said, 'You could bounce a 30.06 off this slice of bread. I can't eat that.' She said 'Oh, Jesco, I'm so sorry about that. Go back there and get you another loaf.' I said, 'You crazy' I'm gonna go get another damn loaf and it might be greener than this one.' I said, 'I'm outta here. I'll go somewhere else.' She said, 'Now don't be mad; I'll get you a fresh loaf.' She was scared — afraid I was goin' to turn her in to the manager. I said, 'No, I ain't goin' to say nothin, honey; I ain't a rat. But I just can't eat green bread.' "

Jesco's personality "distorder" and MTV

"I'm just a miracle, I guess, from God to live with the anger that I've carried, and depression. But I can't depend on the doctor helpin' me. They can help you, but what's the use to help me, givin' me medicine to treat my personality distorder (disorder) when I'm turned back loose in the damn jungle. I can't control all this and I'm just feelin' the way I do inside and I'm honest about myself. But I do pretty good takin' care of myself," Jesco said.

"I'm 51, but I'm not rich or nothin' like that. I just hustle to get by the best I can. And if I don't do it, man, I'm goin' to have it harder and harder, 'cause it ain't goin' to get no easier if you don't. And they want me to go out tonight a little bit and have a little bit of fun. I hope I don't get 10-foot-tall and bulletproof and then come home as a midget."

The "goin' out" Jesco was referring to was shooting by an independent filmmaker for another documentary called "The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia," produced by Storm Taylor, which, he says, is expected to be purchased by MTV for release sometime next year. They've filmed in the Madison area three times in the past few months, documenting the life of Jesco and his family. They even filmed his mom while she was in the hospital before she passed away — something Jesco said he wasn't all too happy about. The crew has followed him and his family to several locations around Madison to film different segments. He said "if the documentary makes it," he'll get paid one time for his parts in the film.

He said in one shoot, he was dancing on the back street behind his apartment. "Then the law pulls up and asks us what we're doin' down here. I told them they're workin' on a documentary down here. He said, 'Well, Jesco, we're goin' to give you 15 more minutes to video, then clean these beer bottles up, and you've got to dance us one.' They turned on the police lights on the car and let me dance a bluegrass song to 'em."

"The King"

Jesco is a huge fan of Elvis Presley and proudly performs his songs at concerts, bars and the like, or when asked — especially when some sort of contribution is offered.

While showing off Elvis art hanging on the walls of his apartment, he pours a glass (jelly jar) of Elvis Presley wine and says, "It's one of my collection wines. It's 5 years old, from California — good grape wine."

Then he tells about gathering Elvis memorabilia — and the loss of most of it when a fire destroyed his "Prenter Holler" home. "They burnt my home down. $50,000 worth of Elvis pictures and stuff. That's the only thing that kept me a goin' and happy was collectin' that stuff 'cause Elvis was my favorite singer." He said that episode sent him into another, deeper bout of depression.

Hank III

These days, his popularity seems to be on the rise again, thanks to the World Wide Web and some parts in various films. Plus, his appearance with Hank Williams III in a music video has caught the attention of more than a few.

He praised the youngest of the Williams clan — an "outlaw" in his own right — and was happy to have a part in the video.

"I met Hank III. He's an awesome friend and a nice person, like we are, you know, as people. But when he's on stage, he's a whole differnt character. He does some of his own stuff, a little bit of his daddy's music — mix it kindly up. He's an awesome entertainer and I've performed with him, too, with the French harp. I said I looked like a giant wood roach. I had that big coat on and hat. — I just done the best I could. I can't even play the harp, I was just playin' it on the way I felt. Just backin' him up and stuff, just for a little bit, and I felt real good about it. It helped because he helped me out a little bit with a little bit of money to get coal and wood with 'cause I lived over there in the holler. And he's just a beautiful person that you could meet as a friend."

He was quick to praise a couple of Hank III's songs in particular. "I love that one he made up about my dad, Way Down in West Virginia. Man, that's a killer song. And I dance to that one he plays too, The Mississippi Mud. It says, 'As I take my shot straight from the jug, I like to do a little dance in the Mississippi mud.' Man, it's right. I just love the music to that, the way he made that song. It is awesome. And that kind, that's got rhythm in it that's not too fast or slow so I can dance to it."

Jesco's family

His father, D. Ray White, a well-known mountain dancer who had appeared in the PBS documentary "Talking Feet," was shot and killed in 1985. His documentary led filmakers to discover Jesco, who says he got his talent from his father and misses him dearly. When Jesco was in his wilder days, he remembers his dad coming to get him from the local courthouse. "He'd always tell us boys, 'Now, buddy, I'm tired of comin' down here and gettin' ya'll outta jail.' He said, 'Now the next time you get out, you get out yourselves. I just ain't got the money to bail you out. Damn, you done broke the bank up gettin' you out,' " Jesco said, laughing.

Jesco's sister Mamie, who's likely best known for her four-wheeling escapades in an old blue Ford pickup truck in the original PBS documentary, is still around and joins Jesco on many of his adventures. "She's wilder now than she's ever been, man," he said. She's been known to break up fights at some of the venues where Jesco has performed. "In big towns that's what they get a thrill out of, man," he said, laughing out loud. "What's bad, I'm just afraid somebody's gonna get killed."

As mentioned before, his mother Bertie Mae, "The Miracle Woman," passed away June 1 after suffering a stroke in mid-May. That was one of the most devastating losses in his life, Jesco said. "I sure loved my mom."

Plus, his wife, Norma Jean, is now suffering several illnesses and has been "moved into a home" in Charleston, he said. Jesco hasn't seen her in a while and reckons he will never see her again. But, he said, she told him to carry on without her. "My wife always told me when it got that bad for me to go on and have my life any way I wanted it and enjoy it. But I'll never take this wedding band off as long as I live — 'til when she passes on. Then, I'll take it off."

A movie idea of his own

Since The Dancing Outlaw has been working around and appearing in movies and television, he said he's finally come up with an idea of his own for a movie about his life (now, don't steal this, folks. Jesco would get mad).

He said, "It's a movie about Charlie Daniels and Hank Jr. They're bounty hunters, right? Like Dog is, that detective on TV? ... this'll be in a western is what I'm thinkin' of. I dreamed this up myself — and they're bounty hunters and Elvis Presley's the sheriff and they're goin' out after Big and Rich for stealin' Jesco's name. And Jesco, since he's a legend and has got a clean record, he can sue them boys and it's the law's job to get his name back that they stoled. — Then I'm goin' to be in the part sittin' on a jackass with a big Mexican hat on that says Git-R-Dun — Warner Brothers movies might buy that."

Be sure to keep an eye out for that to make the big screen.

The future

Jesco has hopes that MTV will, indeed, purchase the documentary and it will be popular. He thinks its airing will lead to more, and better, entertainment career opportunities.

He and his family also appear in Hasil Adkins: My Blue Star, a documentary set to be released this fall, about Hasil "Haze" Adkins, another famous Boone County entertainer.

Plus, you might find him tapping away at a Boone County watering hole on a Saturday night — if he feels like it. He says he does that for his fans. "I don't know what they get out of it. But they sure seem to like it."

And if you're in Madison some day, keep an eye out for Jesco and say hi if you see him. He might just tap out a tune for you — especially if you have a little spare cash.

On the Web

There's plenty more about Jesco, his videos, music and family on the Web. Just search YouTube or Google for "Jesco White" and you'll find plenty to get your fill of the world-famous "Dancing Outlaw."

— Stover is a lifelong resident of Raleigh County and enjoys observing the unique personalities living in southern West Virginia. He is a senior copy editor for Beckley Newspapers, where he has worked for more than 20 years.     E-mail: jstover@register-herald.com