Jess Morris, born June 12, 1878, in Williamson County, Texas, was a noted fiddler in the western Panhandle region. In 1890, his father moved the family to a ranch near old Tascosa, in the northwest panhandle. The family lived for a time in the Casimero Romero home, built in the 1870s by some of the earliest settlers of the area.
By 1894, at age sixteen, Jess formed his first musical group, which played for dances and balls throughout the region. Reportedly, it was not unusual for Morris's group to receive one hundred dollars for an evening of music. He is said to have studied violin both in Austin, Texas, and at Valparaiso, Indiana, but he claimed he would never be anything but a cowboy fiddler.
Morris competed in Amarillo's Tri-State Old Fiddlers' Contest in 1928 and 1929 but did not place. The newspaper account of the 1928 contest, however, singled him out for his rendition of "Goodbye Ol' Paint." According to the article, "the audience forgot all dignity and joined in a hearty, lusty yell on the chorus." In the 1931 contest, Morris placed second behind A. E. Rusk of Canyon, who won the event, and ahead of Eck Robertson, who took third.
Besides fiddling, Morris worked as a cowboy and a wolfer on the XIT, LS, and LIT ranches. In the early 1940s, Morris registered several of his original songs and fiddle tunes with the Library of Congress, including "El Rancho Grande XIT Schottische," "XIT Ranch Cowboy Polka," and "Ridin' Ol' Paint an' Leadin' Ol' Ball."