Sources : My personal research, Wikipedia, Michael Jackson: For The Record by Chris Cadman & Craig Halstead, Twitter account of Damien Shields and the amazing archives of the MJCast.
ERA
RECORDING DATE
Recorded in 1983 as first studio collaboration with John Barnes. Inspired by poker player Wild Bill Hickok or bison hunter William Cody. According to Bruce Swedien, it had “a big symphonic opening and a charming melody.”.
MJ spoke about it in the “Hayvenhurst” home video in 1983 : “It’s about Will Cody (the cowboy) and how he died. I’m really excited about it because- I really hate to say it, but I know it’s going to be a hit. I really feel strong about it.”
John Barnes spoke about the song during an interview for the MJ Cast in 2018 (Episode 089) : “We went to a studio called SoundCastle, that’s the first time I saw him in person and we started that day doing the song “Buffalo Bill”. I did a classical introduction to the piece quickly and then we did the track. We got major of it done by the first session, maybe five or six hours. We were able to be complementary. To me, it was Michael’s ‘explorative period, the track was a dance song. It wasn’t quite as fast as some of his other songs but it was definately in the R&B/dance speed, Michael Jackson music!”
Bill Bottrell on X (December 6, 2024) : “I did work with MJ on Buffalo Bill I think it was during Victory sessions, at a place called Can-Am. It was a strange, silly song, we did vocals. One session. “Who shot Buffalo Bill. They said he shot a lot. Did he ever get killed?” I went home and said to my fam: WTF? I understand the MJ community wanting to hear EVERYTHING. but seriously people, let MJ have some experimental time once in a while.”
STUDIO(S)
Los Angeles (California)
SONGWRITER(S)
Michael Jackson
PRODUCER(S)
Michael Jackson & John Barnes
RELEASE DATE :
Unreleased
LABEL
Unreleased
LENGTH
???
ALTERNATE VERSIONS RECORDED BY MJ (covers and remixes by other artists are not included)
No other version known to exist
MUSICIANS
PEAK ON HOT 100 BILLBOARD :
Not released as a single in the US
SHORT FILM (filmed by MJ during his lifetime)
No short film
LIVE PERFORMANCES ON TV SHOWS
Never performed on a TV show
LIVE PERFORMANCES IN CONCERTS
Never performed in concerts
Jackson Dynasty 