It was written by lead singer Steven Tyler, guitarist Joe Perry, and outside collaborator Jim Vallance.
Perry said of writing the song when sober that "when the riff to 'Hangman Jury' came flying off an old funky Silvertone guitar I had found, I was relieved.
"[7] Perry felt that with the song's "acoustic bottleneck guitar work and spooky country-blues overtones" it is "a perfect example of Aerosmith seeing 'how gritty we can make it'".
[8] Aerosmith received permission from Taj Mahal to adapt his song, but Lead Belly's estate sued the band for copyright infringement.
[8] He describes Tyler's vocal performance as "insightful and chilling" and Perry's guitar playing as "invoking the ghost of Robert Johnson".