‘Sixteen Tons’: Tennessee Ernie Ford’s Heavy-Hitting Classic

Udiscovermusic ^

[nickcarraway]

Tennessee Ernie Ford wasn’t the first to record ‘Sixteen Tons,’ but he made it his signature song in 1955, and the title track of an album released in 1960.

Tennessee Ernie Ford wasn’t the first artist to record “Sixteen Tons,” but he made it his signature. The song, inspired by the travails of the real-life coal miners of Kentucky, was first recorded by one of his forerunners on the Capitol label, Merle Travis, in 1947.

That popular version, of a song that bore Travis’ songwriting credit from then on, didn’t show up on the Billboard charts on the day, even though Travis was emerging with other hits at the time. By 1955, it was ripe for a remake – and would later become the title of one of Ford’s Capitol albums.

Ernest Jennings Ford, from Bristol, Tennessee, had been having big country hits in the US since the late 40s. Recording as Tennessee Ernie, he racked up no fewer than 14 country chart entries in four years after debuting with the jaunty, accordion-toting “Tennessee Border” in 1949.

All but one of those singles made the Top 10, but none crossed over to the pop market, and neither did the first release to bear his surname, “River Of No Return.” It came from the movie of that name starring Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe. Then the year of Ford’s crossover arrived.

Tennessee Ernie in Disneyland

In 1955, he made both the country and pop Top 10 with “Ballad Of Davy Crockett,” from the Disneyland TV series. Ford hit even bigger with his “Sixteen Tons” remake, which spent ten weeks atop the country chart and eight on the pop side. For the rest of the decade, he would see more action in the pop market, and scored several major gospel-themed albums, including Hymns, Spirituals and Nearer The Cross.

Curiously, Sixteen Tons the album didn’t arrive until 1960, and, even more surprisingly, was not a chart item, even though Ford was in the middle of a ten-year run on TV with his own variety show. Nevertheless, leading off with the title track, it became a vinyl salute to his triumphs of the decade that had just ended. The LP included his earlier country No.1s, with “Mule Train” and his own composition “The Shot Gun Boogie.”

More country hits

Also included was 1950’s “The Cry Of The Wild Goose,” which, like “Mule Train,” saw Ford scoring the country hit with a song taken into the pop charts by Frankie Laine. Sixteen Tons also sported the country top tenners “Smokey Mountain Boogie” and “Blackberry Boogie.”

“The Old Pea Picker,” as Ford was known, returned to the country chart in the mid-60s with the hit “Hicktown,” making further appearances in the 70s and recording into the 80s. He died at the age of 72 in 1991, but Sixteen Tons is a fine testament to a much-loved inductee of the Country Music Hall Of Fame..

[DIRTYSECRET]

It’s half time. Auburn vs. Oklahoma. Good game. You folks are #2-lol.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

I was born in 1957, and as I came to consciousness of the entertainment world in the late 50s and early 60s, Tennessee Ernie Ford was a celebrity. I recall seeing him in the 70s and into the 80s, but then he faded out completely and passed away in the early 90s. His demise was the product of too much drinking repeated regularly for far too long. What I never understood was his beginnings in television. Now that I Love Lucy has been digitized and remixed/remastered, the answer to the question has become apparent. He played a country hayseed who was Lucy's mother's friend's roommate's cousin's middle boy, "Ernie" from Bent Fork, Tennessee. I think these episodes were from '53 or '54. How much this had to do with developing his career, I am not certain, but it appears Lucille Ball had a lot to do with it.

[farm_kid]

Here are two of my favorite versions...

Eric Burdon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6m1qgnUw74&list=RDE6m1qgnUw74&start_radio=1

Homer and Jethro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbPppVK5H08&list=RDkbPppVK5H08&start_radio=1

Lyrics and chords:

Sixteen Tons – Homer & Jethro

First part of verse: Am G F E
Second part of verse: Am C Dm Eb E

Some people say a man is made outta dirt
Bow-legged britches and a humpbacked shirt
Ev’ry man has his woman to make him tick
But only the miner has his pick

You load sixteen tons, how do you feel?
Too tired to work, too scared to steal.
Saint Peter, don’t you holler for me today
‘Cause I’m a-diggin’ the other way

Uncle John was a miner, he was long and tall.
Chasin’ after women made him end it all.
He could never catch ‘em, though he tried,
So old Uncle John laid down and died

(Abbreviated chorus, just repeating the words “Sixteen tons”, with sound effects)

I was born one mornin’ when the sun didn’t shine
I remember my mama was a-gone at the time
The doctor looked down, and he said, “Oh, my!
I wonder whether he’s gonna walk or fly.”

(Same abbreviated chorus. with sound effects)

Well, I’ve shoveled this coal ‘til my back is bent.
My get-up-and-go has got up and went.
My wife ran away with my friend Jim.
I don’t miss her but I do miss him.

You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Slag in your pants and soaked with sweat.
Tennessee Ernie done made this song
But the pea-picker sung the words all wrong.

[Freee-dame]

“ Back when performers were actually expected to be able to sing with range and enunciation.”

I remember when Frank Sinatra and Connie Francis were called “singers”. They were never called “artists“

[Buttons12]

Most millennials don’t know the song.
I never get tired of it. The folks have quite a few TEF albums.
Geoff Castellucci does an excellent version of 16 Tons.
Just the other day I watched a video of Ford with Andy Williams performing 16 Tons on some old tv show:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPOzrQKJFpc

[Fiji Hill]

In 1955, he made both the country and pop Top 10 with “Ballad Of Davy Crockett,” from the Disneyland TV series.

This ballad about an illegal alien was a hit in Los Angeles.

Pancho Lopez--Lalo Guerrero (1955)

[9422WMR]

Roger Miller
King of the Road
2 hours if pushin broom….

[Fiji Hill]

Also included was 1950’s “The Cry Of The Wild Goose” ...

The Cry of the Dying Duck in a Thunderstorm--Cactus Pryor & His Prickly Pears (1950)

[9422WMR]

We need an edit button

[Daveinyork]

When I was a kid in the 1959s, we would walk around singing the last verse thinking it made us sound tough.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

My Grandpa had a very nice singing voice and loved belting songs out in our Church Choir. His fondest dream was to have the voice of Tennessee Ernie Ford. ;)

[Verginius Rufus]

I think the reference to St. Peter is because of Matthew 16.19 where Jesus tells Peter he will give him the keys to the kingdom of heaven. That’s why cartoons show St. Peter at the Pearly Gates deciding whether to let the newly-deceased person into heaven.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Geoff Castellucci is simply AMAZING!

[frank ballenger]

Yes. He unlocks with the keys and the myth developed later that he was the one deciding. But he’s sort of a doorman.

Dems and Commies may need him to hail a cab to their destinations below.

[Responsibility2nd]

Indeed. I love watching his videos as he sings bass and also mixes in his tenor and soprano backup vocals.

[cowboyusa]

One of the first songs my dad taught me.

[Steely Tom]

I remember that scene because it made my mother laugh so hard, which she didn't do very often.

She repeated it several times, just thought it was uproariously funny.

Looking it up, the actual expression is:

"You've got quite a hitch in yer git'along!"

Memory fades after sixty years.

[cowboyusa]

One of the first songs my dad taught me.

[SharpRightTurn]

Tennessee Ernie was definitely one of the greats.

[central_va]

Remember that song. “Timothy”? A song about a mine collapse and cannibalism. No song like it.