Sixteen Tons

In popular music, you often hear of the term “crossover success” which refers to an artist who is generally labeled in one genre, but has appeal to gain fans who are usually loyal to a different musical style. It only took our second number one before we found a number one song that fits that description.

“Sixteen Tons” is the signature song of “Tennessee” Ernie Ford, and for many people (myself included for decades) is the only song of his that most people know. It is also the only song that Ford had that hit number one on the pop charts, though he did go number one on the country charts twice before and did have other top ten mainstream hits prior to the rock era.[1] That is one thing that hasn’t changed much since the 1950’s, as no matter how popular a country artist is, or even how popular country music is, only a handful of them successfully cross over to the main charts and get a non-country fan to hear their songs.

Ford is actually perfect for illustrating the early power of television and how it may have aided him landing a number one song. Already successful for seven years, predominantly on the Country Charts, Ford already had been on the radio and television, creating the persona of a backwoods hillbilly drawing on some of his personal experiences growing up in Bristol, Tennessee. Ford hosted a quiz show in 1954, but it was a guest appearance on another show that made him far more known than anything he had ever done before.

Television was proving to be a powerful medium, and it became a way that the country could laugh together. One of those ways in which America did so was with “I Love Lucy”, which is still one of the most revered television shows of all time. Ford earned a couple guest spots as “Cousin Ernie”, where he used his simple country character and generated a lot of laughs with his loveable demeanor, and anyone who could take laughs away from the legendary Lucille Ball was someone you had to respect.

You would think that Ford would be labeled as someone who you would only want to see in that simple country role, but he came across so likeable that the public wanted to see more from Ford and allow him to build upon his persona. Basically he wasn’t going to be Steve Urkel.

1955 would become Ford’s biggest year on the pop music platform, and if we go back to the DeLorean, from that movie we had a glimpse of it (visually anyway) as he had another top ten hit aside of “Sixteen Tons” with the “Ballad of Davy Crockett”. You may remember that when Marty McFly visited his mother’s home, one of his uncles was wearing a coonskin cap, a rage in the mid-50’s thanks to the five part television series, Davy Crockett”, about the aforementioned Frontiersman from the 1810’s and 1820’s.[2]

Isn’t it perfect that one of the first successful television specials in the United States had a retro feel?[3]

The Davy Crockett special was a huge smash and was one of the first marketing coups of the pop culture era. Disney (who backed the project) would market coonskin caps and create “Frontierland” at their theme parks and you had a phenomenon that lasted over two years. That television series spawned a theme song, which was recorded by multiple artists, one of which recorded by Ford that went to #5 in early 1955 but that was not even the most successful version of the song.[4]

You need to remember this pattern, as you will see the same song recorded multiple times in a brief time frame, and often multiple versions will chart in the same period. Personally, this was a bit of a surprise for me, as in my impressionable period this only occurred when there were two versions of “Whoomp There It Is”. You may not be aware that this fad song had two versions, one with “Whoomp”, the other with “Whoot”. Not that the great Whoomp/Whoot debate of ’94 matters much as both songs aren’t very good.[5]

So with a high profile in hand, Tennessee Ernie Ford covered “Sixteen Tons”, which was originally written and performed by Merle Travis in 1946. Travis was from Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, which was in the western portion of the state, which was known for its coal production. The country singer would sing of the plight of the regional coal miner and though historically be would be regarded for his thumb picking guitar style, he would never become a well-known figure in music…at least not when he was alive anyway.

“You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter, don't you call me, 'cause I can't go;
I owe my soul to the company store.”

When it was sung by Travis you could hear the plight of the Kentucky coal miner. A decade later, even though it was full of Hollywood polish, Ford’s baritone gave it a common man effect and the clarinet drive along with Ford’s snapping fingers made it “All-American”.

It didn’t matter if you had never worked in a coal mine or even set foot within a one-hundred mile radius. It was a workingman’s anthem and if you ever felt disrespected by the company you worked for and trapped in a situation where you had to provide for your family and personally suffer for it, you could connect with the Ford’s version.

Maybe that is why that this song and this version endured generation after generation. Hell, I had a job in my twenties in sales for a company that I felt completely altered my ethics and in my late 30’s one that had no ethics at all (and bragged about it internally) and this song spoke to me. Coal/sales…it was all the same to me and that song spoke to me. Ford’s version song could resonate not just for a disgruntled employee, but for anyone feeling oppressed in some capacity. Blue collar or white collar; trust me there are a lot more similarities than you think![6]

After this hit, Ford would continue his success on television with his own variety show that ran for five years. Ironically, it was called the “Ford Show”, but for the sponsor, the automobile company, Ford, and not for Tennessee Ernie. He would never again have a number one hit in either chart, but he was a recognizable star on both television and music for a few more years to come and though his star his eventually fade, he would forever be associated with “Sixteen Tons”, which would be a song generations after would know, though not necessarily the man who made it famous.

The crossovers of musical genres also was crossing over from the mediums of pop culture though this was not at a stage in time when people were really calling it that yet.

Now go into your liquor cabinet, pull out your finest single malt scotch and pour a drink, and not because you may have been a little depressed from “Sixteen Tons”. I think that the next artist we talk about might inspire you to break out the good stuff.[7]

Other Notable Songs that charted but did not go to number one in this time period: December 3, 1955 – January 13, 1956

12/10/55: Smokey Joe’s Café by the Robins went to #79 on the Top 100 and peaked at #10 on the R&B Chart.
12/17/55: Cry Me A River by Julie London went to #9.
12/31/55: Adorable by the Drifters did not chart on the Top 100 but did go to the top of the R&B Chart.

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[1] His two other number one country hits were Mule Train (1949) and Shotgun Boogie (1951).
[2] Who played that Uncle? Jason Hervey, who was Kevin Arnold’s older brother in “The Wonder Years” and played Rodney Dangerfield as a kid in “Back to School”. Hervey had a shot of being the Patron Saint of “Retro”!
[3] Seriously, that patterns always plays out. Be it in movies, television music or fashion, everything old is always new again.
[4] It was not the most successful version, as Bill Hayes would go number one with it that year and Fess Parker, who played Crockett in the show, had a top ten hit. It was Parker’s version, which you hear in Hill Valley during Marty McFly’s first walk through the California town in 1955.
[5] It was about as relevant as the Chunky Soup fork Vs. spoon debate of the 1980’s…and nobody ate their soup with a fork! I do have to admit to eating a few chocolate bars with a fork and knife. Damn you Seinfeld!
[6] Or maybe there isn’t. What the hell do I know? All I can tell you as that this song had meaning for me with those two companies, especially with specifically two of the past bosses I had. I may not have gotten dirty from coal, but went “deeper in debt”; though not necessarily financially but ethically.
[7] I was inspired to do the same when I wrote it, not that my arm needs a lot of twisting.