Sixteen Tons

Tennessee Ernie Ford's version of "Sixteen Tons" was a number one hit in the United States
The chorus sung by Tennessee Ernie Ford.

"Sixteen Tons" is a song about a coal miner, based on life in coal mines in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky.[1] It was written and first recorded by Merle Travis at the Radio Recorders Studio B in Hollywood, California on August 8, 1946. Cliffie Stone played bass on the recording.[2] It was first released by Capitol on the album Folk Songs of the Hills (July 1947).[3] The song became a gold record.

The line, "You load sixteen tons and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt," came from a letter written by Travis' brother John.[1] Another line came from their father, a coal miner, who would say, "I can't afford to die. I owe my soul to the company store."[4]

A 1955 version recorded by Tennessee Ernie Ford reached number one in the Billboard charts,[5] while another version by Frankie Laine was released only in Western Europe, where it gave Ford's version competition.

On March 25, 2015 it was announced that Ford's version of the song will be inducted into the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry.[6]

Authorship

While the song is usually attributed to Merle Travis,[5] to whom it is credited on his 1946 recording, George S. Davis, a folk singer and songwriter who had been a Kentucky coal miner, claimed on a 1966 recording for Folkways Records to have written the song as "Nine-to-ten tons" in the 1930s.[7] Davis' recording of his version of the song appears on the albums George Davis: When Kentucky Had No Union Men[8] and Classic Mountain Songs from Smithsonian.[9]

According to Travis, the line from the chorus, "another day older and deeper in debt", was a phrase often used by his father, a coal miner himself.[10] This and the line, "I owe my soul to the company store", is a reference to the truck system and to debt bondage. Under this scrip system, workers were not paid cash; rather they were paid with non-transferable credit vouchers which could be exchanged only for goods sold at the company store. This made it impossible for workers to store up cash savings. Workers also usually lived in company-owned dormitories or houses, the rent for which was automatically deducted from their pay. In the United States the truck system and associated debt bondage persisted until the strikes of the newly formed United Mine Workers and affiliated unions forced an end to such practices.

Cover versions

Tennessee Ernie Ford recorded "Sixteen Tons" in 1955 as the B-side of his cover of the Moon Mullican standard, "You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry". With Ford's snapping fingers and a unique clarinet-driven pop arrangement, it quickly became a million seller.[5] It hit Billboard's country music chart in November and held the No. 1 position for ten weeks, then crossed over and held the number 1 position on the pop music chart for eight weeks,[11] besting the competing version by Johnny Desmond. In the United Kingdom, Ford's version competed with versions by Edmund Hockridge and Frankie Laine. Nevertheless, Ford's version was the more successful, spending four weeks at number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in January and February 1956.[12][13]

Laine's version was not released in the United States but sold well in the UK. Ford's version was released on 17 October and by 28 October had sold 400,000 copies. On 10 November, a million copies had been sold; two million were sold by 15 December.[14]

Child coal miners in West Virginia, 1908

The song has been covered by a wide variety of musicians:

Also:

Foreign-language versions

In popular culture

References

  1. 1 2 http://www.ernieford.com/SIXTEENTONS.html retrieved 5.6.2015
  2. http://countrydiscography.blogspot.com/2010/03/merle-travis.html Prague Frank's Country Music Discographies. retrieved 5.6.2015
  3. "Advance Record Releases". Billboard. June 28, 1947. p. 119.
  4. "You Load 16 Tons... Coal Mine Song Is a Gold Mine". LIFE. December 5, 1955. p. 183.
  5. 1 2 3 Merle Travis & Ernie Ford interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969)
  6. "National Recording Registry To "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive"". the Library of Congress. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  7. John Cohen, liner notes to the album George Davis: When Kentucky Had No Mining Men (Folkways FA 2343, 1967).
  8. Folkways FA 2343, 1967
  9. Folkways Recordings ASIN B000S9DIHK, 2002
  10. "Full List of Inductees". Country Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  11. Collins, Ace (1996). The Stories Behind Country Music's All-time Greatest: 100 Songs. New York: The Berkeley Publishing Group. pp. 91–93. ISBN 1-57297-072-3.
  12. Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 23. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
  13. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 54–5. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  14. The origins of "Sixteen Tons"
  15. Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 18 - Blowin' in the Wind: Pop discovers folk music. [Part 1]" (audio). Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu.
  16. Three Score and Ten Boxed Set Accompanying Topic Records Catalogue and CD 6
  17. "Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  18. "Music: Top 100 Songs | Billboard Hot 100 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  19. "Dance Party With This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb". Amazon.com. 2006-06-07. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  20. MDQ Merchandising LLC (2010). "Song List" and "Performing Credits". In Million Dollar Quartet (p. 5) [CD booklet]. New York City: Avatar Studios; and Chicago: Chicago Recording Company
  21. "Home - Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman". Nightwatchmanmusic.com. 2013-05-01. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  22. "Sixteen Tons : Tim Timebomb and Friends". Timtimebomb.com. 2012-11-23. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  23. http://www.setlist.fm/setlists/zz-top-33d68065.html
  24. Mugnaini Jr.. Enciclopédia das músicas sertanejas (2001, ISBN 8575270044), p. 42
  25. "16 Toneladas (Sixteen Tons) - Noriel Vilela - Details". Musical Taste. 2003-03-31. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  26. "Allmusic Hungary a magyar zene adatbázisa". Allmusic.hu. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  27. Video on YouTube
  28. Video on YouTube
  29. "Ot Vinta. Офіційний сайт". Ot-vinta.com. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  30. Video on YouTube
  31. "Kidding on the Square: Mickey Katz and the Barton Brothers Go Berserk", accessed 2014-06-23
  32. "Клуб "16 Тонн" / 16 Tons Club Moscow". 16tons.ru. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  33. MDQ Merchandising LLC (2010). "Song List" and "Performing Credits".In Million Dollar Quartet (p. 5) [CD booklet]. New York City: Avatar Studios; and Chicago: Chicago Recording Company.
  34. "Photo Coverage: MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET Opens on Broadway". Broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2014-04-03.

External links

Preceded by
"Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" by The Four Aces
Billboard Top 100 number one single
(Tennessee Ernie version)

3 December 1955 (6 weeks)
Succeeded by
"Memories Are Made of This" by Dean Martin
Preceded by
"Love Love Love" by Webb Pierce
Billboard Hot Country Singles
number one single by Tennessee Ernie Ford

17 December 1955 - 4 February 1956
(ten weeks)
Succeeded by
"Why Baby Why" by Red Sovine and Webb Pierce
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