The Ballad of Davy Crockett
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"The Ballad of Davy Crockett" is a song with music by George Bruns and lyrics by Tom Blackburn.
The first recording of the song was made by Bill Hayes, quickly followed by versions by Parker and Tennessee Ernie Ford (recorded February 7, 1955), all in 1955. All three versions made the Billboard charts: Hayes' version made #1 on the weekly chart (from March 26 through April 23, 1955) and #7 for the year, Parker's reached #6 on the weekly charts and #31 for the year, while Ford's peaked at #4 on the weekly country chart and #5 on the weekly pop chart and charted at #37 for the year. The song also reached #1 on the Cash Box charts, from March 26 through May 14, 1955.
It was introduced on the television series Disneyland in December, 1954. Fess Parker played the role of Davy Crockett on the series and continued in several movies made by Walt Disney's company.
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[edit] Lyrics
- Born on a mountain top in Tennessee,
- Greenest state in the land of the free.
- Raised in the woods so's he knew every tree,
- Killed him a bear when he was only three.
- Davy, Davy Crockett
- King of the Wild Frontier.
Full lyrics can be found here.
A version of the song was recorded by Tim Curry, in a fashion similar to that of his famous role in the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
The ballad contains one of the more popular mondegreens. The lyrics "Kilt him a b'ar when he was only three" are often misheard as "Killed in a bar when he was only three".
The song was also featured in the non-Disney film Back to the Future where Marty enters the 1955 cafe and looks over at a jukebox playing the song.
[edit] The Crockett Craze
To publicise the 1954 film Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier, (released in Britain in 1956) Walt Disney Productions launched a massive marketing campaign in the UK in order to make the country's youth 'Crockett conscious'. Crockett merchandise was produced en masse, the most iconic item being the imitation coonskin cap. The craze became immensely popular amongst schoolchildren, and the ballad made its way across the Atlantic.
However, the verses children sang in the playground were not the official ones. A typical unofficial verse ran:
- Born on a mountain top in Tennessee,
- Killed his Ma when he was only three,
- Killed his Pa when he was only four,
- And now he's looking for his brother-in-law!
- Davy, Davy Crockett,
- King of the Wild Frontier.[1]
The Crockett phenomenon is referenced in books of the time such as Back in the Jug Agane, one of the Molesworth series by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle.
[edit] References
- ^ Opie, Iona and Peter, The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren; Paladin (1977); ISBN 0586083111
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Melody of Love |
Cash Box magazine best selling record chart #1 record March 26, 1955–May 14, 1955 |
Succeeded by Unchained Melody |
