The Ballad of Davy Crockett

"The Ballad of Davy Crockett" is a song with music by George Bruns and lyrics by Tom W. Blackburn.

The first recording of the song was made by Bill Hayes, quickly followed by versions by Fess 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. Over ten million copies of the song were sold.^[1]

The song was introduced on the television miniseries Davy Crockett, telecast on December 15, 1954, on ABC's Disneyland. Fess Parker played the role of Davy Crockett and continued in four other episodes made by Walt Disney Studios. Buddy Ebsen co-starred as Georgie Russell, and Jeff York played legendary boatman Mike Fink.

The Crockett craze

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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." There was already a "Crockett craze" in the U.S., where the episodes had become wildly popular. 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.^[2]

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.

The craze was referenced in the film Back to the Future, which is set predominantly in 1955. In the film, the Fess Parker version of the song is heard on a jukebox and, in a later scene, one of Lorraine Baines' brothers appears wearing a coonskin cap.

Covers

• 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.
• A version was recorded and released on The Kentucky Headhunters' 1991 album Electric Barnyard, and was released as a single.
• A 1967 version by The Supremes was recorded for the proposed album "Diana Ross & The Supremes Sing Disney Classics", but was shelved until rediscovered many years later.
• The Country Bear Jamboree Audio-Animatronic show at various Disney theme parks includes a slightly bowdlerized version of the first verse ("tamed him a b'ar").
• They Might Be Giants recorded a version of the song for the 2008 children's compilation "Disney Music Block Party" with an altered title, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett (In Outer Space)", and different lyrics.
• Famous sportcaster Harry Carey would sing praises of current Chicago Cub players during WGN-TV broadcasts, changing the refrain, "Davy, Davy Crocket, king of the wild frontier" to such refrains as "Jody, Jody Davis, champ of the team this year."
• Homer & Jethro recorded a parody version called "The Ballad Of Davy Crew-Cut".
• Riders in the Sky, who did some musical numbers for Toy Story 2 including Woody's Roundup, have created a complete version of the ballad for their album called Riders in the Sky Present: Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier telling the whole story of Davy Crockett.

References

1. ^ Reporter-News Online: Texas News - The life, legend of Davy Crockett
2. ^ Opie, The Law and Language of Schoolchildren