Buried in the psyche of working urban and suburban men and women too. Kentucky’s coal was barged to all the coking furnaces on the rivers and the mills which were ran by Carnegie
This song tells exactly what life was like in a coal town. My grandfather worked for a U.S. Steel coal mine in southwestern Pennsylvania. He lived in a small mining camp house owned by the company, was paid in company script, and the only place he could use it was at the company store. He even had to buy his own explosives for blasting at the company store. He worked 10 hours a day, 6 days per week in extremely dangerous conditions. He ended up owing the company store his entire paycheck at the end of the month. They owned him and the rest of the miners who were nothing more than slaves from the time they arrived from Italy. He was severely injured during a roof collapse and was trapped underground for 3 days. When he got out of the hospital, he went right back underground to work. He couldn't afford to take any time off. The working conditions didn't get any better until after WW2, and he died later from Black Lung disease.
Yeah, you’re right about the company store. Steinbeck described it in The Grapes of Wrath, where the Joads unknowingly crossed a picket line to pick peaches. They were paid in chits, and the wages were so low they couldn’t afford the gas to drive into town to shop anywhere else. The corporation that owned the crops also owned the cabins pickers stayed in, and the only grocery store. They had to buy overly expensive , low quality food, and pay with chits. That way, no money left the owner’s greedy paws. This still goes on.
This song was written by Merle Travis, who originated a unique style of guitar playing , Still known as the Travis style. He was born and raised in the area that John Prine wrote about in his song Paradise. I was friends with his nephew who was there the evening Merle wrote 16 Tons. He said local musicians would gather on Merle's front porch and jam. When 1 of them arrived Merle asked him , "How's it going?". He responded, "You know, you load 16 tons and what do you get?" Another one of the pickers relied "Just another day older and deeper in debt." A few minutes later the song was completed.
They were known as "company towns". They were usually tied to mines or large industrial operations. Some were to the benefit of the employees and some weren't. Company towns in mining areas and particularly Appalachian coal mining had a bad reputation for being predatory. The company owned and ran the whole town. Your rent was deducted from your pay and they paid you in company script only good at company businesses. You could only quit and leave if you didn't owe the company any money and they priced everything so that you were always in debt. In the mid-1960's the government began cracking down on the predatory practices. They pressured many of the companies to sell the houses to the people who were renting them and had to start paying in real money, not script. If you'd like to see it there is a really rocking tribute to this song by Jeff Beck and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top where they have the same video playing on a screen behind them and play along.
@@scottandal Sounds like Yogi Berra with all his pithy quotes and one-liners. Like "It's like deja vu all over again". That's the one I remember best by Yogi.
For those who don't know, yes, Coal-Mining Companies built towns around their mines and the only goods the miner's and their family could get would only be through the Company Store, as they were paid in Company Script, not US currency. (Basically fake money) and these companies would make the price of the items in the Company Store, the things people needed to live off of, be incredibly expensive. Hence the debt miner's would accrue simply because the company's at that time did not pay them enough to pay for the over-blown price in those company stores and the miner's HAD to take that debt to simply to live or provide for their family. A lot of songs like this by Artist's like Ernie at the time was meant to bring it to everyone's attention that these company's were essentially engaging in slavery and horrible, un-ethical business practices. And for anyone who says "They could simply leave." No they couldn't. They owed a Debt to the Company which would not allow them to leave, while I'm not certain, but I think US law at the time prevented workers with debt to their job, weren't allowed to quit unless they could pay it off. Not to mention, they had to provide for their family and/or themselves and didn't have any kind of skill to where they could easily move into another job.
Such a classic, iconic song. Not enough people, fans of the genera, knows this man today! Can't help but to snap along! That down trickle of the horn! A man that thin, you don't expect to have such a deep DEEP voice, another reason the song sticks out!!
My grandmothers father was a sharecropper. She told me stories of how they traveled by hopping a freight train to go where the jobs were. Usually in the Arkansas delta. She told how the landowners owned the company store. Many times the owner would claim they owed more than the credit (script) they had. They would essentially have to escape or be stuck there forever because the law was bought by the landowner or was a close relative.
Yup. State Street marks the the dividing line. Check out Steve Earle's song "Carrie Brown" which is set in Bristol and includes the lines "We met again on State Street, Poor Billy Wise and me, I shot him in Virginia and he died in Tennessee."
Earn 20 Company Scrip in the mines then food, rent, heating coal costs you 30 (all bought at a Company store in a Company town) and you get so deep in credit debt, just to live, that you'll never be able to pay it off.
extreme north east Tennessee... Bristol TN, and Bristol VA border each other... divided by state street ... the TN side has NASCAR - Bristol Motor Speedway... I live about 30 minutes away... unless its race weekend, then its about 3 hours
I listened to this song when I was young but I forgot about until highschool when my civics teach played it. He loved to listen to these songs with the class whenever it they lined up with what he was teaching about.
This is one of my favorites. My mother had it on vinyl. An LP to be exact. I grew up on the old country. Gene Autry, Tex Ritter, Hank Williams, Hank Jr, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Sons of the Pioneers, Johnny Horton, Minnie Pearl, Charlie Pride, Chet Atkins, Roy Clark, Jimmy Dean, Roy Acuff, Frankie Laine, and a whole bunch more.
This classic is timeless and will always be associated with the legendary Ernie. The lyrics are indeed profound and describe the life-long debt bondage under which a lot of miners worked in the 19th and early 20th centuries in the coal-mining regions of the US. It hit no. 1 spot on both the country and pop charts during 1956 and was one of the earliest cross-over smash hits. Another topnotch reaction/rating video, Don, and keep that country rockin'.
And not just mining. Fishermen owe their income to the buyers. They lend them the money to get their boats ready for the season. And the banks. How many of us owe money on a credit card. They’re all the same, horrible people.
Both my gran fathers and my father for a short time were coal miners, and you are right the coal mines paid in scrip not green backs,so the rich out of state owners of the coal mines got the scrip back from the poor miner,the miners even had to pay for the coal they burned to keep warm.
Here in georgia we used to have a lot of farms and mills (way before my time) and they had small towns the workers would live in, and they were always in debt and couldn't get out of those towns and the children would work there too. Any way tennesseee ernie ford has some good old civil war and folk/countrie songs.
The difference between singing and SINGING. He did a lot of religious music. Those are so well done you think of his version if you hear the name of the song. This was great. It was written by Merle Travis.
I had to look that one up myself: Bristol is pretty far east in NE TN...further east than Knoxville & Kingsport, on the N. TN & VA birder....almost to what is called Piedmont country in NC. In his day, "Tennessee Earnie" was as popular as anyone, even more than Johnny Cash...in country, I'd say he was equivalent to Elvis at the time. Whether or not the workers were paid in script only good at the store, their pay was bad enough that they paid it all back to the bosses in rent company housing & food or clothing bought from the company store...and ended up in debt after that.
What great childhood memories this brings back of my daddy singing this song! A lot of landowners with sharecroppers had company stores also. The sharecroppers didn't get paid until the crops came in, so they used credit all year at the company store until harvest.
@Tupelo Honey Funny thing about today’s video is that, due to some folks over the months occasionally asking me to do more contemporary non-pop artists, I had this idea in my mind that maybe I was gonna catch a little flack-in a nice way-for the dusty classics I do, of which TEF qualifies. But I said to myself, you never know who’s gonna like what, so just run with it. And turns out it’s meant a lot to a lot of folks, and I love it when that happens!
@Tupelo Honey I figured. I learned from a story I heard about the Allman Brothers putting "Rambling Man" on their album, sort of as an add-on just to round it out. I think it was also the B-side to another single, so they and/or the label weren't nuts about it. Turned out very quickly to be their #1 song. So much for predicting what's gonna work. Ha!
@@RockN2Country I've never heard that story. But you are right, even experts make mistakes. Elvis was told not to quit his day job and Fred Smith was given an F on his college paper outlining his basic business plan for what was eventually FedEx! 😆
I guess we now know how snap-tracks got started! :-) Just kidding...that's true American culture right there. Probably one of the first songs I remember cutting teeth too. Funny thing, Tennessee Ford's real middle name was actually Jennings and the song was written by Merle :-o They played it together on Hee-Haw in the 70's: ua-cam.com/video/TKnYN5C69RY/v-deo.html
Oh I love this song! I swing dance and do Lindy Hop and lot and you would be surprised as to how much they play this on the floor. I love the little pauses when he just sings because you can stop for a sec and just pulse. It makes the dance really “chewy”. And I always end up singing 😆
More in Kentucky and WV but some of the mining camps in Illinois paid workers in scrip. They could buy nearly anything at the company store, although most had very little to spend.
I was born in 1955, and this is one of the first songs I can even remember. My father played it for me, and I suspect I have always compared men's voices to Tennessee Ernie Ford. I loved the story-song ballads, and do so to this day. If you want a similar sort of song, check out Jimmy Dean's "Big Bad John," from probably not TOO many years later. Coal mining from a more realistic perspective, but still VERY memorable.
I am SO glad you have discovered this song and its greatness, and are exposing people to it. No wonder it was the fastest-selling record in the HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC at the time. It crosses country and blues AND RAP AND GOSPEL. Singular. Thank you.
Theirs a tape from his TV show you should watch. Children go where I send you, he was surrounded by some children, two of the boys where acting up, they were his sons. His reaction was hilarious.
And the lyric "Another day older and deeper in debt" was LITERAL for coal miners who worked and live ON the mine in mine-shacks, bought their food & supplies from the mine stores (at exorbitant prices), and were paid in "company scrip". There was no way out for these men. Once you went in, you never got out. You were essentially a sl*ve to the Mining company the first time you spent a single "dollar" of "Company scrip" at the "Company store" for the food you ate. So that "St Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go...I owe my soul to the Company Store..." was a very real phenomenon!
you have it right -- it was a practice by a .lot of mining companies, and large farmers (this still went on through the 60's in florida and may still go on in california with field workers)
Bristol is on the Tennessee-Virginia border. It is famous for a NASCAR track. They actually had a Tennessee-Virginia Tech football game there a few years ago.
You exactly captured the essence of why I adore "Tennessee" Ernie Ford's performance. It's indeed not only about his spectacular voice. What he brings on stage is what puts this way over the top.
Wow ! Thanks Don... that brings back sweet memories of my Dad singing this when I was a kid. I had no idea what it was about but I lived it and he taught me to “snap” my fingers because of that song 😊💕
Wow ! Thanks Don... that brings back sweet memories of my Dad singing this when I was a kid. I had no idea what it was about but I lived it and he taught me to “snap” my fingers because of that song 😊💕 btw.. Bristol Tn about hour from Weaverville NC if you’re familiar with WNC 😊
Thanks for this song. He also appeared on the Lucy ( ball) as cousin Ernie. Please would do anything by the MILLS BROTHERS. They’re not country, but mom who is 80 loves your channel
He was one of my dad's favorite singers and he enjoyed his TV show. The song was written by Merle Travis who also wrote "Dark As A Dungeon" that Johnny Cash covered as well as several other mining songs. A good Merle Travis song to do would be "Re-Enlistment Blues" or "A Too Fast Past." Tennessee Ernie Ford recorded the song "Raised By The Railroad Line" later in his career that I think is quite good and you can't go wrong with any of his "boogie" songs (Blackberry Boogie, Shot Gun Boogie etc.)
You might also like Ernie's song " Hicktown". I'd also like to see you react to a new artist and song . Actually the artist was quite popular in the early 1990s and a member of the Grand Ole Opry until his death a couple of years ago. I'm pretty sure you would enjoy Hal Ketchum's song "Past the Point of Rescue" or "Small Town Saturday Night". Both would be even better.
Don that's a great rating,he was a awesome performer, and actor 😁 especially on the I Love Lucy as Cousin Ernie he even had his own show on TV back in the day!! Thanks for sharing and as always you know"Howdy from Texas 😁" BTW... Bristol,Tn and Virginia border goes right straight down main street, during this pandemic, one state was closed and the other was open so all you had to do is walk across the street, how crazy is that 😎
Merle Travis was a great American treasure. He was from the coal mining area of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. His songs about working men are deep and entertaining at the same time. Dark As A Dungeon is another song of his that touches upon the hard work of the common man. He wrote hundreds of songs from the most profound to just down right fun. Let's not forget that his style of guitar pickin' was so awesome it still lives on many decades later.
@@CarterCountyCruisers Muhlenberg County, Ky is famous for "Paradise" by John Prine and close to birth places of Bill Monroe and Ike Everly, a fine picker and father of Phil and Don Everly.
Frank Sinatra learned his craft from Bing Crosby. As a teen, Sinatra saw Bing Crosby performing with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra in New Jersey, and decided he wanted to be a singer. And Sinatra always used Crosby as his comparison.
Company script pay was seldom enough to pay rent on a company owned shack and buy food and clothes, but if you died in the mine, they would offer your oldest son a chance to assume the debt before kicking your family out of the company town.
The problem with company stores was that you could get credit from them, but it would come out of your next paycheck. So, if on payday you have earned $60, but you have spent $20 on credit, you would only get $40.
For some reason, and I know there is somewhat of a resemblance, Ernie Ford has always reminded me of Walt Disney. RockN2Country, this is that it factor I think you referred to that some people regardless of talent just have that personality that captivates us and commands our attention. Excellent rating btw! Don I would love for you to react and rate Diamond Rio’s Mama, Don’t Forget To Pray For Me. m.ua-cam.com/video/vCHrffT16tM/v-deo.html
![Tennessee Ernie Ford and Sissel -- Shenandoah [REACTION/GIFT REQUEST]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/mwFVAw2_lwk/mqdefault.jpg)
![Travis Tritt -- Here's a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares) [REACTION/RATING]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dME305u3zaw/mqdefault.jpg)
This song is embedded in the psyche of every old school rural working man I've ever met.
Buried in the psyche of working urban and suburban men and women too. Kentucky’s coal was barged to all the coking furnaces on the rivers and the mills which were ran by Carnegie
True story billy and I'm only 22
Yup.
Also a wonderful gospel singer!
This song tells exactly what life was like in a coal town. My grandfather worked for a U.S. Steel coal mine in southwestern Pennsylvania. He lived in a small mining camp house owned by the company, was paid in company script, and the only place he could use it was at the company store. He even had to buy his own explosives for blasting at the company store. He worked 10 hours a day, 6 days per week in extremely dangerous conditions. He ended up owing the company store his entire paycheck at the end of the month. They owned him and the rest of the miners who were nothing more than slaves from the time they arrived from Italy. He was severely injured during a roof collapse and was trapped underground for 3 days. When he got out of the hospital, he went right back underground to work. He couldn't afford to take any time off. The working conditions didn't get any better until after WW2, and he died later from Black Lung disease.
Love love love Tennesse Ernie Ford
Yeah, you’re right about the company store. Steinbeck described it in The Grapes of Wrath, where the Joads unknowingly crossed a picket line to pick peaches. They were paid in chits, and the wages were so low they couldn’t afford the gas to drive into town to shop anywhere else. The corporation that owned the crops also owned the cabins pickers stayed in, and the only grocery store. They had to buy overly expensive , low quality food, and pay with chits. That way, no money left the owner’s greedy paws.
This still goes on.
This song was written by Merle Travis, who originated a unique style of guitar playing , Still known as the Travis style. He was born and raised in the area that John Prine wrote about in his song Paradise. I was friends with his nephew who was there the evening Merle wrote 16 Tons. He said local musicians would gather on Merle's front porch and jam. When 1 of them arrived Merle asked him , "How's it going?". He responded, "You know, you load 16 tons and what do you get?" Another one of the pickers relied "Just another day older and deeper in debt." A few minutes later the song was completed.
@Gary Guinn Great story and great inside info-keep bringing it!! Thanks for all of that, and I hope you’re doing alright through these lockdowns.
How can you not like that song or Tennessee Ernie Ford !
They were known as "company towns". They were usually tied to mines or large industrial operations. Some were to the benefit of the employees and some weren't. Company towns in mining areas and particularly Appalachian coal mining had a bad reputation for being predatory. The company owned and ran the whole town. Your rent was deducted from your pay and they paid you in company script only good at company businesses. You could only quit and leave if you didn't owe the company any money and they priced everything so that you were always in debt. In the mid-1960's the government began cracking down on the predatory practices. They pressured many of the companies to sell the houses to the people who were renting them and had to start paying in real money, not script.
If you'd like to see it there is a really rocking tribute to this song by Jeff Beck and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top where they have the same video playing on a screen behind them and play along.
"Bless your little pea picken heart"
@macon123456 Have I just been insulted? Ha!!
RockN2Country that was one of Tennessee Ernie’s sayings
@@scottandal Sounds like Yogi Berra with all his pithy quotes and one-liners.
Like "It's like deja vu all over again". That's the one I remember best by Yogi.
For those who don't know, yes, Coal-Mining Companies built towns around their mines and the only goods the miner's and their family could get would only be through the Company Store, as they were paid in Company Script, not US currency. (Basically fake money) and these companies would make the price of the items in the Company Store, the things people needed to live off of, be incredibly expensive.
Hence the debt miner's would accrue simply because the company's at that time did not pay them enough to pay for the over-blown price in those company stores and the miner's HAD to take that debt to simply to live or provide for their family.
A lot of songs like this by Artist's like Ernie at the time was meant to bring it to everyone's attention that these company's were essentially engaging in slavery and horrible, un-ethical business practices.
And for anyone who says "They could simply leave." No they couldn't. They owed a Debt to the Company which would not allow them to leave, while I'm not certain, but I think US law at the time prevented workers with debt to their job, weren't allowed to quit unless they could pay it off.
Not to mention, they had to provide for their family and/or themselves and didn't have any kind of skill to where they could easily move into another job.
That's 32,000 lbs. of coal loaded by hand! Holy snikies!
Crouched over, in a dark, dusty mine. Those men would put all of us to shame.
Sing the song the whole Time growing up. Part of my life
My momma grew up with this great singer in Bristol Tennessee. Said he was great. Out
Ernie was as good a comedian as he was a singer. He was a man that demanded respect strictly by his presence.
Such a classic, iconic song. Not enough people, fans of the genera, knows this man today! Can't help but to snap along! That down trickle of the horn! A man that thin, you don't expect to have such a deep DEEP voice, another reason the song sticks out!!
That was the Dinah Shore Chevy Show. I sang this all my growing up!!
My grandmothers father was a sharecropper. She told me stories of how they traveled by hopping a freight train to go where the jobs were. Usually in the Arkansas delta. She told how the landowners owned the company store. Many times the owner would claim they owed more than the credit (script) they had. They would essentially have to escape or be stuck there forever because the law was bought by the landowner or was a close relative.
It's a rip-your-heart-out song by an incredible voice. No way it can't touch your soul (unless you have no soul).
why does this somehow connect with "The Devil wears a Suit and Tie" just from the meaning
GOOSEBUMPS!!!
Bristol is in Tennessee and Virginia, the border goes right through the center of town.
Geico gecko did a commercial in Bristol. TEF had a beautiful operatic voice.
Yup. State Street marks the the dividing line. Check out Steve Earle's song "Carrie Brown" which is set in Bristol and includes the lines "We met again on State Street, Poor Billy Wise and me, I shot him in Virginia and he died in Tennessee."
My dad liked this song❤️
Earn 20 Company Scrip in the mines then food, rent, heating coal costs you 30 (all bought at a Company store in a Company town) and you get so deep in credit debt, just to live, that you'll never be able to pay it off.
extreme north east Tennessee... Bristol TN, and Bristol VA border each other... divided by state street ... the TN side has NASCAR - Bristol Motor Speedway...
I live about 30 minutes away... unless its race weekend, then its about 3 hours
I listened to this song when I was young but I forgot about until highschool when my civics teach played it. He loved to listen to these songs with the class whenever it they lined up with what he was teaching about.
This is one of my favorites. My mother had it on vinyl. An LP to be exact. I grew up on the old country. Gene Autry, Tex Ritter, Hank Williams, Hank Jr, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Sons of the Pioneers, Johnny Horton, Minnie Pearl, Charlie Pride, Chet Atkins, Roy Clark, Jimmy Dean, Roy Acuff, Frankie Laine, and a whole bunch more.
This classic is timeless and will always be associated with the legendary Ernie. The lyrics are indeed profound and describe the life-long debt bondage under which a lot of miners worked in the 19th and early 20th centuries in the coal-mining regions of the US. It hit no. 1 spot on both the country and pop charts during 1956 and was one of the earliest cross-over smash hits. Another topnotch reaction/rating video, Don, and keep that country rockin'.
And not just mining. Fishermen owe their income to the buyers. They lend them the money to get their boats ready for the season. And the banks. How many of us owe money on a credit card. They’re all the same, horrible people.
Both my gran fathers and my father for a short time were coal miners, and you are right the coal mines paid in scrip not green backs,so the rich out of state owners of the coal mines got the scrip back from the poor miner,the miners even had to pay for the coal they burned to keep warm.
I love that you are reacting to this incredible singer. Please do Big Bad John. I cry every time I hear it.
@Donna Lehman You're referring to "Big Bad John" by Jimmy Dean?
Here in georgia we used to have a lot of farms and mills (way before my time) and they had small towns the workers would live in, and they were always in debt and couldn't get out of those towns and the children would work there too. Any way tennesseee ernie ford has some good old civil war and folk/countrie songs.
Half of my family is 100% from West Virginia. This is basically the anthem of the state, due to the coal mines there.
Boy, does that bring up memories. Oldie but goodie!!
The difference between singing and SINGING. He did a lot of religious music. Those are so well done you think of his version if you hear the name of the song. This was great. It was written by Merle Travis.
I had to look that one up myself: Bristol is pretty far east in NE TN...further east than Knoxville & Kingsport, on the N. TN & VA birder....almost to what is called Piedmont country in NC. In his day, "Tennessee Earnie" was as popular as anyone, even more than Johnny Cash...in country, I'd say he was equivalent to Elvis at the time.
Whether or not the workers were paid in script only good at the store, their pay was bad enough that they paid it all back to the bosses in rent company housing & food or clothing bought from the company store...and ended up in debt after that.
Bristol is on the border between VA & TN. You may know it by the Nascar race.
I have heard this song all of my life. I don't think I know any other songs from him.
Got another one for you. It's Bill Kirchner's " Hot Rod Lincoln " kind of a lesson in music history.
Feeling nostalgic watching again appreciate your reactions
Love his voice and he was a funny guy. He was on I Love Lucy a few times and He played her Uncle Ernie. Funny stuff❤️
The Cousin Ernie episodes are my favorite, both when he comes to NY, and when they let lost on their way to California and get stuck in Bent Fork.
Sixteen Tons was #1 on the country chart for ten weeks. Was inducted into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry.
I absolutely love this song
I understand he has a beautiful Christmas album. Awesome voice.
He even guest starred on a few episodes I Love Lucy.
you are absolutely right about the company store, my grandfather was a coal miner.
A true classic…by a true legend.
Scrip, notes that can only be accepted by the company store for payment for goods.
What great childhood memories this brings back of my daddy singing this song! A lot of landowners with sharecroppers had company stores also. The sharecroppers didn't get paid until the crops came in, so they used credit all year at the company store until harvest.
@Tupelo Honey Funny thing about today’s video is that, due to some folks over the months occasionally asking me to do more contemporary non-pop artists, I had this idea in my mind that maybe I was gonna catch a little flack-in a nice way-for the dusty classics I do, of which TEF qualifies. But I said to myself, you never know who’s gonna like what, so just run with it. And turns out it’s meant a lot to a lot of folks, and I love it when that happens!
@@RockN2Country You can never go wrong with such a classic!
@Tupelo Honey I figured. I learned from a story I heard about the Allman Brothers putting "Rambling Man" on their album, sort of as an add-on just to round it out. I think it was also the B-side to another single, so they and/or the label weren't nuts about it. Turned out very quickly to be their #1 song. So much for predicting what's gonna work. Ha!
@@RockN2Country I've never heard that story. But you are right, even experts make mistakes. Elvis was told not to quit his day job and Fred Smith was given an F on his college paper outlining his basic business plan for what was eventually FedEx! 😆
@@RockN2Country We should check what was on the charts in the late '50s - early '60s. For many, that is when they became "musically aware".
Love his voice
A classic from my youth! Excellent review...thanks!
I guess we now know how snap-tracks got started! :-) Just kidding...that's true American culture right there. Probably one of the first songs I remember cutting teeth too. Funny thing, Tennessee Ford's real middle name was actually Jennings and the song was written by Merle :-o They played it together on Hee-Haw in the 70's: ua-cam.com/video/TKnYN5C69RY/v-deo.html
It's kinda cool seeing someone do research on the artist and teach you about them
Oh I love this song! I swing dance and do Lindy Hop and lot and you would be surprised as to how much they play this on the floor. I love the little pauses when he just sings because you can stop for a sec and just pulse. It makes the dance really “chewy”. And I always end up singing 😆
More in Kentucky and WV but some of the mining camps in Illinois paid workers in scrip. They could buy nearly anything at the company store, although most had very little to spend.
Love Tennessee Ernie Ford. Just had to listen again thanks Don
I was born in 1955, and this is one of the first songs I can even remember. My father played it for me, and I suspect I have always compared men's voices to Tennessee Ernie Ford. I loved the story-song ballads, and do so to this day.
If you want a similar sort of song, check out Jimmy Dean's "Big Bad John," from probably not TOO many years later. Coal mining from a more realistic perspective, but still VERY memorable.
A true classic, from a classic, Tennessee Ernie!
I am SO glad you have discovered this song and its greatness, and are exposing people to it. No wonder it was the fastest-selling record in the HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC at the time. It crosses country and blues AND RAP AND GOSPEL. Singular. Thank you.
The military ( at least during the Korean conflict ) also used scrip to cut back on counter feiters.
Almost an operatic delivery.
Theirs a tape from his TV show you should watch. Children go where I send you, he was surrounded by some children, two of the boys where acting up, they were his sons. His reaction was hilarious.
Yes! I loved seeing him interact with them! He to me is, was very handsome and what a voice.
you are Spot-on with your characterization of Expansionist Mining n Steel business rackets and the Company Store Script-payment system
yet another great choice to listen to.
What a voice love him thank you.
And the lyric "Another day older and deeper in debt" was LITERAL for coal miners who worked and live ON the mine in mine-shacks, bought their food & supplies from the mine stores (at exorbitant prices), and were paid in "company scrip".
There was no way out for these men. Once you went in, you never got out. You were essentially a sl*ve to the Mining company the first time you spent a single "dollar" of "Company scrip" at the "Company store" for the food you ate.
So that "St Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go...I owe my soul to the Company Store..." was a very real phenomenon!
Bristol is in the upper part of East Tennessee near the Virginia border
Awesome reaction to this classic tune :)
This was the song that was popular when I was born lol, always have loved this song
you have it right -- it was a practice by a .lot of mining companies, and large farmers (this still went on through the 60's in florida and may still go on in california with field workers)
He was born and raised around the property that Bristol Motor Speedway sits on now.
First time seeing your channel. Yep, love it. I subscribed.
What a great great voice. That has to be a 10 it was perfection in all areas.
Bristol is on the Tennessee-Virginia border. It is famous for a NASCAR track. They actually had a Tennessee-Virginia Tech football game there a few years ago.
You exactly captured the essence of why I adore "Tennessee" Ernie Ford's performance. It's indeed not only about his spectacular voice. What he brings on stage is what puts this way over the top.
This song has been on my mp3 player and music list for all of my adult life. It just never ages. Thanks for the reaction. Peace
56th comment...lots of reactions to your reaction. Great song, enjoyed it very much. Thanks for doing this one Don.
Yes they made you purchase from the company store.
My favorite lines are the canebrake line. That was my attitude from a young age when it came to women.
They would get to charge their stuff at the company store and on payday they had to pay the store. So yes you got the jest.
Wow ! Thanks Don... that brings back sweet memories of my Dad singing this when I was a kid. I had no idea what it was about but I lived it and he taught me to “snap” my fingers because of that song 😊💕
Wow ! Thanks Don... that brings back sweet memories of my Dad singing this when I was a kid. I had no idea what it was about but I lived it and he taught me to “snap” my fingers because of that song 😊💕 btw.. Bristol Tn about hour from Weaverville NC if you’re familiar with WNC 😊
That's a really good one man. & that's what my job feels like alot of times! It's still good for todays life.
Thanks for this song. He also appeared on the Lucy ( ball) as cousin Ernie. Please would do anything by the MILLS BROTHERS. They’re not country, but mom who is 80 loves your channel
He was one of my dad's favorite singers and he enjoyed his TV show. The song was written by Merle Travis who also wrote "Dark As A Dungeon" that Johnny Cash covered as well as several other mining songs. A good Merle Travis song to do would be "Re-Enlistment Blues" or "A Too Fast Past." Tennessee Ernie Ford recorded the song "Raised By The Railroad Line" later in his career that I think is quite good and you can't go wrong with any of his "boogie" songs (Blackberry Boogie, Shot Gun Boogie etc.)
I'd thought that everyone had heard " 16 Tons" . Even Billy Gibbons did a version of it.
Scrip, which was issued by the mine and could only be redeemed at the company store for goods sold there.
My daddy would sing this to us when we were young girls! This is great and zztop sings this also! Fun to listen! ❤️Tennessee
You might also like Ernie's song " Hicktown".
I'd also like to see you react to a new artist and song . Actually the artist was quite popular in the early 1990s and a member of the Grand Ole Opry until his death a couple of years ago.
I'm pretty sure you would enjoy Hal Ketchum's song "Past the Point of Rescue" or "Small Town Saturday Night". Both would be even better.
He had his own TV variety show sponsored by...Ford, who else?
Don that's a great rating,he was a awesome performer, and actor 😁 especially on the I Love Lucy as Cousin Ernie he even had his own show on TV back in the day!! Thanks for sharing and as always you know"Howdy from Texas 😁" BTW... Bristol,Tn and Virginia border goes right straight down main street, during this pandemic, one state was closed and the other was open so all you had to do is walk across the street, how crazy is that 😎
Of course written by the great Merle Travis. Check his version and see one of the great guitarist ever.
Merle Travis was a great American treasure. He was from the coal mining area of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. His songs about working men are deep and entertaining at the same time. Dark As A Dungeon is another song of his that touches upon the hard work of the common man. He wrote hundreds of songs from the most profound to just down right fun. Let's not forget that his style of guitar pickin' was so awesome it still lives on many decades later.
@@CarterCountyCruisers Muhlenberg County, Ky is famous for "Paradise" by John Prine and close to birth places of Bill Monroe and Ike Everly, a fine picker and father of Phil and Don Everly.
Bristol is where they have Nascar races in East Tennessee
Not necessarily to react to, but Jeff Beck and Billy Gibbons covered this in an upbeat rock cover. It’s pretty good!
Jason Isbell's new album comes out this week. "Only Children" is great.
you could also get things " on credit " at the company store and the amount of your credit would be deducted from your next pay
Frank Sinatra learned his craft from Bing Crosby. As a teen, Sinatra saw Bing Crosby performing with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra in New Jersey, and decided he wanted to be a singer. And Sinatra always used Crosby as his comparison.
My daddy used to sing this to me when I was little.
My daddy sang it to me too! So did my grandpa!
Company script pay was seldom enough to pay rent on a company owned shack and buy food and clothes, but if you died in the mine, they would offer your oldest son a chance to assume the debt before kicking your family out of the company town.
Ernie did some great gospel. Love to see you do Peace in The Valley.
The problem with company stores was that you could get credit from them, but it would come out of your next paycheck. So, if on payday you have earned $60, but you have spent $20 on credit, you would only get $40.
This song was a cross over song and was on top of the charts for weeks.
I just came to your chanel Bristol tenn is in north east tenn. If you stand on main st you can have 1 foot in Bristol tenn and 1 foot in va
10 10 10💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕
For some reason, and I know there is somewhat of a resemblance, Ernie Ford has always reminded me of Walt Disney. RockN2Country, this is that it factor I think you referred to that some people regardless of talent just have that personality that captivates us and commands our attention. Excellent rating btw! Don I would love for you to react and rate Diamond Rio’s Mama, Don’t Forget To Pray For Me. m.ua-cam.com/video/vCHrffT16tM/v-deo.html
morning Don making lumber today moma likes it when i come home smelling like fresh wood got to keep her happy good song HAKAD
Little Texas " Country Crazy " I think u will like this .