Sixteen Tons

This is the third coal mining song I’ve posted, the other two being You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive () and Coal Mining Blues (). They are both great songs, but this one has a real special place in my heart as it goes back to when I was a little kid. It was written by that great guitarist, Merle Travis and first released in 1947 a couple months before I was born. I never really remember hearing Merle sing it, but about eight years later I did hear it by the little ol’ Pea Picker himself, Tennessee Ernie Ford. I remember it distinctly. My family was visiting relatives in central Illinois and we had heard the song several times on the radio on the drive over from Detroit. The night we arrived everyone gathered around the TV after dinner to watch Ernie’s show. I don’t remember anything else about that show, but I still get chills down the back of my neck when I hear that iconic clarinet intro followed by Ernie’s singing and rhyth