Before Merle Haggard (1937-2016) there was another Merle who was very influential in the world of country music, namely Merle Travis (1917-1983). Travis was a prolific songwriter and a stellar guitarist. He had his own way of playing the guitar – literally. It came to be called “Travis Picking.”
Among the songs Travis wrote were Dark As A Dungeon, Divorce Me C.O.D., Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) and the one being illuminated now, Sixteen Tons. Many of these songs are best known covered by other artists, such as Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) by Tex Williams and (an even better version) Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, and Sixteen Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford.
Sixteen Tons does not receive its drama from poetic license on Merle’s part. Its lyrics are not an exaggeration. When he wrote the line “Sixteen tons and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt” he was quoting, or at least paraphrasing, what his brother, a Kentucky coal miner, had written to him in a letter. And he quotes something his father said with the line “I owe my soul to the company store.” For the full quotation, his father had said, “I can’t die – I owe my soul to the company store.”
Here are the full lyrics of Travis’ Sixteen Tons:
Some people say a man is made outta mud
A poor man's made outta muscle and blood
Muscle and blood and skin and bones
A mind that's a-weak and a back that's strong
CHORUS:
You load 16 tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
I was born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine
I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine
I loaded 16 tons of number nine coal
And the straw boss said, "Well, a-bless my soul"
(CHORUS)
I was born one mornin', it was drizzlin' rain
Fightin' and trouble are my middle name
I was raised in the canebrake by an ol' mama lion
Can't no high toned woman make me walk the line
(CHORUS)
If you see me comin', better step aside
A lotta men didn't, a lotta men died
One fist of iron, the other of steel
If the right one don't get you
Then the left one will
(CHORUS)
The first three versions I link to below are three alternative ones by Travis himself. On the first, he feels strongly enough about emphasizing the reality of the lyrics of the song that he expounds on the story behind the song within the song, stopping playing completely and explaining the situation about how “company stores” operate before picking it up again; the second link is to a live version of the song when Travis performed it on television following Tennessee Ernie Ford making Sixteen Tons famous with his version; the third and last version by Travis is from his Greatest Hits album (one of my favorite recordings in my private collection); it namechecks Ford by personalizing the lyrics, changing them in the final chorus from “I owe my soul to the company store” to “I owe my soul to Tennessee Ernie Ford.”
Merle Travis’ original studio version, during which he talks about the impetus behind the song:
Merle Travis’ live version, after Sixteen Tons had been made famous by Tennessee Ernie Ford:
Version from “The Merle Travis Story: 24 Greatest Hits” where he name checks Tennessee Ernie Ford:
Tennessee Ernie Ford’s version is the best-known; rather than being done in the country or folk genre, though, his recording is more of a jazz/pop thing (snapping fingers, horns, a cool bass line, and brushes on the drums):
The three other most interesting or unique versions I’ve heard appear below:
A rock ‘n’ roll version by “ZZ Top and Jeff Beck” (actually, it appears to be Jeff Beck’s band with ZZ Top’s guitarist Billy Gibbons “sittin’ in” on the tune):
On this amazing version, Geoff Castellucci clones his deep and resonant voice and harmonizes with himself in a “mine shaft quartet,” using picks, shovels, mallets and hammers as percussion instruments. Very interesting – and sounds great!
Last, but not least, this one is from Munkh-Erdene on “The Voice of Mongolia” (who woulda thunk there was such a thing?), which got an almost over-the-top reaction from one of the judges:
Recordings with Some of the Versions of “Sixteen Tons” linked to above
The Merle Travis Story: 24 Greatest Hits
https://www.amazon.com/Merle-Travis-Story-Greatest-Hits/dp/B0000010UK/garrphotgall-20
Very Best of Tennessee Ernie Ford
https://www.amazon.com/Very-Best-Tennessee-Ernie-Ford/dp/B012YMLC0S/garrphotgall-20
Merle Travis: Folk Songs of the Hills: Back Home / Songs of the Coalmines
https://www.amazon.com/Folk-Songs-Hills-Back-Coalmines/dp/B0000282VL/garrphotgall-20
Sixteen Tons by Geoff Castellucci
https://www.amazon.com/Sixteen-Tons-Geoff-Castellucci/dp/B08TR514Z6/garrphotgall-20
Previous installments of the series “The Name of That Tune” are:
#1: The End of the World: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/the-end-of-the-world
#2: City of New Orleans: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/city-of-new-orleans
#3: Hobo’s Lullaby: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/hobos-lullaby
#4: Ghost Riders in the Sky: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/ghost-riders-in-the-sky-a-cowboy