Sixteen Tons (No.12)
Back To 1955Choose A Different YearNext Video
"Sixteen Tons" was written about the misery of coal mining, the Original Version was first recorded in 1946 by the American singer Merle Travis
Ernie Ford's version of the song reached No.1 in the American Billboard Charts in 1955, outselling the performance of the competing version by Johnny Desmond
Another competing version by Frankie Laine was released only in England, peaking at No.10 in January 1956, and gave Ford's version some stiff competition in the UK Charts