Today in Music (1846): “Jimmy Crack Corn” published

Jimmy Crack Corn traditional

Writer(s): traditional/credited to Daniel Decatur Emmett (see lyrics here) First Published: January 20, 1846 First Charted: July 31, 1948 Peak: 24 BB (Burl Ives) (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 3.71 video, 0.73 streaming (multiple versions)

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Jimmy Crack Corn,” also known as “The Blue Tail Fly,” was first published by F.D. Benteen of Baltimore on January 20, 1846. JF It became popular as a blackface minstrel song performed by Daniel Decatur Emmett’s Virginia Minstrels. WK Emmett is generally credited with the song, although he may have simply arranged and published an African-American song that already existed. WK The opening notes are similar to “Miss Lucy Long,” published in 1842. JF The song grew out of the experience of slaves in the American South and their use of music and storytelling to connect and express emotions. AN It “reflects the hostility of slave towards master in Southern plantation society.” BA It “is a lively and spirited song that has endured over time as a testament to the creativity and resilience of African American culture.” AN “Cracking corn” was a phrase that referred to sitting around and gossiping. AN The song starts out with the singer, a house slave, being expected to protect his master and his horse from a blue-tailed fly. When he fails, the master is thrown from the horse and killed. The singer is charged with the death but eventually gains his freedom when the death is blamed on the blue-tail fly. WK The song isn’t without controversy as it is perceived as offering a simplistic view of slavery and that slaves were happy and carefree despite the oppression against them. AN The song has been viewed both as the slave lamenting over his master’s death and celebrating it. WK Abraham Lincoln is said to have requested the song be played at Gettysburg, where he delivered his famous address in November 1863. WS It was reportedly a favorite of his that he may have even played on harmonica. TR The song experienced a revival in the 1940s as a folk song and Burl Ives charted with it in 1948. It became a popular children’s song and campfire favorite. Big Bill Broonzy, Bob Dylan, Lead Belly, Tom Lehrer, and Pete Seeger are among those to record and perform the song. WK In 1959, Johnny & the Hurricanes recorded a instrumental version of the song called “Beatnik Fly” and reached #15 in the US and #8 in the UK. Resources: AN AllNurseryRhymes.com BA BalladOfAmerica.com JF James J. Fuld (2000). The Book of World-Famous Music: Classical, Popular, and Folk. Dover Publications: Mineola, NY. Dover Publications: Mineola, NY. Page 312. TR Theodore Raph (1986). The American Song Treasury: 100 Favorites. Dover Publications, Inc.: Mineola, NY. Page 109. WS William Studwell (1997). The Americana Song Reader. The Haworth Press, Inc.: Binghampton, NY. Page 53. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 12/18/2025.

 

Today in Music (1951): “On Top of Old Smoky” charted for first time

On Top of Old Smoky traditional

Writer(s): traditional (see lyrics here) First Published: ? First Charted: March 30, 1951 (The Weavers) Peak: 2 BB, 12 HP, 12 CB (The Weavers) (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 (Weavers) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 27.30 video, 1.14 streaming

Awards (overall): Click on award for more details. Awards (Weavers):

About the Song: The origins of “On Top of Old Smoky” are unclear, but it is believed to date back to the 1840s. AN It is a classic example of a song that was passed down through the generations. The lyrics are associated with the Smoky (Smokey) Mountains that run along the borders of Tennessee and North Carolina.. During World War I, English folklorist Cecil Sharp, with assistance from Maud Karpeles, did field recodings in the Appalachian Mountains and collected a version recorded by Miss Memory Shelton in Alleghany, Madison County, North Carolina, on July 29, 1916. WK According to AllNurseryRhymes.com, the earliest known recorded version of the song dates back to 1911 and is credited to an artist known as Belden. AN George Reneau is credited with making the first commercial recoding of the song in 1925. WK Its greatest chart success came in 1951 when versions of the song charted by The Weavers and Terry Gilkyson (#2 PM), Vaughn Monroe (#8 PM), and Burl Ives with Percy Faith’s Orchestra (#10 PM). It topped the Cash Box and Your Hit Parade pop charts and ranked in both publications’ top tens for the year. TY2 It has also been recorded by Libby Holman (1942), Minnie Pearl & Pee Wee King (1947), Hank Williams (1951), Eddy Arnold (1955), Pete Seeger (1957), Red Foley (1959), Mitch Miller (1959), Bing Crosby (1961), Connie Francis (1961), Harry Belafonte (1962), The Chipmunks (1962), Abba (1978), and others. SH The tune has also been used for the song called “The Little Mohee.” WK A parody of the song, “On Top of Spaghetti,” was recorded by Tom Glazer in 1963. Resources: AN AllNuseryRhymes.com SH SecondHandSongs.com TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Page 318. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 11/30/2025.

Today in Music (1949): Vaughn Monroe hit #1 with “Ghost Riders in the Sky”

Ghost Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend) Vaughn Monroe

Writer(s): Stan Jones (see lyrics here) First Charted: April 23, 1949 Peak: 112 BB, 111 BA, 112 DJ, 110 JB, 18 GA, 12 HP, 112 SM, 15 AU (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 3.66 video, 1.90 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Stan Jones was a forest ranger who wrote songs on the side. SF He wrote this “country and cowboy-style song” WK in the summer of 1948 based on a story he’d heard at 12-years old by an old cowboy friend. WK The following year, the song gave the charts “a rustic, outdoors bias.” TY1 Vaughn Monroe (#1), Peggy Lee (#2), Bing Crosby (#14), and Burl Ives (#21) all charted with versions of the song on the U.S. pop charts. PM Monroe’s version wasn’t just a #1, but the the biggest pop song of 1949 CPM and the biggest of Monroe’s nine chart toppers. It was also one of three songs of his to sell a million copies. PM The song serves up a “folk tale” WK of “cowboy hell.” SF A cowboy has a vision of “a herd of red-eyed cows” TY1 “thundering across the sky, being chased by the spirits of damned cowboys. One warns him that if he does not change his ways, he will be doomed to join them,” WK “doomed to chase the Devil’s cattle for all eternity.” SF The song, which is also sometimes known as “Riders in the Sky,” “Ghost Riders,” and “A Cowboy Legend” has been recorded at least 50 times by artists including Johnny Cash, Spike Jones, Frankie Laine, and Marty Robbins. WK Gene Autry sang it in the movie of the same name in 1949. WK Jones recorded it on his own 1957 album Creakin’ Leather. WK Through the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, other versions by the Ramrods, Lawrence Welk, the Baja Marimba Band, the Outlaws, and Duane Eddy also charted. The Ramrods top-40 instrumental-version was the highest charting. “The melody is based on the song ‘When Johnny Comes Marching Home,’” WK and, “according to Robby Krieger, it inspired the classic Doors song ‘Riders on the Storm.’” WK It also inspired the Marvel Comics Western character Ghost Rider who was later renamed Phantom Rider. WK Resources: SF Songfacts.com TY1 Don Tyler (1985). Hit Parade 1920-1955. Quill: New York, NY. Pages 139-40. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 318-20, 571. CPM Joel Whitburn (1999). A Century of Pop Music. Record Research, Inc.: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 68. WK Wikipedia.org Related Links: Last updated 9/8/2021; updated 5/15/2025.