Popularized in 1955 by country singer Tennessee Ernie Ford, “Sixteen Tons” offers a glimpse into the stark realities of a coal miner working in the mines of Rosewood, Kentucky. Ford’s version reached the top of both the country and pop charts and remains a genre standard to this day. But fewer people may know of the song’s original writer and singer, Merle Travis, who was born in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, on this day in 1917.
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Indeed, “The Hag” is hardly the only Merle to crack the country music history books. Born to local farmer Rob Travis and his wife, Etta, Merle Robert Travis’ career was heavily shaped by his western Kentucky upbringing. He was just 8 years old when his family moved to Ebenezer, Kentucky, so Rob Travis could take a job with a local mine.
Four years later, a 12-year-old Travis became determined to perfect Muhlenberg County’s unique guitar finger-picking style. Those lessons would eventually lead to the development of “Travis picking,” which requires its practitioners to keep a steady beat with alternating bass notes using their thumb. Notable acts like the Beatles, Taylor Swift, and Bob Dylan have since incorporated “Travis picking” into their own work.
Moving to Evansville, Indiana, after graduating high school in 1936, Travis joined the Drifting Pioneers, a Chicago-area gospel quartet. The group eventually dissolved, and Travis moved to California in 1944, where he signed as a solo artist with Capitol Records two years later. He enjoyed early success with songs like “Cincinnati Lou,” “No Vacancy,” and his first No. 1 hit, “Divorce Me C.O.D.”
How Merle Travis Drew From His Own Kentucky Coal Mining Background
In 1946, Travis released Folk Songs of the Hills, which contained his most enduring song, “Sixteen Tons.” The song’s strength lies in its grim chorus: You load sixteen tons, what do you get? / Another day older and deeper in debt / Saint Peter, don’t you call me, ’cause I can’t go / I owe my soul to the company store.
Neither the album nor Travis’ version of “Sixteen Tons” saw much chart success, but that changed in 1955 when Tennessee Ernie Ford reached No. 1 with his clarinet-driven, finger-snapping version of the song.
According to Travis’ son, Thom Bresh, his father regularly stated, “[I] never did like that tune till Tennessee Ernie Ford sold about 5 million copies. Then, I got to where I loved it.”
Merle Travis died on Oct. 20, 1983, after suffering a heart attack at his home in Talequah, Oklahoma. He was 65 years old.
Featured image by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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