On this date 60 years ago, a strange incident occurred on the popular songs chart: Four different versions of the same exact song, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett," came in the Hot 100. Thanks to the internet, it's easier for a wider variety of performers to exist and makes it less enticing for a record label to put five different versions of the same exact song. Imagine if Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears and Shakira were all replicating each other constantly. Then again, the song in question was boosted by "the Crockett craze" generated by Disney's three-episode biopic on the legendary frontier fellow (some have called it the first miniseries). Let's take a look at the four different singles that managed to chart during the summer of '55.
"The Ballad of Davy Crockett" by Bill Hayes
Everyone was jumping onboard to sing the Disney hit...so it seems somewhat luck-of-the-draw that Bill Hayes' rendition of the song ended up becoming the most popular. Hayes was a relative no-name among vocalists, at least looking back on things. He was one of the house singers on Your Show of Shows, a variety program, and would eventually become most recognizable to viewers as part of the cast on Days Of Our Lives (starting in 1970 and continuing on-and-off for 45 years) 15 years after going to no. 1. Not only did his version of Crockett's ballad get to no. 1 on the Hot 100, it managed to stay there for five weeks. Hayes would only reach the Hot 100 once more in his musical career, peaking at no. 33 with "Wringle Wrangle" during 1957.
"The Ballad of Davy Crockett" by Fess Parker
Why would it have made sense for Fess Parker's version of "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" to go to no. 1? Maybe because it was he that played the titular hero on Disney's smashing success miniseries (but, of course, his version didn't). It was common for actors to double in music during that era, and Parker had been brought in to audition for the role of Crockett for Disney. It would become his most well-known part...and also a thorn in his side for much of his acting career. Following the popularity that Davy Crockett received, Disney was unwilling to cast Parker in any role that didn't match the stoic hero he created for the miniseries. He would eventually leave Disney for other studios but he would never live down the role of Crockett. The good news is that it's his version of the song you'll hear playing on the jukebox during Back To The Future (which is, of course, set largely during 1955).
"The Ballad of Davy Crockett" by Walter Schumann
You have to understand that the Crockett Craze was such that Disney could have marketed "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" in any conceivable genre and make a hit out of it. That's how the version of the song composed by Walter Schumann ended up in the Hot 100. When we say "composed," we mean in a vocal arrangement, but Schumann himself was much more of a classical music buff than a pop star. Although he formed The Voices of Walter Schumann, which would record the chart-placing single, he's best known now for his scores for programs such as Dragnet. Imagine that in context today: Philip Glass turning in his rendition of "Uptown Funk"?
"The Ballad of Davy Crockett" by Tennessee Ernie Ford
Yes, ultimately the song about the ultimate American frontiersman was meant for the country/western genre. After all, the original Disney release was recorded by the folk band The Wellingtons (who also performed the theme on Gilligan's Island). All of the versions of the song listed above were handled in the Western style but only this one was performed by a, uh, "true" representative of the genre, in Tennessee Ernie Ford. Ford was well known for his baritone and indeed, the approach does well for "The Ballad of Davy Crockett." Unlike performers such as Hayes, Ford was used to the spotlight: His "Crockett" single peaked at no. 5 on the Hot 100, but he had broken the Top 10 several times, including eventual no. 1 hit "Sixteen Tons."
"La Ballade de Davy Crockett" by Annie Cordy
Davy Crockett, for being as American an icon as he was, could not be held to our borders. Of all places for the icon to find an audience, it's tough for us Freedom-Fries-loving Americans to consider that "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" was at one point the no. 1 song in France for more than five weeks. Of course, it helped that it got a French-language makeover from Belgian actress/vocalist Annie Cordy. She wasn't just any up-and-comer taken off the street either: Cordy starred in Royal Affairs in Versailles, one of the highest-earning French films in history.
