North To Alaska - Johnny Horton

North To Alaska - Johnny Horton
2:50
single, 1960
Written by Mike Phillips, and Tillman Franks

This is a story song, written for a movie starring John Wayne.  These two characters, Big Sam and George Pratt, go hunting for gold south of Nome in 1892.  Then George has found the love of his life and says, "I'd trade all the gold that's buried in this land / For one small band of gold to place on sweet little Jenny's hand."  Unfortunately, the song ends there; there is no third verse that tells whether those crazy kids ever got together, or George froze to death trying to get to the courthouse.

The Battle Of New Orleans - Johnny Horton

The Battle Of New Orleans - Johnny Horton

2:31

single, 1959

Written by Jimmy Driftwood, 1936

A novelty country song that adapts a military march for its beat.  The writer, Jimmy Driftwood, was a school principal in Arkansas with a passion for history.  He set an account of the battle to an old fiddle tune in an attempt to get students interested in learning history.  Driftwood's version adds fun to the lesson, with his yodeling, nasal voice, the "hup-two-three" background voices, and his silly humor ("We fired our cannon 'til the barrel melted down / So we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round / We filled his head with cannonballs 'n' powdered his behind / And when we touched the powder off, the gator lost his mind").  Historically accurate?  Citation needed.