Piano Sheets > Merle Travis Sheet Music > Sixteen Tons (ver. 1) Piano Sheet

Sixteen Tons (ver. 1) by Merle Travis - Piano Sheets and Free Sheet Music

  
About the Song
"Sixteen Tons" is a song about the misery of coal mining, first recorded in 1946 by U.S. country singer Merle Travis and released on his box set album Folk Songs of the Hills the following year. A 1955 version recorded by 'Tennessee' Ernie Ford was on the b-side of his cover of the Moon Mullican standard, "You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry". However, it was Ford's "Sixteen Tons" that reached number one in the Billboard charts, besting the performance of the competing version by Johnny Desmond. Another competing version by Frankie Laine was released only in the U.K. where it gave Ford's version some stiff competition on the charts. On October 17, it was released and, by October 28, it sold 400,000 copies. On November 10, a million copies had been sold. The record had sold two million copies by December 15. The well-known chorus runs: You load sixteen tons, and what do you get? Another.    Download this sheet!
About the Artist
Merle Robert Travis (November 29, 1917 – October 20, 1983) was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and musician born in Rosewood, Kentucky. His lyrics often discussed the exploitation of coal miners. Among his many well-known songs are "Sixteen Tons" and "Dark as a Dungeon". However, it is his masterful guitar playing and his interpretations of the rich musical traditions of his native Muhlenberg County, Kentucky that he is best known for today. "Travis picking", a syncopated style of finger picking, is named after him. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1977. Travis was born and raised in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, the same coal mining county mentioned in the John Prine song "Paradise" and which would inspire many of Travis' own original songs. He became interested in the guitar early in life and originally played one made by his brother. Travis reportedly saved his money to buy a guitar that he had window-shopped for some time. Merle's guitar playing style was developed out of a native tradition of finger-picking in Western Kentucky. Among.
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