Everyone knows that the National Anthem for the United States of America is "The Star Spangled Banner", right? It was written by Frances Scott Key during the War of 1812. There is another song that is about one of the battles of that war. It is "The Battle of New Orleans" sung by Johnny Horton and was a huge hit in 1959. (It won the Grammy for Best Song for 1960). The song had been around for years. It was written by a schoolteacher, James Corbitt Morris in 1936 to help his high school students learn about the War of 1812 in a more memorable way. He left teaching to concentrate on his musical career. Mr. Morris wrote over 6000 folk songs under the name of Jimmy Driftwood. (If you click on the link at the end of this post, you will chuckle when you read how he got that nickname!)
(Also, if you want to know more about the War of 1812, Debra at her blog, She Who Seeks, has written some great posts about it. Her latest one was about this same song and it reminded me that I needed to finish this draft post for you! You may find her blog just here! Thanks, Debra! And don't miss her post before that one, it is about Australia...you all know I want to go there one day, right?)
Jimmy Driftwood was born in Timbo, Arkansas on June 20, 1907. Learning music from his father and grandfather, he learned to play guitar on his grandfather's homemade guitar, which he used throughout his long career. The neck of the guitar was made from a fence rail, the sides from an old ox yoke and the head and bottom from the headboard of a bed!
(JOY! I have found a great video for you with Jimmy Driftwood speaking of this guitar and then, you get to hear him play it! I love this sound from the homemade guitar, it is very pleasing to me!)
Jimmy Driftwood was not only a songwriter and entertainer but he also cared about nature. He worked to stop the plans to dam the Buffalo River in Arkansas. He was successful in this and due to his involvement, it became the Buffalo National River. (Being deemed a National River, this was the first of its kind!) He also was one of those responsible in preserving Blanchard Springs Cavern which later came under the management of the U.S. Forest Service. His recorded song is the one still heard in the film in the visitor center.
I love that they kept his voice on that film, don't you? It might just be a small thing but I hope they still have that and keep it for visitors.
Jimmy Driftwood died in 1998 at the age of 91. If you click on his name, you can read more details of his life. I think that his life story is an interesting one and one that more people should know.
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| Rocks That I Placed Together With Some Blue Jay Feathers at Arabia Mountain |
Have you heard the British version of The battle of New Orleans? You can find it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9EbvpfyiTg . It is also sung by Johnny Horton.
ReplyDeleteYes, I've heard that too. Sad that Johnny Horton died so young.
DeleteGreat info on Jimmy Driftwood -- didn't know this but glad to learn it. He sounds like a true American folk original like Woodie Guthrie etc.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the shout out too! I hope your dream of visiting Australia comes true one day. Hey, I hope MY same dream does too, LOL!
DeleteRemember the post I did telling you about the movie that will come out about Hank Williams? That is when I read that Hank Williams' widow married Johnny Horton. But THEN, I read about Jimmy Driftwood and so....well, you get the idea, my mind was all a jumble, as usual!
DeleteGreat blog, knew the song, but not about the songwriter.
ReplyDeleteSo often, people will assume that the singer known for the song is the songwriter. Not to take away from Johnny Horton's way with the song, but you see what I mean, I think people should know the songwriters!
DeleteLove this post and love the song. It brought back memories. When I had Art listen to it, he remembered that Johnny Horton sang it. What a memory! What an amazing fellow Mr. Driftwood was!
ReplyDeleteI need to have your Art around when I am trying to remember names! Thank goodness for my husband AND the internet!
DeleteYet another song and songwriter I've never come across before I read about it here on your blog - it's great that I can always learn something when I come here for my morning coffee read!
ReplyDeleteBefore I read the caption under your last photo, I thought you (or Richard) had tried to take a picture of a bird hiding behind the small pile of rocks.
Yes, I doubt that ANYONE else will post about Jimmy Driftwood today, more's the pity.
DeleteOh, I must do a post about birds and maybe I will be able to show you a photo of a bluejay! It is a fairly big bird and a true blue one.
We have plenty of jays here, and they have some blue feathers on their wings, too. I have known them since early childhood when my granddad showed them to me in the park and explained that their "job" is to warn the other animals in the park or forest when people come, so that they can all go into hiding.
DeleteBack then, jays lived not quite as close to humans as they do now, only a few decades later. They had to adapt, I guess, with their naturally more remote habitats being encroached upon by us more and more.
That's the kind of jay we have here:
Deleteclick here for picture on wikimedia.
Our jay has not only blue wings but is really mostly a blue bird. We have one that comes down on our deck, I will get Richard to take a photo!
DeleteKay, I love how you're always teaching me something new about somebody I don't know....interesting little tidbits which will certainly come up at some point and I will impress someone with my knowledge. I love it!!! Wink wink....
ReplyDeleteHA , HA. If you are ever on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" and you are asked who wrote "The Battle of New Orleans", you can wink, wink at the camera and I will know it will be aimed at me! Hope you win the million!!
DeleteThat's a song we hear about when the anniversary of the battle comes up. There's a great deal of detail i learned when i was in school, it is still considered a Very Important Event around here!
ReplyDeleteOh good, I was hoping that you would see this and leave a comment, someone who is actually from that neck of the woods!
DeleteThis was a hit when I was pretty young, I think and I remember listening to it often. It's funny how our childhood indoctrinations stick with us. When I first visited the Pioneer Village in Toronto I had a moment of deep shock when we were told that it was settled by people who left the American Colonies/USA during the revolution because they were loyal to George III. "Traitors!" was what jumped into my mind, probably all in capital letters! And then I had to laugh at myself.
ReplyDeleteThat made me laugh too! I saw an episode of one of those genealogy shows and the actress had an ancestor who was also loyal to George III and he had gone to Canada. She was Canadian and was very proud, but like you, my first thought was one of horror! HA!! Of course, I had an ancestor who was in the American Revolution, so that influences me a bit!
DeleteI had two ancestors in the American Revolution, Henry Ferguson and then Andrew Pontius (Punches in the records) on the German side.......
DeleteDidn't think I knew the song but as soon as I heard it the memories came flooding back. It's probably the same in the USA but we were just talking the other day about popular films, TV programmes, songs and presenters that represented a huge part of our daily life growing up as they were ubiquitous for decades then just seemed to disappear, almost overnight. Not always due to age either. Wouldn't mind seeing some of them again.
ReplyDeleteFunny you should say that! Just recently when it was so busy at work, I started singing the theme song from "Gilligan's Island" (did you get that TV show in the 60's?) and I knew all the words, ALL of them! Somehow, it helped me get through a tough day.
DeleteAnd if are wondering, I was alone so no one heard me sing!
We had the 45 rpm of "The Battle of New Orleans" and played it so often it was almost worn thin. It was my brother's record and he loved it. The Johnny Horton version was the one we had and it was huge here at that time 1959/60. It was a massive hit.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad but Johnny Horton died at a young age. He married the widow of Hank Williams. And then, Johnny Horton was killed in a car accident.
DeleteSad story.