Song #202: "The Battle of New Orleans"--Johnny Horton (1959)

I must say, I was exposed to a variety of music when I was young. Not nearly as much as others, I know, but my day could consist of anything from Southern Gospel and quartet gospel, to country, to folk, to pop and to rock or rhythm and blues. It all depended on which AM radio station was on or which album was playing, either on the big stereo in the dining room or on our little record player in our bedroom.

One album that got lots of play in our room was from Johnny Horton, a man who tragically passed in 1960, years before my arrival, due to an automobile accident. He took a song written by Jimmy Driftwood and made it into the biggest song of 1959, a comical look at the historic battle. Brits didn't care for it very much, however.

Horton had other great songs like "Sink The Bismarck", "Johnny Reb" and, of course, "North To Alaska". But my favorite is below, and it transports me immediately back to my bottom bunk bed circa 1974 or 1975, enjoying tunes because I was in first and second grade, and, generally, homework wasn't much of a thing back then.  :)