'The Ballad of Davy Crockett' was composed in twenty minutes by Tom Blackburn (lyrics) and George Bruns (music) who worked for Disney. Amazingly, for a song which went on to sell over 10 million record copies across the world, it was written as an afterthought, needed for padding for the first episode of 'Disneyland' on 27 October 1954, and put there to advertise the forthcoming Davy Crockett film trilogy to be released by the Disney Corporation.

Walt Disney himself approved of using the song as a device to help move the story along in the films, saying 'The lyrics will pick it up for the kids. It's what I call a comic book approach'.

The Ballad was originally sung by Bill Hayes for the film. Since then, more than 40 artists have recorded the song, including Tennessee Ernie Ford, Eddie Arnold, Fred Waring, the Sons of the Pioneers, Steve Allen, Mitch Miller, Rusty Draper and Burl Ives.

To see the full lyrics, go to: The Ballad of Davy Crockett

How many people leave this entry, humming Born on a mountain top in Tennessee.....?