Tennessee Ernie Ford -- "Sixteen Tons"
Not your typical country song, this track musically explores the outer limits of what might be considered country music, eschewing the typical steel guitar and fiddle for the jazzier sound of finger snaps and clarinet, while the lyrics cut to the heart of the frustration and violence that can mar the rugged life of a miner. Ford's arrangement was probably not what Merle Travis had in mind when he wrote the song, but it works.
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