JOHNNY HORTON – THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS 7″ – VG ORIG 1959

Johnny Horton – The Battle Of New Orleans / All For The Love Of A Girl
(Philips Records  1959  PB932)
UK Pressing

Vinyl in Very Good condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl which do give some light pops/crackles but sound quality is Excellent overall)
 

John Gale “Johnny” Horton (April 30, 1925 – November 5, 1960) was an American country music and rockabilly singer most famous for his semi-folk, so-called “saga songs” which began the “historical ballad” craze of the late 1950s and early 1960s. With them, he had several major successes, most notably during 1959 with the song “The Battle of New Orleans” (written by Jimmy Driftwood), which was awarded the 1960 Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording. The song was awarded the Grammy Hall of Fame Award, and during 2001 ranked No. 333 of the Recording Industry Association of America’s “Songs of the Century”.

During 1960, Horton had two other successes with “North to Alaska” for John Wayne’s movie, North to Alaska, and “Sink the Bismarck”. Horton is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.

“The Battle of New Orleans” is the title of a song written by Jimmy Driftwood. The song describes the 1815 Battle of New Orleans from the perspective of an American soldier; the song tells the tale of the battle with a light tone and provides a rather comical version of what actually happened at the battle. It has been recorded by many artists, but the singer most often associated with this song is Johnny Horton. His version scored number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959.

In Billboard magazine’s rankings of the top songs in the first fifty years of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, “The Battle of New Orleans” was ranked as the twenty-eighth song overall and the number-one country music song to appear on the chart.