On this day in 1955, The Ballad of Davy Crockett, the tune everyone in America was humming, hit Number One on Billboard’s Top 100 Hits list and stuck for four weeks.
A quartet of recording artists all made it to the charts with their versions but singer turned soap star, Bill Hayes, got there first. Fess Parker, the burly star of Disney’s Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier, also recorded the signature song. It premiered on the hits list at number six. Tennessee Ernie Ford made it to number four a few weeks later and bluegrass singer Max Wiseman reached number ten in May. One version or another topped Cash Box and various pop charts for three months.
The ditty was pretty much an in-house production, the music composed by Disney’s own music director, George Edward Bruns. Bruns scored countless Disney movies, composed scores for Herbie the Love Bug the Jungle Book and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Love” from Disney’s Robin Hood. Disney story department writer, Thomas Blackburn, II, wrote the Davy Crockett lyrics as well as a number of screen plays for television and movies, including another Fess Parker vehicle, “Westward Ho the Wagons,” in 1956.
The airwave saturation by Disney’s mega-hit was simply more evidence of the Davy Crockett mania that swept the nation beginning with Disney’s original Disneyland television episode in October of 1954. Five episodes followed; Davy’s adventures as Indian fighter, congressman, Alamo defender, keelboat racer and river pirate kidnap victim.
Disney Studios was apparently surprised by the popularity of the series but got over the shock quickly enough to make a fortune licensing Davy Crockett merchandise. Everything from kid’s night lights to bubble gum cards were snapped up by eager consumers but by far the biggest seller was the replica coonskin cap.
At the height of the craze, it is estimated as many as 5,000 coonskin caps a day flew out of shops around the country and it still remains a symbol of the 50s today, with references showing up in movies, such as “Back to the Future” and Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Presidential hopeful, North Carolina Senator Estes Kefauver, even took up wearing a coonskin cap at campaign stops in 1956, claiming a connection to the frontier hero since the series was filmed in his state’s Great Smoky Mountain National Park.
Capitalizing on its popularity, Disney stitched together the first three episodes for the movie Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier. The final two episodes were edited into the feature film Davy Crockett and the River Pirates.
A number of miniseries followed based on historic characters including legendary lawman Alfego Baca, Texas Ranger John Horton Slaughter and Revolutionary War hero, Swamp Fox Francis Marion but none ever achieved the acclaim of Davy Crockett.
Parker starred in several Disney movies following Davy Crockett and went on to play Daniel Boone on television for six years but retired from the screen in 1970, began a real estate business and later founded an award winning winery in California’s Foxen Canyon. Parker died in 2010 at the age of 85 but the actor’s son and daughter and their families still run the winery today.
And if you have a hankering to see the real original coonskin cap, you can find it on display at Washington’s Smithsonian Institution.
The new Fess Parker Winery and Tasting Room, 40 miles north of Santa Barbara, California, was completed in 1994. Modeled after an Australian sheep station, it features stone floors, large veranda and tasting bar which includes memorabilia from the late actor’s television and movie career. A number of special events are held on the grounds all year. Fans and wine enthusiasts can leave with a signature bottle of the winery’s signature “Crockett” for $80, as well as more moderately priced wines all rated in the 90s by Wine Enthusiast, Wine Spectator, Wine Advocate and Antonio Galloni’s Vinous. For more information call toll-free (800) 841-1104 or e-mail to info@fessparker.com