Originally 'Sixteen Tons' was written by Merle Travis about a coal miner, based on life in the mines of Rosewood, Kentucky. Travis first recorded the song at the Radio Recorders Studio B in Hollywood, California, on August 8, 1946. The eponymous sixteen tons refers to a practice of initiating new miners. In the mid-1920s, a miner tended to haul eight to ten tons per day, whereas for new miners, other miners would slack off so the new miner could make sixteen on his very first day. 'Tennessee' Ernie Ford recorded "Sixteen Tons" in September 1955 as the B-side of his cover of the Moon Mullican standard "You Don't Have To Be A Baby To Cry". With Ford's snapping fingers and a unique clarinet-driven pop arrangement, it quickly became a million seller, reached the no.1 position in the United States and United Kingdom.