Pistol Packin' Mama

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"Pistol Packin' Mama"
Pistol Packin Mama.jpg
Single by Al Dexter and His Troopers
B-side "Rosalita"
PublishedJune 8, 1943 (1943-06-08) Edwin H. Morris & Co., Inc. [1]
ReleasedMarch 1943 (1943-03) [2] [3]
RecordedMarch 20, 1942 (1942-03-20) [4]
Studio CBS Columbia Square Studio, Los Angeles
Genre Country, honky-tonk
Length2:47
Label Okeh 6708
Songwriter(s) Al Dexter
Al Dexter and His Troopers singles chronology
"Honky Tonk Chinese Dime [5] "
(1942)		"Pistol Packin' Mama"
(1943)		"So Long Pal / Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry"
(1944)
Pistol Packin' Mama by Al Dexter & His Troopers
"Pistol Packin' Mama"
Single by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters
B-side Vict'ry Polka [6]
ReleasedOctober 21, 1943 (1943-10-21)
RecordedSeptember 27, 1943 (1943-09-27) [7]
Genre Country, pop
Length3:01
Label Decca 23277
Songwriter(s) Al Dexter
Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters singles chronology
"Yodelin' Jive / Ciribiribin (They're So in Love)"
(1939)		"Pistol Packin' Mama"
(1943)		"Jingle Bells / Santa Claus is Comin' to Town"
(1943)
Women Airforce Service Pilots named in 1944 their B-17 Flying Fortress, "Pistol Packin' Mama" Group of Women Airforce Service Pilots and B-17 Flying Fortress.jpg
Women Airforce Service Pilots named in 1944 their B-17 Flying Fortress, "Pistol Packin' Mama"

"Pistol Packin' Mama" was a "Hillbilly"-Honky Tonk record released at the height of World War II that became a nationwide sensation, and the first "Country" song to top the Billboard popular music chart. It was written by Al Dexter of Troup, Texas, who recorded it in Los Angeles, California on March 20, 1942, with top session musicians Dick Roberts, Johnny Bond and Dick Reinhart, who all normally worked for Gene Autry). [4] It was used in the 1943 film Pistol Packin' Mama , starring Ruth Terry and Robert Livingston.

Contents

1943 was dominated by a musicians' strike, which since August 1942 had prevented the recording of commercial music by the record companies. As the strike dragged on, the labels began releasing material from their artists' back catalogues, until by mid-1943, that ran out too. Okeh Records released Al Dexter's "Pistol Packin' Mama" (PPM), backed with "Rosalita", in March. It sold quickly, helped by reports in 'The Billboard' magazine, and great popularity in jukeboxes, which had run out of fresh material to play. Although Billboard did not publish its first Folk-Hillbilly chart until January 8, 1944, PPM became the first "Hillbilly" record to reach no. 1 on the National Best Selling Retail Records chart, on October 30, 1943, [8] and spent sixteen weeks in the top 10, on its way to selling 3 million copies. [9] [10] It entered the Jukebox chart on July 31, 1943, [11] where it stayed for 28 weeks (the last 14 shared with Bing Crosby version), another unheard of achievement for a "Hillbilly" tune. In Billboard's 1943 Yearbook, released in September, PPM by Dexter was the only hillbilly record to join Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey in the best-selling record list. [12]

Top vocalist Bing Crosby, always a major fan of "hillbilly" music, [13] was finally able to record a cover version with the Andrews Sisters on September 27, when his label, Decca, became the first to settle with the union. The single, released October 21, followed Dexter's to the top, revitalizing popularity and sales into 1944. When the first Billboard "Most Played Jukebox Folk Records" chart was published, both PPM versions tied for Number 1, and remained tied for seven straight weeks. [14]

The NBC radio network banned Bing's version because of the line “drinking beer in a cabaret.” The lyrics had to be changed to “singing songs in a cabaret” before it could air. [15] [16]

"Pistol Packin' Mama" Chart performance

Al Dexter and His Troopers

Charts (1943–44)Rank
US Billboard National Best Selling Retail Records [8] 1
"The Billboard American Folk Records" column [17] [18] 1
US Billboard Harlem Hit Parade [19] 5
US Billboard National Best Selling Retail Records Year-End [20] 9
"The Billboard American Folk Records" Year-End1
US Billboard R&B Records Year-End39

Bing Crosby & Andrews Sisters

Charts (1943–44)Rank
US Billboard National Best Selling Retail Records [21] 2
"The Billboard American Folk Records" column1
US Billboard Harlem Hit Parade [19] 3
US Billboard National Best Selling Retail Records Year-End22
"The Billboard American Folk Records" Year-End2
US Billboard R&B Records Year-End29

Other recordings

Other uses

The Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters 1943 [29] version is featured in the Bethesda Softworks video games Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 on the in-game radio and also featured in the Rockstar Games and Team Bondi video game L.A. Noire . [30]

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"Rosalita" is a 1942 song performed by Al Dexter and His Troopers. It was recorded on March 18, 1942 at the CBS Studio at Radio Station KNX, Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, California with session musicians Frank Marvin, Johnny Bond and Dick Reinhart. It was released on Okeh Records #6708 in March 1943, paired with "Pistol Packin' Mama". After the "Most Played Jukebox Folk Records" chart was established on January 8, 1944., it remained for six months, peaking at #1 on March 11, 1944.

"So Long Pal" is a 1944 song by Al Dexter and His Troopers. The song was the follow-up to Al Dexter's two-sided hit, "Pistol Packin' Mama"/"Rosalita". It was recorded on March 18, 1942, along with "Rosalita" and the b-side "Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry". "So Long Pal" stayed at the number one position on the Folk Juke Box chart for thirteen weeks in 1944. The B-side would also hit number one on the same chart.

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References

  1. ↑ Library of Congress. Copyright Office. (1943). Catalog of Copyright Entries 1943 2 Music Last Half of 1943 New Series Vol 38 Pts 2-3. United States Copyright Office. U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
  2. ↑ "Talent and Tunes pg 64". google. The Billboard. 22 May 1943. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  3. ↑ 78 Record: Al Dexter And His Troopers - Pistol Packin' Mama (1943) , retrieved 2021-07-30
  4. 1 2 Russell, Tony (2004). Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921-1942. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 315. ISBN   0195139895.
  5. ↑ "Al Dexter Discography". aldexter.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-24. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  6. ↑ "Decca 23277 (10-in. double-faced) - Discography of American Historical Recordings". adp.library.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
  7. ↑ "Decca matrix L 3197. Pistol packin' Mama / The Andrews Sisters ; Bing Crosby - Discography of American Historical Recordings". adp.library.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
  8. 1 2 "The Billboard October 30, 1943 pg 12". google books. 30 October 1943. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  9. ↑ "Biography". aldexter.com. Archived from the original on 2010-07-08. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  10. ↑ "Al Dexter". nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  11. ↑ "The Billboard July 31, 1943 page 94". Google books. 31 July 1943. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  12. ↑ "The Billboard 1943 Year-Book pg 122". google books. 1943. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  13. ↑ "Bing Crosby records New San Antonio Rose". Country Music Database. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  14. ↑ "75 Years Ago, the First Billboard Country Chart Debuted, With 'Pistol Packin' Mama' at No. 1, With a Bullet". Billboard. Retrieved 2021-08-07.
  15. ↑ "Craddock: Al Dexter and a 'Pistol Packin' Mama' | Van Craddock | news-journal.com". 2019-10-06. Archived from the original on 2019-10-06. Retrieved 2021-08-07.
  16. ↑ "Taking off with Pistol Packin' Mama | Music Tales". musictales.club. Retrieved 2021-08-07.
  17. ↑ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1943-10-23). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 66.{{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  18. ↑ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1943-08-14). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 63.{{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  19. 1 2 Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 291.
  20. ↑ "1943". Billboard Top 100. Retrieved 2021-08-07.
  21. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954 . Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p.  394. ISBN   0-89820-083-0.
  22. ↑ "Cover versions of Pistol Packin' Mama written by Al Dexter | SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 2021-08-07.
  23. ↑ "The Billboard November 1943 pg 23". google books. 1943. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  24. ↑ British Hit Singles & Albums (18 ed.). London: Guinness World Records Ltd. 2005. p. 534. ISBN   1-904994-00-8.
  25. ↑ "UK television adverts 1955-1985". www.headington.org.uk.
  26. ↑ Jean Touitou – The Unreleasable Tapes (1997, Gatefold, Vinyl), 1997, retrieved 2021-08-22
  27. ↑ "42-31037 | American Air Museum in Britain". www.americanairmuseum.com. Retrieved 2021-08-07.
  28. ↑ Kephart, Zackary (2019-01-03). "Pop Goes The Country Vol. 1: Al Dexter – "Pistol Packin' Mama" (1943)". The Musical Divide. Retrieved 2021-08-07.
  29. ↑ Nimmo 2004, p. 422.
  30. ↑ Chism, Carlos (10 November 2015). "The Full Diamond City Radio Playlist From Fallout 4". Gameranx.com. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
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