I would swear that I first heard it sung by Bob Gibson. But a check of his discography doesn't list "Copper Kettle."

He and Dick Rosmini did a live concert in Seattle in 1958. He hung out in Seattle for about two weeks (his brother, Jim, lived here) and we had several song fests and informal get-togethers, so that's maybe were I heard him do it.

I've been doing it since the late 1950s. I pair with with another song, "Kentucky Moonshiner," a somewhat mournful ditty that I learned from Rolf Cahn. I first sing "Copper Kettle," then go directly into "Kentucky Moonshiner."

Got real good audience response with it.

Don Firth