Tennessee Ernie Ford's recording of "Sixteen Tons" was a country/pop crossover version of the more folky song attributed to Merle Travis in 1946 but which folk singer/songwriter George S. Davis, a former Kentucky coal miner, claimed to have in '30s as "Nine-to-ten tons."



Also, during the "Sing Along with Mitch" phase in the mid '50s, several folk songs charted as pop hits. Probably the biggest hit was Mitch's orchestra and men's chorus version of "Yellow Rose Of Texas."