B-side "Fly Trouble" Format 10" single (MGM 10073) Length 2:51 | Released September 1947 Genre Country | |
Recorded August 4, 1947, Castle Studio, Nashville | ||
On the Banks of the Old Ponchartrain is a song written by Hank Williams and Ramona Vincent. It was the singer's second single on MGM Records, released in September 1947.
Contents
Background
According to biographer Colin Escott, Ramona Vincent, a crippled woman, wrote the words of the song as a poem and sent it to Williams, who put a melody to it. The song was paired with Fred Rose's novelty "Fly Trouble," resulting in perhaps the oddest single the singer ever released. The song was recorded at Castle Studio in Nashville on August 4, 1947 with Rose producing. Williams was backed by Tommy Jackson (fiddle), Hermon Herron (steel guitar), Sammy Pruett (lead guitar), Slim Thomas (rhythm guitar), and Lum York (bass). Hank had scored his first Billboard hit with "Move It on Over" but "On the Banks of the Old Ponchartrain bombed. As Escott notes:
The coupling of "Fly Trouble" and "On the Banks of the Old Ponchartrain" flopped miserably, and in later years Hank would use it as a personal metaphor for a poor selling record. "Sure am glad it ain't another damn 'Ponchartrain,'" he'd say when people would congratulate him on a hit. More than anything, it proved how much Rose had yet to learn about Hank's music and his audience.