Who did the best job ever singing "Sixteen Tons" by Merle Travis?

In my opinion it was Ernie Ford.. I consider his the definitive cut and all others clones (though I don’t say that others didn’t do a good job) it’s just my opinion. And no, I haven’t another version nor would I youtube my squirrelly voice (but thanks for the invitation)..

Tennessee Ernie Ford all the way.

@chewhorse & @fundevogel That was my pick till I started researching the song. I’ve always loved the song and Tennessee Ernie Ford’s handling of it. I didn’t even know it was written and recorded ten years earlier by Merle Travis. And even though he’s the author and knows what he wanted to say in the piece, his voice just doesn’t match that of Ernie Ford. But I was blown away by Eric Burdon’s version of it. More rockabilly, but what a voice and what power.

Yeah, Ernie Ford.

He also did (for me) the definitive version of King of The Road.

@aprilsimnel Total agreement on “King of the Road.” That should have been his theme song.

I just listened to Bo Diddley’s version of “Sixteen Tons” and while the do-wop background singing is distracting at first, when the master starts to sing, it sends chills down my back. He really nailed the song, but in a VERY different way that was all hos own.

No one has ever song “Sixteen Tons” as well as Tennessee Ernie Ford did and no one ever will.

@ETpro You should check out all some of the cuts of St James Infirmary. That’s a hard one to pick a favorite for.

Cab Calloway
Louis Armstrong
Django Reinhardt
James Booker
Joe Cocker
The White Stripes
The Gutter Twins
Zephyr

And the list goes on and on. I’ve got 18 versions myself.

@gondwanalon Thanks., Lots of votes for FOrd.

@fundevogel I love “St. James Infirmary” and there’s some great versions theree. But since you posted the Cab Calloway rendition, ject these tow rwather offbeat versions of “Sixteen Tons.”

Homer and Jethro did a reworded version that easily makes up in humor what it lacks in dignity and heart.
This guy’s Russian accent spoils it, but what a voice for the song. Listen to the rendition by the Red Army Choir.

@ETpro Shwa? I love all of those versions, but James Booker has the edge in my opinion. Calloway is no slouch and he certainly is the man most identied with the song, but I think Booker’s version has more soul.

I agree with everyone who agrees that T.E.F. is the best. Actually, that is the only version I have ever heard, and I like it just fine. Aside from that one particular song, I find it hard to enjoy any version of a song other than the original, or the one I grew up listening to. However (in regard to another song: House of the Rising Sun by Eric Burden and the Animals) I thought it was top of the list, and would stoutly resist all wannabe versions. Then I heard a version of that song by Sinaed O’Connor – and – I really liked it.

@starsofeight Well to be fair, Merle Travis did the original of “Sixteen Tons” and I far prefer Tennessee Ernie Ford’s version to his. But I like Eric Burdon’s best. More gutsy.

I loved “House of the Rising Sun” too. I haven’t heard Sinaed O’Connor do i. But I will definitely check it out.

@ETpro The Burdon version strikes me like a Leonard Cohen cover. They’re perfectly enjoyable and who doesn’t want another version of Everybody Knows or I’m Your Man…

…but they aren’t Leonard Cohen.

The original Tennessee Ernie Ford of course. Loved his rich, low voice. As a youngster, I remember sitting in our family room listening to an old vinyl record of this unforgettable song and emulating his low voice. I was about 6 then, so it wasn’t until I was in my teens and after puberty that I could do a great imitation of Ford. Now I don’t even have to imitate——it just comes naturally. Lol.

@MRSHINYSHOES Merle Travis, the song writer, did the original recording ten years before Tennessee Ernie FOrd. The link to his version is in the OP. But I agree, Ford’s voice and even the emotion he pours into it is much better than Travis’ rendition.

@ETpro No, Tennessee had an original voice, and his recording outshines Merle Travis’ by sixteen tons.

@MRSHINYSHOES I sure can’t argue that. It never made it as a hit till Ford sang it. It;s not just his great baritone voice, he put the right feeling into the song. Merle Travis must have known the feeling to have penned the words, but he couldn’t use his coice to put them into the piece the way TEF did. But I really like Eric Burdon’s version too. Maybe even better. If I had heard him do it first, he would be tops.