Pn this day, November 2, 1955 – “Tennessee” Ernie Ford’s “Sixteen Tons” enters the Billboard Country chart Written by country legend Merle Travis, “Sixteen Tons” became a cultural phenomenon when Tennessee Ernie Ford recorded it in 1955. The song, with its haunting bass line and Ford’s deep, resonant baritone, captured the weary pride of America’s coal miners with unforgettable lines like “You load sixteen tons, and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt.” The record shot to #1 on