(Merle Kilgore - Claude King)
Australia
#3 Melbourne #1 Perth
Single on W&G, charted in July 1962 in Melbourne and Perth. In Perth it charted with Claude King’s original.
Kevin Shegog: Popular country singer and songwriter (1933-2000), originally from Tasmania, who recorded prolifically for W&G in Melbourne.
This version was a much-played track on Victorian radio, as was Shegog’s classic self-penned record One Small Photograph (1961).
Other Australian artists who have recorded Wolverton Mountain include The Singing Kettles, and independent country singer Steve O’Connor from Tatura, Vic, who had an international airplay hit with his version in 2003.
Further reading: Chris Spencer’s review of the album Ballad Of A Hillbilly Singer from Howlspace [archived page].
Thank you to Susan Shegog for correction.
(Merle Kilgore - Claude King)
USA
Original version
#6 USA #1 Sydney #1 Brisbane #2 Adelaide #1 Perth
Single on Columbia March 1962. Released in Australia in June 1962.
Claude King co-charted in Perth with Kevin Shegog’s cover version, but in other capital cities it was either Kevin (Melbourne) or Claude (Sydney, Brisbane Adelaide).
The song is about mountain man Clifton Clowers’ unreasonable restriction of his fair young daughter’s dating rights. And he has a gun and a knife!
Merle Kilgore originally wrote the song about an uncle called Clifton Clowers who lived on a Woolverton Mountain. In later years Clowers protested that the gun and a knife in the song were only ever used “to hunt and whittle”.
Claude King, born in Shreveport LA, and co-writer Merle Kilgore, who grew up in Shreveport, both had successful and varied careers in country music. Claude King (1923-2013) had a number of hits on the country charts, although Wolverton Mountain was his only mainstream hit. Merle Kilgore (1934-2005), who also worked in radio, films and management, wrote the Johnny Horton hit Johnny Reb and, with June Carter, Johnny Cash’s Ring Of Fire. (AMGC)
Other versions: In the US in the 60s, singles of Wolverton Mountain were released by Farley Wayne (on Hit, 1962), Jo Ann Castle (Dot, 1963), Kai Winding (Verve, 1964) and Travis Wammack (1969). Other singers who recorded it include Johnny Horton, Webb Pierce, Don Gibson, Faron Young, Hank Williams Jr, Conway Twitty, Nat ‘King’ Cole, Pat Boone, Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Jerry Lee Lewis and Bill Haley. Groups that recorded it include The Brothers Four, The Downliners Sect, The Sir Douglas Quintet, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Foster & Allen.
(Merle Kilgore - Claude King)
Australia
Later version
#5 Melbourne #9 Perth
Single on W&G, Melbourne, charted in September 1962. Co-charted in Perth with US version by Jo Anne Campbell.
The lyrics of Dorothy Baker’s version differ a little from those recorded by Jo Anne Campbell. Click here to view the Dorothy Baker lyrics, and here for the Jo Anne Campbell lyrics (links open .pdf documents).
Dorothy Baker recorded Kevin Shegog compositions Darling (1963, #27 Melbourne) and his 1961 classic One Small Photograph.
Thanks to Charles Quick for lyrics research and transcription.
(Merle Kilgore - Claude King)
USA
Later version
#38 USA #25 Sydney #21 Brisbane #28 Adelaide #9 Perth
Original version with these lyrics
Single on Cameo, July 1962, charted in Australia September 1962. Co-charted in Perth with Dorothy Baker’s Australian cover version.
Clifton Clowers’ daughter sings from Wolverton Mountain in defiance of her scary dad: answer record written by the authors of the original.
Jo Ann Campbell was a former drum majorette from Jacksonville FA, also remembered for the gloriously silly Kookie Little Paradise, her bigger hit in Australia (#5 Sydney, #7 Melbourne, #7 Brisbane #5 Adelaide). More on Kookie Little Paradise at PopArchives: The Blog.
See also You’re Driving Me Mad, recorded in Australia by Judy Stone.
In some discographies the title is shown as (I’m The Girl On) Wolverton Mountain but the record label shows I’m The Girl From Wolverton Mountain.
Further reading: Jo Ann Campbell biography at This Is My Story.
(Claude King [lyrics probably by Marty Cooper])
USA
Later version
Parody
Single on Challenge August 1962, produced by H.B. Barnum and Marty Cooper.
H.B. Barnum (b. Hidle Brown Barnum, 1936) wrote (I Say) You’re Driving Me Crazy, recorded in Australia by Del Juliana: more about him at that page.
Marty Cooper is the lead singer. He also recorded El Clod parodies of The Crystals’ He’s A Rebel (He’s Not A Rebel, 1963) and Lorne Greene’s Ringo (Gringo, 1965).
Cooper rates a brief biography at IMDb thanks to some soundtrack appearances, but the full extent of his career is revealed at Spectropop’s four detailed pages inspired by his association with Jack Nitzsche.
In Tijuana Border, the obstacle to true love is a border river crossing instead of a mountainside, and the young lady’s lips are “hotter than chili”, not “sweeter than honey”. See Mr Music’s account of the song; also mentioned at BSN’s Challenge discography.
(Mack Parker)
USA
Later version
Single on Toppa label (“Tops ’em all”) in Covina, CA where Betty Luther was living at the time.
The composer of the A-side Mack Parker also wrote the B-side, Hearts Don’t Break (♫ YouTube).
Elizabeth Ann “Betty” Luther (b. Watson 1933-2023) was a country and gospel singer-songwriter from Claremont, Oklahoma. She also released Kiss Alicia Ann / Red Roses And Violets (1963) on the All label, Whittier, CA.
Betty was a performer at the Corrigan Movie Ranch tourist attraction that flourished in the 50s and 60s in eastern Ventura County, California. She was included on a page of past employees at a now-defunct tribute site [archived page].
Betty Luther was still recording in Oklahoma in 2006, and last time I heard from her she was about to release
Circle Of Love Singers, a CD recorded with her family.
Thanks to Betty Luther, Larry Frazier and Kees van der Hoeven. See also the family tribute to Betty at Legacy (2023)
(Merle Kilgore - Claude King - Bob Feldman - Terry Goldstein - Richard Gottehrer)
USA
Later version
Another answer to Wolverton Mountain, from Old Man Clowers’ point of view.
♫ Listen at YouTube
Co-writers Feldman, Goldstein and Gottehrer were the writing-production team sometimes known as FGG Productions, They wrote Johnny Young’s Australian hit Cara-Lyn and produced the original version, Cara-Lin, which they recorded themselves as The Strangeloves. They were also behind hit songs My Boyfriend Is Back by The Angels, I Want Candy by The Strangeloves, and Hang On Sloopy by The McCoys. For more details see under Johnny Young – Cara-Lyn.
Further reading: Cliff Adams, brief biography, at Discogs.com.
Pop Archives
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Website by Lyn Nuttall. © Lyn Nuttall 2004-2024. Chart positions courtesy of Gavin Ryan’s Australian Chart Books and Dean Scapolo’s Complete NZ Music Charts. Special thanks to Terry Stacey for information, corrections and suggestions. Thanks also to Tony Watson, Philippe Edouard, Dave Overett.., More…