It used as its melody a stevedore song, "Pay Me My Money Down", collected by Lydia Parrish in her 1942 book Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands,[3] which was performed by The Weavers during their influential 1955 Carnegie Hall concerts and further popularized by The Kingston Trio on tour starting in 1957.
The song was originally recorded in 1956 by Vince Martin and the Tarriers, and quickly covered by Eddie Fisher.
"We arranged it in a calypso style and sang behind this guy, Martin," Tarriers member Erik Darling told Wayne Jancik in The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders.
"That was issued first before any stuff we'd do, much to our chagrin ... We didn't wanna sing with a Vince Martin.
Other versions have been recorded by Chubby Checker 1963, Tony Brent 1956, Perry Como, the Highwaymen 1960, Waylon Jennings 1969, and in German by Margot Eskens 1956.