It peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart and spent a total of eight weeks in the top 12.
At the time of release, Bygraves was a cutting-edge comedian,[1] having become a national celebrity through his collaboration with Eric Sykes for the radio script Educating Archie in which Bygraves played the tutor to Peter Brough's ventriloquist dummy Archie Andrews.
[2] The title track of that album, "Cowpuncher's Cantata", is a medley of Bygraves' humorous interpretations of popular records of the time, including Frankie Laine's "Mule Train" and "Cry of the Wild Goose",[1] "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" and "Jezebel".
[4] Talking to Brian Southall, Peter Vincent and Alan Rouse for the book Abbey Road: The Story of the World's Most Famous Recording Studios, Wally Ridley recounted that he had some trouble getting Bygraves to sing the lyrics at the right time: "Max Bygraves' first record was a thing called 'Cowpuncher's Cantata' which was an odd shaped piece of music and we had great difficulty in getting Maxie to come in on the beat because there were long gaps in between the vocal lines.
[7] The song appeared on an episode of Desert Island Discs featuring the selections of Eric Sykes.