[2] Written by left-handed fiddle player Tex Atchison, the song was first recorded in a Western swing style by Ole Rasmussen for Capitol Records in 1950, when Atchison played in Rasmussen's band, the Nebraska Cornhuskers, as they toured California.
[3][4] Billboard reviewed the 10-inch 78 rpm single, calling it a "real toe-tapper" appropriate for square dancing, with a "pert" vocal performance by Ted Wilds.
In the mid-1950s, Lepley held down the afternoon slot at Memphis station WHHM, and he promoted musical acts at a local entertainment complex called Clearpool, featuring Western swing bands at the Eagle's Nest stage.
[1] Aided by a famous B-side – Horton's version of Hank Williams' "They'll Never Take Her Love from Me" – the 45 rpm record debuted on Billboard's Country and Western chart in late April 1961, rising to number 9, and staying on the chart for eight weeks.
The lyrics were translated into the Norwegian language to describe an eccentric villager with a wooden leg.