an old cover of North to Alaska

[[e-mail]]

About forty years ago someone lent me a cassette tape of a fairly
big-name mainstream singer like Tony Bennett or Frankie Laine that
had, of all things, a version of North to Alaska on it. It was a
fairly lively version of the song but what I particularly remember is
that the hero was NOT Sam McCord but a *Polish* name, such as Sam
Kowalksi! Very strange. I've just downloaded the Frankie Laine version
of the song from one of the Newsgroups and I thought that this would
be the one but it isn't -- Frankie is singing about Sam McCord. I've
just spent a certain amount of time with Google and Bing and I can't
track this down. Can anyone here give me the name of that artist?

Many thanks!

[stonethecrows555]

Post by ***@cool.com
About forty years ago someone lent me a cassette tape of a fairly
big-name mainstream singer like Tony Bennett or Frankie Laine that
had, of all things, a version of North to Alaska on it. It was a
fairly lively version of the song but what I particularly remember is
that the hero was NOT Sam McCord but a *Polish* name, such as Sam
Kowalksi! Very strange. I've just downloaded the Frankie Laine version
of the song from one of the Newsgroups and I thought that this would
be the one but it isn't -- Frankie is singing about Sam McCord. I've
just spent a certain amount of time with Google and Bing and I can't
track this down.  Can anyone here give me the name of that artist?
Many thanks!

Hi Bob, a quick search of Napster revealed Johnny Horton.
Sounds like the song from the movie of the same name a fun little
movie, by the way).
Hope this helps!- Stoney

[Jack Sprat]

I swear to God, some people either can't read or don't bother to read the
whole message before relpying to it. It's pretty obvious from the original
message from Bob that he is not looking for Johhny Horton's version of the
song but rather a parody/cover of the song.

Post by ***@cool.com
About forty years ago someone lent me a cassette tape of a fairly
big-name mainstream singer like Tony Bennett or Frankie Laine that
had, of all things, a version of North to Alaska on it. It was a
fairly lively version of the song but what I particularly remember is
that the hero was NOT Sam McCord but a *Polish* name, such as Sam
Kowalksi! Very strange. I've just downloaded the Frankie Laine version
of the song from one of the Newsgroups and I thought that this would
be the one but it isn't -- Frankie is singing about Sam McCord. I've
just spent a certain amount of time with Google and Bing and I can't
track this down. Can anyone here give me the name of that artist?
Many thanks!

Hi Bob, a quick search of Napster revealed Johnny Horton.
Sounds like the song from the movie of the same name a fun little
movie, by the way).
Hope this helps!- Stoney

[[e-mail]]

Post by stonethecrows555
Hi Bob, a quick search of Napster revealed Johnny Horton.
Sounds like the song from the movie of the same name a fun little
movie, by the way).
Hope this helps!- Stoney

Thanks, Stoney, but the Horton version is the famous one that
*everyone* knows -- I was (and still am) looking for this obscure one
that I heard around 1969, although it had been recorded earlier....

Bob

[Nelson]

Post by ***@cool.com

Post by stonethecrows555
Hi Bob, a quick search of Napster revealed Johnny Horton.
Sounds like the song from the movie of the same name  a fun little
movie, by the way).
Hope this helps!- Stoney

Thanks, Stoney, but the Horton version is the famous one that
*everyone* knows -- I was (and still am) looking for this obscure one
that I heard around 1969, although it had been recorded earlier....
Bob

Bob,

I took at look at CMT.com and found that "North to Alaska" was written
by Michael Phillips and is published by EMI.

Searching at emimusicpub.com yields the following results:

Recorded BY Album Release Year Hit Year
Chart Label
Johnny Horton Big Time Country 1979 1960 Hot Country Singles &
Tracks Sony Music Special Products
Johnny Horton Big Time Country 1979 1960 The Billboard Hot 100
Sony Music Special Products
Boxcar Willie Boxcar Willie Sings The Spirit Of America
1996 Madacy
Brennen Leigh Too Thin To Plow 1979 Downtime Records
Brian Gale North To Alaska (And Heartaches Along The Way)
1979 Sheetkicker Records
Connie And Babe Down The Road To Home 1995 Rounder
Dwight Yoakam Under The Covers 1997 Warner
Frankie Laine On The Trail 1990 Bear Family
Jack Cooke Sittin' On Top Of The World 2006 Pinecone
Johnnie Allan Swamp Gold: Volume 5 1997 Jin
NRBQ 'Kick Me Hard-Deluxe Edition' 1989 Rounder
Ted Hawkins Ted Hawkins Story-Suffer No More 1998 Rhino

If you follow this link (http://www.emimusicpub.com/worldwide/servlet/
displaySong?id=69123&version_id=676197&aka_seq=), you should be able
to listen to clips of each and pick out the one you are looking for.

Since all of the release years are after 1960, it looks like that is
the only way to find it (unless it was a live/bootleg or unlicensed
recording).


Nelson

[[e-mail]]

Hi Nelson,

Thanks for all of the info!

I can pin down the exact time that I listened to the song on a
borrowed cassette tape as being 1970 or 1971. It was on, I'm pretty
certain, some sort of commercial comp. tape, such as "Great American
Singers and Their Favorite Songs" or something of the like.

The only name that really rings a bell with me is Frankie Laine and he
did indeed do an album of western songs called, I think, Rawhide. One
of the other newsgroups had all of these songs on it a few weeks ago
and I downloaded them. I've listened to "North to Alaska" several
times and I'm absolutely certain, however, that he's singing "Sam
McCord was a mighty man".

It could be, however, that at some point back in the late 60s or early
70s he recorded *another* version, maybe as a tribute to the Polish
folks living in Chicago or some such, and that this is the one that
ended up on the tape I listened to. It's not common, of course, but
various artists *do* record slightly different versions of their songs
from time to time.

Thanks again,

Bob

Post by Nelson

Post by ***@cool.com

Post by stonethecrows555
Hi Bob, a quick search of Napster revealed Johnny Horton.
Sounds like the song from the movie of the same name  a fun little
movie, by the way).
Hope this helps!- Stoney

Thanks, Stoney, but the Horton version is the famous one that
*everyone* knows -- I was (and still am) looking for this obscure one
that I heard around 1969, although it had been recorded earlier....
Bob

Bob,
I took at look at CMT.com and found that "North to Alaska" was written
by Michael Phillips and is published by EMI.
Recorded BY Album Release Year Hit Year
Chart Label
Johnny Horton Big Time Country 1979 1960 Hot Country Singles &
Tracks Sony Music Special Products
Johnny Horton Big Time Country 1979 1960 The Billboard Hot 100
Sony Music Special Products
Boxcar Willie Boxcar Willie Sings The Spirit Of America
1996 Madacy
Brennen Leigh Too Thin To Plow 1979 Downtime Records
Brian Gale North To Alaska (And Heartaches Along The Way)
1979 Sheetkicker Records
Connie And Babe Down The Road To Home 1995 Rounder
Dwight Yoakam Under The Covers 1997 Warner
Frankie Laine On The Trail 1990 Bear Family
Jack Cooke Sittin' On Top Of The World 2006 Pinecone
Johnnie Allan Swamp Gold: Volume 5 1997 Jin
NRBQ 'Kick Me Hard-Deluxe Edition' 1989 Rounder
Ted Hawkins Ted Hawkins Story-Suffer No More 1998 Rhino
If you follow this link (http://www.emimusicpub.com/worldwide/servlet/
displaySong?id=69123&version_id=676197&aka_seq=), you should be able
to listen to clips of each and pick out the one you are looking for.
Since all of the release years are after 1960, it looks like that is
the only way to find it (unless it was a live/bootleg or unlicensed
recording).
Nelson

[Merle Barnes]

Hi Bob:
I can eliminate everyone on that list with the exception of "Connie And
Babe" and "NRBQ". I don't know about them but all of the others recorded
the original version. Except "Johnnie Allan". He sang a cajun version called
"South To Louisiana". "NRBQ" also did a parody but I don't know the lyrics.
That list is far from complete. "North To Alaska" has been recorded more
times than "The King" has had birthdays!! LOL For example: It was recorded
by Claude King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Hank Williams Jr, Johnny Cash, Rose
Maddox, Rita MacNeil, S. R. Smith, to name a few.
There have been a lot of parodies of the song as well. "Airfarcewon" sang
"North Thru The Ass'ka (Colonoscopy Blues)" and "West In Nebraska"
Rich Verdugo sang "She's From Alaska" about Sara Palin.
BTW, I have seen at least 4 differnet writers attributed to the song: Mike
Phillips, Johnny Horton, Tillman Franks and Peter de Angelis!

Take Care
Merle

Post by ***@cool.com
Hi Nelson,
Thanks for all of the info!
I can pin down the exact time that I listened to the song on a
borrowed cassette tape as being 1970 or 1971. It was on, I'm pretty
certain, some sort of commercial comp. tape, such as "Great American
Singers and Their Favorite Songs" or something of the like.
The only name that really rings a bell with me is Frankie Laine and he
did indeed do an album of western songs called, I think, Rawhide. One
of the other newsgroups had all of these songs on it a few weeks ago
and I downloaded them. I've listened to "North to Alaska" several
times and I'm absolutely certain, however, that he's singing "Sam
McCord was a mighty man".
It could be, however, that at some point back in the late 60s or early
70s he recorded *another* version, maybe as a tribute to the Polish
folks living in Chicago or some such, and that this is the one that
ended up on the tape I listened to. It's not common, of course, but
various artists *do* record slightly different versions of their songs
from time to time.
Thanks again,
Bob

Post by Nelson

Post by ***@cool.com

Post by stonethecrows555
Hi Bob, a quick search of Napster revealed Johnny Horton.
Sounds like the song from the movie of the same name a fun little
movie, by the way).
Hope this helps!- Stoney

Thanks, Stoney, but the Horton version is the famous one that
*everyone* knows -- I was (and still am) looking for this obscure one
that I heard around 1969, although it had been recorded earlier....
Bob

Bob,
I took at look at CMT.com and found that "North to Alaska" was written
by Michael Phillips and is published by EMI.
Recorded BY Album Release Year Hit Year
Chart Label
Johnny Horton Big Time Country 1979 1960 Hot Country Singles &
Tracks Sony Music Special Products
Johnny Horton Big Time Country 1979 1960 The Billboard Hot 100
Sony Music Special Products
Boxcar Willie Boxcar Willie Sings The Spirit Of America
1996 Madacy
Brennen Leigh Too Thin To Plow 1979 Downtime Records
Brian Gale North To Alaska (And Heartaches Along The Way)
1979 Sheetkicker Records
Connie And Babe Down The Road To Home 1995 Rounder
Dwight Yoakam Under The Covers 1997 Warner
Frankie Laine On The Trail 1990 Bear Family
Jack Cooke Sittin' On Top Of The World 2006 Pinecone
Johnnie Allan Swamp Gold: Volume 5 1997 Jin
NRBQ 'Kick Me Hard-Deluxe Edition' 1989 Rounder
Ted Hawkins Ted Hawkins Story-Suffer No More 1998 Rhino
If you follow this link (http://www.emimusicpub.com/worldwide/servlet/
displaySong?id=69123&version_id=676197&aka_seq=), you should be able
to listen to clips of each and pick out the one you are looking for.
Since all of the release years are after 1960, it looks like that is
the only way to find it (unless it was a live/bootleg or unlicensed
recording).
Nelson

[[e-mail]]

Thanks for all the futher info -- and for jogging my rusty old memory
-- I *think* that it might have been Jerry Lee Lewis -- I'll see if I
can track down a version of him singing it....

Bob

Post by Merle Barnes
I can eliminate everyone on that list with the exception of "Connie And
Babe" and "NRBQ". I don't know about them but all of the others recorded
the original version. Except "Johnnie Allan". He sang a cajun version called
"South To Louisiana". "NRBQ" also did a parody but I don't know the lyrics.
That list is far from complete. "North To Alaska" has been recorded more
times than "The King" has had birthdays!! LOL For example: It was recorded
by Claude King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Hank Williams Jr, Johnny Cash, Rose
Maddox, Rita MacNeil, S. R. Smith, to name a few.
There have been a lot of parodies of the song as well. "Airfarcewon" sang
"North Thru The Ass'ka (Colonoscopy Blues)" and "West In Nebraska"
Rich Verdugo sang "She's From Alaska" about Sara Palin.
BTW, I have seen at least 4 differnet writers attributed to the song: Mike
Phillips, Johnny Horton, Tillman Franks and Peter de Angelis!
Take Care
Merle

Post by ***@cool.com
Hi Nelson,
Thanks for all of the info!
I can pin down the exact time that I listened to the song on a
borrowed cassette tape as being 1970 or 1971. It was on, I'm pretty
certain, some sort of commercial comp. tape, such as "Great American
Singers and Their Favorite Songs" or something of the like.
The only name that really rings a bell with me is Frankie Laine and he
did indeed do an album of western songs called, I think, Rawhide. One
of the other newsgroups had all of these songs on it a few weeks ago
and I downloaded them. I've listened to "North to Alaska" several
times and I'm absolutely certain, however, that he's singing "Sam
McCord was a mighty man".
It could be, however, that at some point back in the late 60s or early
70s he recorded *another* version, maybe as a tribute to the Polish
folks living in Chicago or some such, and that this is the one that
ended up on the tape I listened to. It's not common, of course, but
various artists *do* record slightly different versions of their songs
from time to time.
Thanks again,
Bob

Post by Nelson

Post by ***@cool.com

Post by stonethecrows555
Hi Bob, a quick search of Napster revealed Johnny Horton.
Sounds like the song from the movie of the same name a fun little
movie, by the way).
Hope this helps!- Stoney

Thanks, Stoney, but the Horton version is the famous one that
*everyone* knows -- I was (and still am) looking for this obscure one
that I heard around 1969, although it had been recorded earlier....
Bob

Bob,
I took at look at CMT.com and found that "North to Alaska" was written
by Michael Phillips and is published by EMI.
Recorded BY Album Release Year Hit Year
Chart Label
Johnny Horton Big Time Country 1979 1960 Hot Country Singles &
Tracks Sony Music Special Products
Johnny Horton Big Time Country 1979 1960 The Billboard Hot 100
Sony Music Special Products
Boxcar Willie Boxcar Willie Sings The Spirit Of America
1996 Madacy
Brennen Leigh Too Thin To Plow 1979 Downtime Records
Brian Gale North To Alaska (And Heartaches Along The Way)
1979 Sheetkicker Records
Connie And Babe Down The Road To Home 1995 Rounder
Dwight Yoakam Under The Covers 1997 Warner
Frankie Laine On The Trail 1990 Bear Family
Jack Cooke Sittin' On Top Of The World 2006 Pinecone
Johnnie Allan Swamp Gold: Volume 5 1997 Jin
NRBQ 'Kick Me Hard-Deluxe Edition' 1989 Rounder
Ted Hawkins Ted Hawkins Story-Suffer No More 1998 Rhino
If you follow this link (http://www.emimusicpub.com/worldwide/servlet/
displaySong?id=69123&version_id=676197&aka_seq=), you should be able
to listen to clips of each and pick out the one you are looking for.
Since all of the release years are after 1960, it looks like that is
the only way to find it (unless it was a live/bootleg or unlicensed
recording).
Nelson

[Merle Barnes]

Nope. Not Jerry Lee Lewis. At least not the version I have. It's a duet with
his sister Linda Gail Lewis. It's the same as Johnny's version. I don't
think he recorded it solo.

Post by ***@cool.com
Thanks for all the futher info -- and for jogging my rusty old memory
-- I *think* that it might have been Jerry Lee Lewis -- I'll see if I
can track down a version of him singing it....
Bob

Post by Merle Barnes
I can eliminate everyone on that list with the exception of "Connie And
Babe" and "NRBQ". I don't know about them but all of the others recorded
the original version. Except "Johnnie Allan". He sang a cajun version called
"South To Louisiana". "NRBQ" also did a parody but I don't know the lyrics.
That list is far from complete. "North To Alaska" has been recorded more
times than "The King" has had birthdays!! LOL For example: It was recorded
by Claude King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Hank Williams Jr, Johnny Cash, Rose
Maddox, Rita MacNeil, S. R. Smith, to name a few.
There have been a lot of parodies of the song as well. "Airfarcewon" sang
"North Thru The Ass'ka (Colonoscopy Blues)" and "West In Nebraska"
Rich Verdugo sang "She's From Alaska" about Sara Palin.
BTW, I have seen at least 4 differnet writers attributed to the song: Mike
Phillips, Johnny Horton, Tillman Franks and Peter de Angelis!
Take Care
Merle

Post by ***@cool.com
Hi Nelson,
Thanks for all of the info!
I can pin down the exact time that I listened to the song on a
borrowed cassette tape as being 1970 or 1971. It was on, I'm pretty
certain, some sort of commercial comp. tape, such as "Great American
Singers and Their Favorite Songs" or something of the like.
The only name that really rings a bell with me is Frankie Laine and he
did indeed do an album of western songs called, I think, Rawhide. One
of the other newsgroups had all of these songs on it a few weeks ago
and I downloaded them. I've listened to "North to Alaska" several
times and I'm absolutely certain, however, that he's singing "Sam
McCord was a mighty man".
It could be, however, that at some point back in the late 60s or early
70s he recorded *another* version, maybe as a tribute to the Polish
folks living in Chicago or some such, and that this is the one that
ended up on the tape I listened to. It's not common, of course, but
various artists *do* record slightly different versions of their songs
from time to time.
Thanks again,
Bob

Post by Nelson

Post by ***@cool.com

Post by stonethecrows555
Hi Bob, a quick search of Napster revealed Johnny Horton.
Sounds like the song from the movie of the same name a fun little
movie, by the way).
Hope this helps!- Stoney

Thanks, Stoney, but the Horton version is the famous one that
*everyone* knows -- I was (and still am) looking for this obscure one
that I heard around 1969, although it had been recorded earlier....
Bob

Bob,
I took at look at CMT.com and found that "North to Alaska" was written
by Michael Phillips and is published by EMI.
Recorded BY Album Release Year Hit Year
Chart Label
Johnny Horton Big Time Country 1979 1960 Hot Country Singles &
Tracks Sony Music Special Products
Johnny Horton Big Time Country 1979 1960 The Billboard Hot 100
Sony Music Special Products
Boxcar Willie Boxcar Willie Sings The Spirit Of America
1996 Madacy
Brennen Leigh Too Thin To Plow 1979 Downtime Records
Brian Gale North To Alaska (And Heartaches Along The Way)
1979 Sheetkicker Records
Connie And Babe Down The Road To Home 1995 Rounder
Dwight Yoakam Under The Covers 1997 Warner
Frankie Laine On The Trail 1990 Bear Family
Jack Cooke Sittin' On Top Of The World 2006 Pinecone
Johnnie Allan Swamp Gold: Volume 5 1997 Jin
NRBQ 'Kick Me Hard-Deluxe Edition' 1989 Rounder
Ted Hawkins Ted Hawkins Story-Suffer No More 1998 Rhino
If you follow this link (http://www.emimusicpub.com/worldwide/servlet/
displaySong?id=69123&version_id=676197&aka_seq=), you should be able
to listen to clips of each and pick out the one you are looking for.
Since all of the release years are after 1960, it looks like that is
the only way to find it (unless it was a live/bootleg or unlicensed
recording).
Nelson

[[e-mail]]

Yer right! I just remembered that I found that on the Net a week or so
ago and listened to it.

The mystery deepens....

On Sun, 2 Aug 2009 16:19:19 -0300, "Merle Barnes"

Post by Merle Barnes
Nope. Not Jerry Lee Lewis. At least not the version I have. It's a duet with
his sister Linda Gail Lewis. It's the same as Johnny's version. I don't
think he recorded it solo.

Post by ***@cool.com
Thanks for all the futher info -- and for jogging my rusty old memory
-- I *think* that it might have been Jerry Lee Lewis -- I'll see if I
can track down a version of him singing it....
Bob

Post by Merle Barnes
I can eliminate everyone on that list with the exception of "Connie And
Babe" and "NRBQ". I don't know about them but all of the others recorded
the original version. Except "Johnnie Allan". He sang a cajun version called
"South To Louisiana". "NRBQ" also did a parody but I don't know the lyrics.
That list is far from complete. "North To Alaska" has been recorded more
times than "The King" has had birthdays!! LOL For example: It was recorded
by Claude King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Hank Williams Jr, Johnny Cash, Rose
Maddox, Rita MacNeil, S. R. Smith, to name a few.
There have been a lot of parodies of the song as well. "Airfarcewon" sang
"North Thru The Ass'ka (Colonoscopy Blues)" and "West In Nebraska"
Rich Verdugo sang "She's From Alaska" about Sara Palin.
BTW, I have seen at least 4 differnet writers attributed to the song: Mike
Phillips, Johnny Horton, Tillman Franks and Peter de Angelis!
Take Care
Merle

Post by ***@cool.com
Hi Nelson,
Thanks for all of the info!
I can pin down the exact time that I listened to the song on a
borrowed cassette tape as being 1970 or 1971. It was on, I'm pretty
certain, some sort of commercial comp. tape, such as "Great American
Singers and Their Favorite Songs" or something of the like.
The only name that really rings a bell with me is Frankie Laine and he
did indeed do an album of western songs called, I think, Rawhide. One
of the other newsgroups had all of these songs on it a few weeks ago
and I downloaded them. I've listened to "North to Alaska" several
times and I'm absolutely certain, however, that he's singing "Sam
McCord was a mighty man".
It could be, however, that at some point back in the late 60s or early
70s he recorded *another* version, maybe as a tribute to the Polish
folks living in Chicago or some such, and that this is the one that
ended up on the tape I listened to. It's not common, of course, but
various artists *do* record slightly different versions of their songs
from time to time.
Thanks again,
Bob

Post by Nelson

Post by ***@cool.com

Post by stonethecrows555
Hi Bob, a quick search of Napster revealed Johnny Horton.
Sounds like the song from the movie of the same name a fun little
movie, by the way).
Hope this helps!- Stoney

Thanks, Stoney, but the Horton version is the famous one that
*everyone* knows -- I was (and still am) looking for this obscure one
that I heard around 1969, although it had been recorded earlier....
Bob

Bob,
I took at look at CMT.com and found that "North to Alaska" was written
by Michael Phillips and is published by EMI.
Recorded BY Album Release Year Hit Year
Chart Label
Johnny Horton Big Time Country 1979 1960 Hot Country Singles &
Tracks Sony Music Special Products
Johnny Horton Big Time Country 1979 1960 The Billboard Hot 100
Sony Music Special Products
Boxcar Willie Boxcar Willie Sings The Spirit Of America
1996 Madacy
Brennen Leigh Too Thin To Plow 1979 Downtime Records
Brian Gale North To Alaska (And Heartaches Along The Way)
1979 Sheetkicker Records
Connie And Babe Down The Road To Home 1995 Rounder
Dwight Yoakam Under The Covers 1997 Warner
Frankie Laine On The Trail 1990 Bear Family
Jack Cooke Sittin' On Top Of The World 2006 Pinecone
Johnnie Allan Swamp Gold: Volume 5 1997 Jin
NRBQ 'Kick Me Hard-Deluxe Edition' 1989 Rounder
Ted Hawkins Ted Hawkins Story-Suffer No More 1998 Rhino
If you follow this link (http://www.emimusicpub.com/worldwide/servlet/
displaySong?id=69123&version_id=676197&aka_seq=), you should be able
to listen to clips of each and pick out the one you are looking for.
Since all of the release years are after 1960, it looks like that is
the only way to find it (unless it was a live/bootleg or unlicensed
recording).
Nelson

[v***@gmail.com]

Post by stonethecrows555

Post by ***@cool.com
About forty years ago someone lent me a cassette tape of a fairly
big-name mainstream singer like Tony Bennett or Frankie Laine that
had, of all things, a version of North to Alaska on it. It was a
fairly lively version of the song but what I particularly remember is
that the hero was NOT Sam McCord but a *Polish* name, such as Sam
Kowalksi! Very strange. I've just downloaded the Frankie Laine version
of the song from one of the Newsgroups and I thought that this would
be the one but it isn't -- Frankie is singing about Sam McCord. I've
just spent a certain amount of time with Google and Bing and I can't
track this down.  Can anyone here give me the name of that artist?
Many thanks!

Hi Bob, a quick search of Napster revealed Johnny Horton.
Sounds like the song from the movie of the same name a fun little
movie, by the way).
Hope this helps!- Stoney

Bob, Kinda late but there is a cover to "North to Alaska" tha I did for Sarah Paylin during the 2008 election. It is titled "She's From Alaska". Write for more infor .
Rich